Why it is in the news
At 15:18 on 19 September 2026, initial fuel loading began at Unit 8 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan — a 700 MWe indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) cleared the step after safety evaluations, system integrity audits and site readiness reviews, and NPCIL called it a milestone that “strengthens the standardisation” of the 700 MWe design for fleet deployment.
The exam angle
Issue: India has committed to 100 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2047 from a base of 8.78 GWe. Is the binding constraint on that expansion technological, financial, regulatory or legal — and does the answer point towards fleet-mode indigenous PHWRs, imported large reactors, or small modular reactors?