AERB approves Mahi Banswara site in Rajasthan to build four 700 MWe nuclear power plants
The
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
(NPCIL) applied to the AERB seeking consent for the Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (MBRAPP) site to build four indigenously developed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) of 700 MWe capacity.
"Consent is hereby granted for Siting of MBRAPP 1 to 4, subject to satisfactory compliance to the stipulations and conditions specified in Annexure 1," the AERB said.
"The Consent will be subjected to re-review for any non-compliance to the stipulations and conditions. The Consent shall not be transferable without the prior approval of the Competent Authority," the nuclear regulator said.
The Mahi Banswara project is being implemented by
Anushakti Vidyut Nigam
, a joint venture between NPCIL and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
At present, NPCIL and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (Bhavini) are allowed to build and operate nuclear power plants. An amendment to the Atomic Energy Act-1962 in 2015 paved the way for joint ventures between NPCIL and other public sector companies to build nuclear power plants.
The MBRAPP units are among ten 700 MWe PHWRs that the government plans to build under the fleet mode approach, approval for which was granted in 2017.
Besides Mahi Banswara, the
fleet mode nuclear plants
will come up at Kaiga NPP (two units), Gorakhpur-Haryana (two units) and Chutka-Madhya Pradesh (two units).
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