Tata Power Eyes Small Modular Reactors After Legal Reforms In India’s Nuclear Sector

Bhubaneswar: Tata Power will explore setting up small modular reactor (SMR) projects of 20-50 megawatt capacity post legal amendments required for the entry of private players into the nuclear space, a top company official said. Meanwhile, the company has already started exploring locations for future nuclear plans, Tata Power CEO and MD Praveer Sinha said in an interaction.

The government on Monday moved the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, which seeks to overhaul laws governing India's civil nuclear sector, opening it up to private participation and putting in place a new liability regime, in a bid to address concerns voiced by the industry partners. Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh moved the bill in Lok Sabha.

Sinha said there are a lot of opportunities in the nuclear energy area in the country. "Now that it is expected to be amended, when the fine print comes, we will be able to see what the opportunities are, but yes ... we look at small modular reactors of 20-50 MW," he said.

Sharing his views on the sector, Sinha said it will take some time for new plants to come up. "..these will not happen in the next five years, all this will take time." There are safety issues, site issues, as to see where such plants can be set up, fuel issues. So this will take time but eventually we will have nuclear plants coming up," he said. At present, the Atomic Energy Act does not allow participation of the private sector or even State governments in the nuclear projects, while the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act provides prompt compensation to the victims for damage caused by a nuclear incident through a no-fault liability regime.

India at present has over 8 gigawatts of installed nuclear energy capacity. The government has set an ambitious target of having 100 GW of nuclear capacity in India by 2047. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit. On the Electricity Amendment Bill, Sinha said he supports the move which aims to bring major reforms in the power sector.

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