Rapp 1 entered commercial operation 1973 december. In fact the first phwr not the first nuclear reactor in india was the rajasthan atomic power project rapp unit and was a candu designed by atomic energy of canada limited aecl that used the douglas point unit in ontario as reference design but modified to aid localization. State owned nuclear power corporation of india ltd npcil had awarded the reactor building contract for both kapp 3 and 4 to larsen toubro at an original contract value of rs 844 crore.
The first pour of concrete happened in november 2010 and this unit was originally expected to be commissioned in 2015. India s first 700 mwe pressurized heavy water reactor at gujarat s kakrapar attains criticality a nuclear reactor attains criticality when every nuclear fission event releases a sufficient number of neutrons to sustain an ongoing series of reactions or a self sustaining chain reaction. Another landmark moment arrived in 2006 when india signed a civil nuclear deal with the us that granted it entry into the nuclear trading market.
The seeds of india s nuclear programme were sown in the late 1960s with the construction of the nation s first pwhr reactor in rajasthan which had a capacity of 220 mwe. The domestic uranium reserve in india is small and the country is dependent on uranium imports from other. India s and asia s first nuclear reactor was the apsara research reactor at mumbai.
7 more reactors are under construction with a combined. Nuclear power produced a total of 35 twh and supplied 3 22 of indian electricity in 2017. Nuclear power is the fifth largest source of electricity in india after coal gas hydroelectricity and wind power as of march 2018 india has 22 nuclear reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants with a total installed capacity of 6 780 mw.
