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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Science
- Indian Express
India's 1st private test facility for heavy water upgrade opens
In a small but significant step towards speeding up the operationalisation of nuclear power plants, India's nuclear establishment has, for the first time, roped in private players to carry out a key process that was so far handled entirely in-house. Mumbai-based TEMA India has been entrusted with testing the equipment required for upgrading of depleted heavy water, a crucial requirement at all Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors in India. Until now, the testing was done by the country's main nuclear research, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). TEMA India inaugurated its test facility two days ago at Achchad in Palghar district, about 100 km north of Mumbai, where it will manufacture equipment such as distillation columns and integrate and test them before sending them to reactor sites for installation. The Department of Atomic Energy said the facility was designed and built by TEMA India's nuclear vertical under technology transfer from BARC and a 'purchase order' from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). 'What we have built is a single-point solution for the upgrading of heavy water. Earlier, the distillation columns and modules used to be manufactured by other vendors, then assembled and tested by BARC. The entire process was perhaps taking seven to eight years. We will be able to reduce this time period by at least one to two years,' said Sunil Kubal, Executive Director-Nuclear at TEMA India. Heavy water (D2O) is a form of water (H2O) with deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen, instead of regular hydrogen, and is used as a coolant as well as moderator for slowing down fast-moving neutrons during a chain reaction, essential for sustaining the nuclear fission process. D2O needs to be 99.9% pure for working efficiently. But with time, it gets contaminated with light or regular water, requiring the depleted D2O to be upgraded back to 99.9% using a distillation process. TEMA India will not only manufacture the components required for the distillation process, but will also test them to ensure they produce the right results. At the inauguration ceremony Saturday, TEMA India also dispatched the first batch of tested distillation column sections for deployment at Unit 8 of the Rawatbhata Nuclear Power Plant (RAPP-8) in Rajasthan, which is scheduled to go critical by December this year. The company will also manufacture and test distillation equipment for the upcoming four nuclear reactors at Gorakhpur in Haryana and two at Kaiga in Karnataka. 'We are hoping to get more orders in the future. The Indian nuclear industry is set to expand rapidly, and we hope to play an important role in its growth,' Kubal said. India has set its eyes at achieving 100 GW of installed nuclear energy capacity by 2047. There are 24 nuclear reactors operational in India, with an installed capacity of 8,780 MW. The government had approved construction of 10 more nuclear reactors in 2015, of which one has come onboard, while the rest — with a combined capacity of 13.6 GW — are under construction. The immediate target is to achieve 22.4 GW of installed capacity by 2032. The government has also launched a `20,000-crore Nuclear Energy Mission to develop Small Modular Reactors.
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
India's global rise driven by internal transformation, scientific progress: PM Modi's Principal Secretary Mishra
NEW DELHI: Dr PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that India's rising geopolitical influence, strategic partnerships, global diaspora, and soft power are key factors which amplify its international presence. Addressing the graduating Scientific Officers today at the 68th Graduation Function in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Training School, marking a milestone for the institution and the next generation of India's scientific community, Dr Mishra outlined India's advancements in every field. He remarked on the legacy of BARC and the vision of Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha, praising the institution for its training excellence and contributions to India's development. He highlighted India's global rise driven by internal transformation and shifting international dynamics, noting strengths such as youth demographics, infrastructure expansion, and technological achievements. Highlighting the Prime Minister's vision for Vikshit Bharat in 2047, he underscored the importance of 'reform, perform, and transform' in transforming the country into a developed nation. Dr Mishra cited multiple national achievements such as India's position as the third-largest startup ecosystem with over 100 unicorns. He also added that the scale of digital infrastructure, including UPI processing over 185 billion transactions in 2024–25 and bold climate commitments including 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and initiatives like the National Green Hydrogen Mission, have helped the country move forward. Noting the successful opening of the space sector, Mishra remarked that similar initiatives are envisaged for atomic energy, essential for clean energy and national security. He also highlighted key budget announcements from the Budget 2024–25 like R&D support for Bharat Small Modular Reactors and advanced nuclear technologies and a targeted expansion to 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, with proposed amendments to relevant legislation enabling private sector participation.
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Govt plans to open up the atomic energy sector like the space sector: P.K. Mishra
Measures similar to the successful opening up of the space sector are envisaged for the atomic energy sector as well, which is essential for clean energy and national security, said P. K. Mishra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday. The government is planning to expand nuclear power capacity to 100 gigawatt (GW) by 2047, Mishra said while speaking at the 68th graduation functionin the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Training School in Mumbai. Mishra highlighted key announcements in the Union Budget 2024-25, including research and development support for Bharat small modular reactors, advanced nuclear technologies, and the planned nuclear power capacity addition with the proposed amendments to relevant legislation enabling private sector participation, an official statement said. Mishra was referring to the proposed amendments to the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, with the aim of attracting private sector investment in the nuclear power sector. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech in 2024, said nuclear energy is expected to form a significant part of Viksit Bharat's energy mix. The minister had said then that to pursue that goal, the government will partner with the private sector to set up small reactors, conduct research and development for Bharat small modular reactors, and develop newer nuclear energy technologies. The government's ₹ 1 trillion research fund announced in 2024 will finance these projects. Mishra emphasized that nuclear energy presents a major opportunity for sustainable growth and clean power in response to climate challenges. India has 8.7GW of nuclear power generation capacity now. Acknowledging the capital-intensive nature of nuclear energy projects, Mishra said timely completion, access to low-cost finance, and leveraging private sector capabilities are key to lowering tariffs and improving feasibility. He encouraged researchers to innovate in cost-reduction strategies to make nuclear energy India's preferred power source. Mishra underscored the importance of strengthening safety governance, citing the roles of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the BARC Safety Council. He called for revisiting regulatory mechanisms and investing in further safety-related research, especially as private sector participation expands. He emphasized that public confidence in safety standards must be a top priority. Mishra referred to India's strengths, such as youth demographics, infrastructure expansion and technological achievements and highlighted the importance of the government's guiding principle—'reform, perform, and transform'—in transforming the country into a developed nation. He said India's position as the third-largest startup ecosystem with over 100 unicorns, the scale of digital infrastructure, including UPI processing over 185 billion transactions in 2024-25, bold climate commitments, including 500GW non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, and initiatives like the National Green Hydrogen Mission, are national achievements. Underscoring nuclear energy's societal impact, Mishra cited the use of radio isotopes in cancer care and radiation technologies in wastewater treatment and agriculture storage. Mishra urged the scientific community to commercialize spin-off technologies emerging from research labs.
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
July 16, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Black Box Analysis
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the engineering department of Air India are all set to extract a read-out and a print-out of the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data recorder of the ill-fated Air India jumbo Kanishka that perished in the Atlantic off the Irish coast on June 23. The Sri Lankan President, J R Jayewardene, has offered to grant 'sufficient autonomy' to Tamil areas of the island to resolve the ethnic issue, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said. The offer had come during the talks the Sri Lankan President had with the Prime Minister. Virtually ruling out support for a separate Eelam, the Prime Minister told a news conference at Raj Bhavan that 'we will not support anything more than what is available in India'. The overseas wing of the so-called Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) seems to be disintegrating and its former president, Amanullah Khan, is so frustrated with what he called 'integral politics' that he is now seriously thinking of setting up his headquarters in some Middle East country, possibly the UAE. After a fiery four-and-a-half-hour discussion over the 'Dharavi land scandal', the entire Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly walked out for the day in protest against the government's refusal to appoint a committee of House members to probe the 'deal'. Leader of the Opposition Sharad Pawar did not agree with Minister of State for Urban Development Ram Manohar Tripathi's offer to ask the chief secretary to investigate the land deal.
Indian Express
14-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
July 14, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Black boxes in India
The black boxes of the ill-fated 'Kanishka' Jumbo jet are likely to be taken to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) or the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) for analysis. The box is in the safe custody of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Both the BARC and TIFR had sophisticated computers to decode the messages recorded in the cockpit voice and digital flight data recorder. Sri Lanka talks The dialogue between the Sri Lanka government and its minority Tamils battling for greater autonomy was kept alive as the first phase of their talks in the Bhutanese capital of Thimpu ended with an agreement to resume on August 12. The Sri Lankan government is expected to bring up fresh proposals on devolution of powers to meet the autonomy demand when the talks resume. No harsh measures Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made it clear that there was no question of imposing emergency now and he was in favour of settlement of all issues through negotiations . The PM pointed out that at no stage either at his press conference in Delhi or in the past had he said that he would impose an emergency. Union Carbide sued A total of 21,477 Indians were named in a new personal injury lawsuit, filed in a Federal court against the Union Carbide Corporation concerning the 1984 leak of a toxic gas in Bhopal. Melvin Belli, the first US lawyer to file a suit after the accident in India on December 3 that killed about 2,500 people and injured 200,000 represents nearly 25,000 Indians in two separate lawsuits. The suit asks $15 billion in damages to compensate the victims and to punish the company for negligence.
