We are pleased to report that the US Department of Energy has granted a specific authorization under 10CFR810.9 to Holtec International, with the Indian Government’s (GOI) concurrence, to sell the Company’s flagship small modular reactor SMR-300™ for deployment in the Republic of India. The authorization names three Indian companies – Larsen & Tubro (Mumbai), Tata Consulting Engineers (Mumbai) and the Company’s own subsidiary, Holtec Asia (Pune) – as eligible entities with whom Holtec can share necessary technical information to execute its SMR-300™ program. The action to add additional GOI-owned entities such as NPCIL, DAE, AERB and NTPC, to the eligible list has been delayed until the matter of assurances needed by the US from India is resolved to both countries’ satisfaction. Adding other Indian companies to the authorized list, needed to execute our SMR-300 program, will require an amendment to this authorization (IN-2023-001 dated March 26, 2025), which we expect to initiate shortly.
We thank the officials of USG in the DOE, NNSA, State and NSC (White House) who spearheaded the evaluation of our application and their counterparts in the GOI for effectuating this authorization which promises to deliver on the expectations set by the historic “123 Agreement” signed by the two governments in 2008.
Dr. Singh meets PM Modi in New York (Nov 2024) to discuss SMRs for India.
“We are thrilled that the US and India are authorizing the introduction of the pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology to India which, after 80 years of extensive operational experience, has emerged as the de facto global standard for commercial reactors that has been adopted by every major nuclear energy producer country in the world. Furthermore, our SMR-300™ checks every box relevant to India’s needs and circumstances, such as a standardized design that is seismically competent to be deployed anywhere in India, one that requires only 25 acres (and no exclusion zone!) of land to house two reactors (600 MWe power output), one that can be operated using air (in lieu of water) as the “waste heat sink” in a water-challenged region, and one that can be substantially shop manufactured requiring minimal field erection effort,” says Dr. Kris Singh, Holtec’s CEO who personally led Holtec’s drive to win the acceptance of both governments.
The specific authorization granted to Holtec to build our SMR-300™ reactors in India with the participation of eligible Indian companies shows the USG’s and GOI’s shared interest in boosting India’s nuclear energy output which, presently at 8.5 GW, must be increased multi-fold by 2047 (the year that would mark the centennial of India’s independence) when PM Modi has vowed that the country’s economic prosperity would reach the level of the world’s leading developed economies.
However, to realize a rapid build-out of nuclear plants, India still needs to remove the legal barriers that stand in the way because of previously enacted laws that:
1. Prohibit ownership of nuclear plants by private industry, and
2. Expose the private sector reactor suppliers to unlimited liability.
We understand that the GOI is actively working on legislation to permit private sector investment in the nuclear sector and to align the suppliers’ financial exposure with global norms. Considering India’s similar breakthroughs in other cutting edge technology areas such as space, drone, semi-conductors, and jet engines in recent years, we are reasonably certain that the necessary laws will be passed this year to remove the barriers to enable the rise of nuclear power in the country. With the necessary legislation passed by Lok Sabha, we believe that the nuclear renaissance, now sweeping the world, will arrive in that vast land transforming its clean energy generation landscape.
“The small land requirement, merely 25 acres to house two SMR-300s and no need to surround the plant with an Exclusion Zone is particularly important for a well-populated country like India,” says Holtec’s President for Clean Energy Opportunities, Dr. Rick Springman, responsible for global adoption of SMR-300s including the US where the demand for clean nuclear energy, fueled by data centers, is on a spectacular ascent.
Holtec plans to adapt the SMR-300 for 50 Hz electricity (as opposed to 60 HZ used in the US) if successful in the Great British Nuclear (GBN) program, which will pave the way for use in India and other 50 Hz markets. Any further adaptations of the technology necessary to comply with Indian regulations or design standards would be done in partnership with Holtec Asia and other Indian partners (subject to the applicable 810 export control restrictions). The Company also plans to conjugate its solar energy capture (HI-THERM HCSP) and long- duration thermal energy storage (Green Boiler) technologies with SMR-300 to leverage the advantages of the sun-drenched country to further boost the nuclear plant’s power output.
“The small land requirement, merely 25 acres to house two SMR-300s and no need to surround the plant with an Exclusion Zone is particularly important for a well-populated country like India,” says Holtec’s President for Clean Energy Opportunities, Dr. Rick Springman, responsible for global adoption of SMR-300s including the US where the demand for clean nuclear energy, fueled by data centers, is on a spectacular ascent.