Adani, Reliance Among Six Private Firms Evince Interest In BSMRs; 16 Sites Under Review
The above industries have also identified probable sites for the BSMRs and have submitted preliminary site reports of 16 sites in different states.
At least six private companies, including Reliance Industries and Adani Power, have evinced interest in setting up Bharat small modular reactors (BSMRs) and identified 16 probable sites across six states.
The six corporates who have responded to the request for proposals by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to set up small modular reactors also include Jindal Steel and Power, Tata Power, Hindalco Industries and JSW Energy.
The above industries have also identified probable sites for the BSMRs and have submitted preliminary site reports of 16 sites in different states viz, five sites in Gujarat, four in Madhya Pradesh, three in Odisha, two in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the NPCIL said.
The NPCIL, which operates all nuclear power plants in the country, had invited proposals from the industry for setting up two 220 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) from the industry for their own use.
The last date for submitting proposals was September 30. However, following a request from the industry to, the deadline has been extended to March 31, next year.
Hindalco, Jindal Steel, Tata Power and Reliance Industries have submitted the documents specified in the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and collected the BoQ (bill of quantities), plant performance data and O&M (operation and maintenance) expenditure data, the NPCIL said.
JSW Energy and Adani Power have submitted documents for signing the NDA and the same are under evaluation and further processing, the NPCIL said.
The BSMRs will be constructed and operated under NPCIL's supervision. The state-run company will retain operational control and asset ownership, while the successful bidders will hold beneficial rights over the net electricity generated.
According to the RFP (request for proposal) documents, the successful bidder must finance the entire project, including capital and operational expenditure, and will be required to reimburse NPCIL for all costs incurred across the lifecycle -- from pre-project assessments to decommissioning. In return, they will gain assured long-term access to the full electricity output for captive use.
The BSMRs will be used by energy intensive industries such as steel, aluminium, and cement and can be set up by repurposing thermal power plants that are to be decommissioned.
They will have passive safety features as well as several engineered systems to ensure nuclear safety during accidents. Systems are planned to handle used fuel and its storage in-situ.
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