2 min readNew DelhiMar 21, 2026 04:08 AM IST
NTPC is looking at imported Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR) technology for its planned nuclear fleet and is in talks with various players in France, Russia and the United States, said K Shanmugha Sundaram, Chairman of NTPC Parmanu Urja Nigam Limited (NPUNL), a subsidiary of NTPC.
In a discussion at Bharat Electricity Summit 2026, Sundaram said NTPC’s planned 30 GWe of capacity will be a mix of both indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) and imported PWRs. NTPC, a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power, formed NPUNL in January 2025 and plans to build 30 GWe of nuclear power by 2047.
“The combination will be between the existing technology, the proven technology, the cheapest technology, that is PHWR. Then we will also explore PwR, of course, from the various players from the country of France, Russia, even USA.
We are exploring that,” he said, adding that a certain percentage will also be small modular reactors. While PHWRs use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as both coolant and moderator, PWRs are light water reactors (LWR) that use enriched uranium as fuel and ordinary water as the moderator and coolant.
LWRs entail simpler design and engineering compared to heavy water reactors given that they use normal water as both coolant and moderator and so have some degree of overlap with the technology used by regular thermal power units (coal-fired and gas-based power plants). They typically entail lower construction cost and make up most of the global installed nuclear capacity. LWRs are also seen as being more thermal efficient.
They use normal water and need enriched uranium as fuel.
Given that access to enriched uranium is not a constraint in much of the western world, LWRs are used extensively by the US, Russia and France and now form the backbone of most international reactor fleets.
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