Question

    Consider the following statements regarding the Nuclear Power Programme of India :

    1. Pressurized heavy water reactors have been set up at Kaiga (Karnataka) and Rawatbhata (Rajasthan).

    2. Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata is one of the five Research Centers under the Department of Science and Technology.

    3. India has a vast resource of Thorium and the third stage of Indian Nuclear Power Programme envisages the use of Thorium for power generation.

    Which of these statements is/are correct?

    A 2 only Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    B 1 and 2 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    C 1 and 3 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    D 1, 2 and 3 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer

    Solution

    The Government has accorded administrative approval and financial sanction for construction of 10 indigenous 700 MW Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in fleet mode.   The reactors are planned at Kaiga, Karnataka (Kaiga-5&6), Gorakhpur, Haryana (GHAVP- 3&4), Chutka, Madhya Pradesh (Chutka-1&2) and Mahi Banswara, Rajasthan (Units-1 to 4). The Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP), located in Rawatbhata in the north Indian state of Rajasthan, currently has six pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) units, operating with a total installed capacity of 1,180MW. Hence Statement 1 is correct. Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata is one of the five Research Centres under the Department of Atomic Energy. Statement 2 is incorrect. Hence India's three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha in the 1950s. The first two stages, natural uranium- fueled heavy water reactors and plutonium-fueled fast breeder reactors, are intended to generate sufficient fissile material from India's limited uranium resources, so that all its vast thorium reserves can be fully utilized in the third stage of thermal breeder reactors. Hence Statement 3 is correct.

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