Electricity Generated from Nuclear Power Plants

Electricity generated by central sector generating stations is allocated to the beneficiary States and Union Territories in the electricity region by the Ministry of Power (MoP). As per the extant guidelines of MoP, 50% of power is allocated to ‘Home’ State, 15% unallocated power kept at the disposal of Government of India and 35% is allocated to other constituents (except ‘Home’ State) of that region.

The present tariffs of nuclear power range from Rs 1.07 per unit in case of the oldest nuclear power station, Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) – 1&2 at Tarapur, Maharashtra to Rs 4.10 in case of the latest station, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) -1&2 at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu. Nuclear power tariffs are comparable to those from contemporary units of other electricity generating technologies located in the area.

Reducing costs of nuclear power is an ongoing effort. In respect of indigenously designed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), efforts in this regard have included increasing unit size from 220 MW to 540 MW and further to 700 MW to gain from economies of scale, standardisation, improvement in design and efficiency and optimisation of gestation period. In respect of projects to be set up with foreign cooperation, the measures include adopting appropriate business models to arrive at competitive unit cost.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.