India will begin construction of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) this year, marking launch of stage III of the country's nuclear programme.
"We will start the construction on the AHWR sometime this year," Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said in a presentation at a theme session on Energy Security at the Indian Science Congress in Chidambaram.
He said the thorium-based AHWR was currently undergoing pre-licensing review by the Atomic Energry Regulatory Board.
The AHWR, a 300 MW technology demonstrator reactor, will take about five to six years to complete and cost between Rs five and six crore per mega watt.
Being developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the AHWR aims to meet the objectives of using thorium fuel cycles for commercial power generation.
However, Kakodkar refused to reveal the site where the reactor would be built.
"We will make the announcement at an appropriate time," he said.