India: Cost of Electricity from Nuclear Reactors

All below in context of India:

NPC - Nuclear Power Corporation
DAE - Department of Atomic Energy
HWB - Heavy Water Board, part of DAE

Source is http://www.epw.org.in/uploads/articles/10958.pdf, (author: M V Ramana).

DAE does poor accounting and refuses to provide performance figures even to official and parliamentary committees. The cited paper tries to show that heavy water production in India is highly subsidized, and if it is taken into account it will contribute to significant real cost of electricity generated by nuclear reactors.


Heavy water is produced by HWB in India. HWB uses two different technologies for this production, both imported from other countries.

Its Kota and Manuguru (AP) plants use H2S water exchange process using Canada's design.

Its Vadodara and Tuticorin plants use NH3 hydrogen exchange process imported from French GELPRA after 1969 agreement with France. Tuticorin plant construction was helped by Japan also with France. Talcher plant, its operation suspended since 1994, was established with help of German firm UHDE.

(this summary is in progress)