Aug. 17, 2007 (LPAC)--India's Prime Minister's Office announced India's plan to build eight more Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 Mwe capacity using natural uranium as fuel, to be commissioned by 2012. India, suffering from an acute electrical power shortage, has an ambitious plan to add another 78,500 MW of power generation capacity by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2011).

This announcement is significant in light of the fact that the U.S.-India nuclear deal, which would enable India to import reactors from abroad, has come under strong attack from the Indian parliamentarians, the majority of whom have come to the conclusion that the deal would undermine India's sovereignty. However, the Indian Constitution does not authorize the Parliament to undo any deal carried out by the government-of-the-day. On the other hand, if the deal is implemented, the government may have to pay a heavy political price in the coming days.

India has in operation 15 nuclear plants, the largest two are of 540 Mwe capacity, and seven more are under construction. The ones under construction and the eight announced would add another 10,000 Mwe to the power grid. After 2012, with the addition of the 15 total new plants, the contribution of electricity generated by nuclear fuel would still be only about 7 percent. In the future, India plans to depend heavily on the indigenously-developed Thorium-fuelled reactors. The first of these Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs) is scheduled for construction beginning 2010.