BARC Scientists Scout Andaman Islands for Small Modular Reactor Sites

On September 4, 2026, a handful of scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) set foot in Port Blair – now called Sri Vijaya Puram – with a clear mission: hunt down the most suitable plots for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) on the islands. Their agenda was simple, yet ambitious – find a clean, reliable power source that could keep up with the islands’ growing energy appetite.

That morning the team met Admiral D K Joshi (Retd), the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the scientists rolled out a presentation that walked through a handful of candidate sites, pointing out terrain, accessibility and proximity to key infrastructure. Joshi, who also serves as vice‑chairman of the Islands Development Agency, nodded approvingly and promised full administrative support.

For the next four days, the BARC crew will criss‑cross the three districts – North, Middle and South Andaman, plus the remote Great Nicobar. They’ll be measuring coastal gradients, checking seismic data and chatting with local officials to gauge how each location might accommodate an SMR that’s roughly the size of a shipping container.

The push for nuclear‑scale power isn’t born out of thin air. The Great Nicobar Project – a massive plan that envisions a deep‑sea port, an international container hub and a new airport – will dramatically raise the islands’ electricity demand. Right now the archipelago leans heavily on diesel generators that are shipped in from the mainland. Those machines are noisy, polluting and, frankly, a bit of a logistical nightmare when the seas get rough.

Over the years the government has toyed with alternatives: an offshore LNG re‑gasification plant that never materialised, and a fledgling geothermal study that’s still in its infancy. None of those options have delivered a viable, near‑term solution.

Enter SMRs. Unlike their colossal, multi‑gigawatt cousins, SMRs can be custom‑designed to fit cramped island landscapes, require far less land and are touted as easier to operate and maintain. They also have the neat side‑effect of producing low‑grade heat that can be turned into fresh water – a bonus for a region that wrestles with water scarcity.

Admiral Joshi, a former chief of the Indian Navy, stressed the strategic angle during the Bharat Electricity Summit’s Power Ministers’ Roundtable earlier this year. “These islands sit over a thousand kilometres from the mainland, yet they guard the Six Degree Channel – a vital choke point for maritime traffic heading to the Strait of Malacca,” he said. “Reliable, clean power is not just an economic need; it’s a national security imperative.”

He also noted that several nations operating in Seismic Zone‑V – the same high‑risk earthquake belt that the Andamans occupy – are already running small‑scale nuclear installations, some even mounted on floating barges. The flexibility and rapid scalability of SMRs, coupled with their potential for on‑site desalination, make them an attractive proposition for the islands’ future.

Sources close to the Lieutenant Governor say he was particularly impressed by the BARC team’s thorough site‑assessment methodology and has pledged to smooth any bureaucratic hurdles that may arise.

If all goes according to plan, the first SMR could be commissioned within the next decade, gradually phasing out diesel generators and giving the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago a more sustainable, resilient energy backbone.