North India’s first Nuclear Plant is coming up in Haryana in the town of Gorakhpur

Source: The post is based on the article “North India’s first Nuclear Plant is coming up in Haryana in the town of Gorakhpur” published in PIB on 20th February 2023

What is the News?

The Union Minister of Atomic Energy and Space has announced that North India’s first nuclear plant will soon be operational in Haryana’s Gorakhpur.

About Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Plant

Located in: Haryana 

Features: It will have two units of 700 MWe capacity each of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) indigenous design.

Significance: This will be a major achievement since the installation of nuclear and atomic energy plants was earlier confined mostly to southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and in western Maharashtra.

What is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor(PHWR)?

PHWR is a nuclear power reactor, commonly using unenriched natural uranium as its fuel. It uses heavy water (Deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and moderator.

The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure, allowing it to be heated to higher temperatures without boiling, much as in a typical pressurized water reactor.

While heavy water is significantly more expensive than ordinary light water, it yields greatly enhanced neutron economy, allowing the reactor to operate without fuel enrichment facilities.