Tarapur Atomic Power Station 4.52

Tarapur Atomic Power Station is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.Tarapur is the largest nuclear power station in India. It was constructed initially with two boiling water reactor units by Bechtel and GE under the 1963 123 Agreement between India, the United States, and the International Atomic Energy Agency . Units 1 and 2 were brought online for commercial operation on 28 October 1969 with an initial power of 210 MW of electricity, later on this was reduced to 160 MW due to technical difficulties. These were the first of their kind in Asia. More recently, an additional two pressurised heavy water reactor units of 540 MW each were constructed by L&T and Gammon India, seven months ahead of schedule and well within the original cost estimates. Unit 3 was brought online for commercial operation on 18 August 2006, and unit 4 on 12 September 2005.HistoryWith a total capacity of 1400 MW, Tarapur is the largest nuclear power station in India. The facility is operated by the NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India).The personnel operating the power plant live in a residential complex called T. A. P. S. colony, which is a fifteen-minute drive from Boisar, the nearest railway station. The residential complex was also constructed by Bechtel to house both Indian and American employees. Due to this, the residential complex had a very Indian small-town look, with neat sidewalks, spacious houses, a club with tennis courts, swimming pool, a commissary etc. While the original American residents have long gone, the colony continues to thrive.