RAS question
RAPS-1, India's first PHWR unit, was set up with assistance from:
Correct answer: (C) Canada.
RAPS-1, India's first PHWR unit at Rawatbhata, was set up with Canadian assistance and was based on the CANDU design.
Explanation
RAPS-1 is a standard RAS marker for the origin of India's PHWR programme. It was a 100 MW PHWR built with Canadian assistance on the CANDU design and commissioned in 1973. ECIL's nuclear portfolio lists RAPS-1 as the exception among operating nuclear power reactors whose control and instrumentation packages were otherwise designed by BARC/NPCIL and supplied by ECIL: RAPS-1 was supplied by Canada, while TAPS-1 and TAPS-2 were supplied by the USA. After India's 1974 nuclear test, Canada withdrew cooperation; RAPS-2 and later PHWRs were built entirely by India, which is why the episode is linked with nuclear self-reliance.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) France is not linked to the setting up of RAPS-1; its association is with later reprocessing help, not India's first PHWR unit.
- (B) Russia is the relevant foreign partner for Kudankulam, whereas RAPS-1 was Canadian-assisted and Canada-supplied.
- (D) The USA is associated with TAPS-1 and TAPS-2, which ECIL separately identifies as USA-supplied BWR units, not with RAPS-1.
Concept
This tests the history of India's nuclear power programme, especially early reactor technology transfer and the shift towards indigenous PHWR capability. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan's Rawatbhata site connects state geography with national science-and-technology policy.