Government approves installation of 10 nuclear reactors

The central government has given bulk approval for the installation of 10 nuclear reactors, informed the Department of Atomic Energy on Wednesday.
In a statement in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh said the government has roped in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for the installation of the nuclear reactors or the exercise would be done exclusively by the specialised government agencies. The government has accorded administrative approval and financial sanction for 10 indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors of 700 MW each in fleet mode. The reactors will be installed in Kaiga in Karnataka, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Gorakhpur in Haryana.
The government has amended the Atomic Energy Act in 2015 to enable the Joint Ventures of NPCIL with Public Sector Enterprises to set up nuclear power projects.
These reactors are planned to be set up in ‘fleet mode’ progressively by the year 2031 at a cost of Rs 1,05,000 crore.
The minister further informed the Rajya Sabha that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have jointly manufactured an earth science satellite named NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).