AERB Clears First Concrete Pour for Kaiga 700 MWe PHWRs

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has issued consent for the First Pour of Concrete for Kaiga Units 5 and 6, two 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors at the Kaiga site in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, under notice KAIGA-5&6/CN/FPC/0/24022026 dated 24 February 2026. The consent is valid for five years, up to and including 28 February 2031, and by regulatory definition moves the project into the formal construction phase.

AERB’s decision followed a multi-tier safety review that culminated in Board approval on 23 February 2026 and the formal consent document the next day. AERB’s review pathway encompassed initial vetting by the Nuclear Projects Safety Division and identified Review Groups and Divisions, subsequent consideration by Tier-I and Tier-II regulatory committees, and final consideration by the Board. The regulator’s notification makes clear the application and supporting submissions passed those reviews before the FPC consent was granted.

Preparatory and earthworks on site have been under way for several years. Excavation works for Kaiga 5 and 6 began in May 2022, and AERB’s notification notes that “Excavation activities for identified safety-related structures at Kaiga-5&6 have been completed. Post-excavation investigations for Nuclear Building, Control Building and Station Auxiliary Building have been completed and are nearing completion for other structures. Preparatory activities for First Pour of Concrete are in progress.”

The project is being executed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited using a reference design based on Kakrapar Atomic Power Station Units 3 and 4. The two new 700 MWe PHWRs are cited as part of a planned fleet of ten similar reactors. Industrial supply is advancing in parallel: Larsen & Toubro has manufactured and dispatched four of the eight steam generators earmarked for Kaiga 5 and 6.

A K Balasubrahmanian, AERB chairman, framed the permission as the outcome of rigorous assessment, saying, “AERB's permission for Kaiga 5 and 6 follows an extensive review to ensure compliance to safety and regulatory requirements and paves the path for construction of nuclear power plant based on approved design, safety analysis and following the requisite quality assurance requirements.”

Industry observers and job-market feeds described the FPC consent as a symbolic milestone marking the shift from earthworks to nuclear island construction, and commentators linked the move to India’s wider reactor deployment plans and discussion of small modular reactor and thorium pathways. Social posts from industry accounts reiterated that the consent represents the official start of construction at Kaiga.

With the regulatory green light and key hardware in production, the immediate next milestones for Kaiga 5 and 6 are the actual event of the first concrete pour for the nuclear island and delivery of the remaining four steam generators from L&T; neither the date for the pour nor a commercial operation target has been published in the consent documentation.