India, June 24 -- India's quest for non-fossil fuel power generation has led to renewed enthusiasm for nuclear power. The budget for the current fiscal announced plans to have 100 GW nuclear capacity by 2047. Apart from this, India is also targeting setting up five small modular reactors (SMRs) by 2033 for which the required research and development would be executed.

SMRs are typically small reactors, in the range of 250-300 MW, whose components can be assembled at site. There are many advantages of SMRs, the most important being that they can be ramped up and down to smoothen the grid on account of intermittency of renewable generation, lowering the need for coal-based generation as the stabiliser. There are other benefits too, for exa...