Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant

September 2, 2023

India’s first indigenously developed nuclear power plant unit , 700 MWe Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3, in Gujarat has started operations at full capacity.
The Kakrapar Unit-3 is an expansion of the existing nuclear power plant, which already had two operational units, KAPS-1 and KAPS-2, each with a capacity of around 220 MWe (megawatts electrical).

The PHWRs use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator.

Till now, the biggest reactor of indigenous design was the 540 MWe PHWR, two of which have been deployed in Tarapur, Maharashtra.

KAPP-3 is the country’s first 700 MWe unit and the biggest indigenously developed variant of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).
The third unit is larger and more advanced compared to the first two.
- Another unit (KAPP 4) has also been constructed and operation here is expected to begin by March 2024.
As per the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited or NPCIL, which operates the nuclear plants in the country, KAPP-3 and 4 are India’s first pair of indigenously designed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MW unit size with enhanced safety features.