Tarapur is a census town in Thane district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is an industrial town located some 45km north of Virar, on the Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Division (Mumbai Suburban Railway). Tarapur can be reached from Boisar, the nearest railway station. It is 20km off National Highway NH-8. The Tarapur nuclear power station houses two boiling water reactors (BWRs), each of 200 MW (De-rated to 160MW), the first in Asia, and a recent unit with two pressurised heavy water reactors each of 540 MW. This PHWR based power station is not only the largest nuclear power reactor in the country but also the largest power unit in India. It was commissioned seven months ahead of schedule, at a cost much lower than the original estimate, by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. Tarapur Atomic Power Station (320 MW) (T.A.P.S.) was constructed by the American companies Bechtel and GE near village Akkarpatti. The new reactors (1080 MW) were constructed by L & T and...
