NEW DELHI, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- India now has nine nuclear power reactors at various stages of construction in India, and 12 more will be built in the near future, Junior Minister for Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh said here on Thursday.
The construction of all 21 nuclear power reactors with an installed capacity of 15,700 megawatts (MW) are expected to be completed by the year 2031, he added.
These new nuclear reactors are located in various states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Discussions on project proposals of setting up a large size Light Water Reactor (LWR) in collaboration with France in south-western state of Maharashtra, and with the United States in southern state of Andhra Pradesh are underway, the minister said.
According to the minister, the existing units are operating at their rated capacity. The unit size of indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) has already been increased from 220 MW to 540 MW and then to 700 MW, which are now under construction.
In addition, LWR of 1000 MW have also been introduced with foreign cooperation.
