Govt Working On SOP For Small Modular N-reactors Manufacturing

New Delhi, Nov 4 (KNN) The central government is planning to offer SOPs along the lines of a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing small modular reactors (SMR), aiming to increase the share of nuclear power in India’s energy basket, reported Mint. 

Two people in the know told Mint that the department of atomic energy (DAE) is working on the scheme with inputs from the NITI Aayog. SMRs are smaller reactors that can be factory-built, unlike conventional nuclear reactors that are built on site.

They have a power capacity of up to 300 MW per unit—which is about a third of the capacity of traditional nuclear reactors. But, being a mobile and agile technology, they can be set up in locations not suitable for larger plants.

“Several clean energy technologies have grown in the country with initial support from the government and in the case of SMRs too a similar scheme is required to attract private investments and scale up production to lower the cost," said one of the two people mentioned above.

PLI schemes, introduced in 2020, allow the government to provide financial incentives in terms of a share of the sales value. So far, the government has announced PLI schemes for 14 sectors with an outlay of Rs 1.97 trillion.

Similarly, the ministry of new and renewable energy has come up with Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (Sight) programme for incentivizing the production of green hydrogen and electrolyzers with an outlay of over Rs 17,000 crore.

The second person said that before announcing the scheme, the government would look at having an India-made prototype ready.

“The first requirement is to build some kind of a prototype and then commercial-scale production will have to be looked at. Private players are very much interested in producing SMRs in India," the person added.

Further, the government is also working on the regulatory aspect to ensure safeguards and safety aspects for usage and adoption of SMRs.

(KNN Bureau)