“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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