The operating nuclear power stations of India, run mainly by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which use controlled nuclear fission to generate electricity, located by state and coast for siting reasons.
- Tarapur (Maharashtra) was India's first nuclear power station, commissioned in 1969; other stations include Kakrapar (Gujarat), Rawatbhata or RAPS (Rajasthan), Kaiga (Karnataka), Kalpakkam or MAPS (Tamil Nadu), Narora (Uttar Pradesh), and Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu, with Russian collaboration).
- Most reactors are indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) using natural uranium and heavy water; Kudankulam uses Russian light-water VVER reactors.
- India follows a three-stage nuclear programme designed by Homi Bhabha: stage one PHWRs (uranium), stage two fast breeder reactors (plutonium), and stage three thorium-based reactors using India's large thorium reserves (monazite sands of Kerala and Tamil Nadu).
- The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam represents stage two; civilian nuclear cooperation expanded after the 2008 India-US civil nuclear deal and the NSG waiver.
- Atomic energy is regulated by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and policy is set under the Department of Atomic Energy.
State-plant matching (Tarapur, Kudankulam, Kaiga, Narora, Kalpakkam, Rawatbhata, Kakrapar), Tarapur as the first plant, and the three-stage programme (uranium, plutonium, thorium) are repeatedly tested.
Tarapur (Maharashtra) is the first; Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu) is Russian-aided; Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu) hosts the fast breeder; do not confuse Narora (UP) with Kakrapar (Gujarat). Verify the latest commissioned units.
NPCIL stations: Tarapur (first), Kakrapar, Rawatbhata, Kaiga, Kalpakkam, Narora, Kudankulam, within Bhabha's three-stage uranium-plutonium-thorium plan.