On 21 May 2006, Unit 3 of Nuclear
Power Corporation of India's Tarapur Atomic Power Plant in Maharashtra attained
criticality. The 540 MWe unit will begin commercial production by August 2006.
The project was completed at a cost Rs.6,100 crore that was aorund Rs.400 crore
lower than the anticipated cost.
Both TAPP-3 & 4 are based on
pressurized heavy water reactor technology and use uranium as fuel. Both the
reactors use heavy water as both moderator and coolant.
TAPP-3 and TAPP-4 (that turned
critical in March 2005) will supply electricity to western states like
Maharashtra, Goa and Chhattisgarh. However, Maharashtra would received the
highest share of 38 per cent.
Both the reactors are not on the
civilian list of nuclear reactors and so are excluded from safeguards by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The commissioning of Unit-3 will take
NPCIL's total number of reactors in operation to 16 with a total capacity of
3,850 MWe.
Also See:
TAPP-3:
Fuel loading complete (20-May-06)
Related Links:
Project
profile