By IANS
Tarapur (Maharashtra) : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, facing heat over the India-US nuclear deal, will this week visit Tarapur, a picturesque fishing hamlet not far from Mumbai that is often called the cradle of India’s atomic energy programme.
On Friday, Manmohan Singh will visit Tarapur, nearly 100 km from Mumbai, and dedicate to the nation two 540 MW state-of-the-art pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), said officials of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
“It is a major event for us as the prime minister himself will witness the operation of these two indigenous plants,” an official said.
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar and NPCIL chairman and managing director S.K. Jain will be present on the occasion besides top officials of the nuclear sector.
Later, Manmohan Singh will visit the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay in Mumbai and address scientists there.
The Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) houses four nuclear power reactors – TAPS 1 and 2 and TAPS 3 and 4.
While TAPS 1 and 2 are boiling water reactors (BWRs) that started producing power in 1969, TAPS 3 and 4 are PHWRs. TAPS 4 was commissioned 2005 and TAPS 3 followed a year later.
“These two reactors are the largest single power producing unit in the country,” said the official.
“When TAPS 1&2 were commissioned it heralded the power generation programme and when the two PHWRs were commissioned, it marked the watershed for high-efficiency PHWRs,” said a source here, adding that PHWRs are currently the mainstay of nuclear power programme.
“Today TAPS 3&4 represents the most modern technology,” the source said. TAPS is an active member of World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and contributes to various programmes.
In future, the 540 MW model will be scaled up to 700 MW, said NPCIL sources.
Manmohan Singh’s Tarapur visit will assume significance in view of the political developments in recent weeks over the India-US civil nuclear energy deal.
The Left parties have fiercely criticised the agreement and threatened to withdraw their support to the Manmohan Singh government if steps were taken to “operationalise” the deal.
The contentious deal has also led to a debate on nuclear power and the prime minister visiting Tarapur – the ancestral home of late Homi Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme – is expected to touch upon the issue.