PM to Lay Foundation Stone of Haryana Nuclear Plant in January...

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone of Rs 23,502 crore nuclear power plant, to be set up at Gorakhpur in Haryana's Fatehabad district, in January next year.

The Prime Minister would also address a public meeting after laying the foundation stone of the plant, Additional Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), C B S Venkataramanna said today.          

About 1,503 acres of land has been acquired for setting up the plant and compensation amounting to Rs 450 crore has been given to the farmers whose land was acquired, a Haryana government release quoted Venkataramanna as saying.      

Scientists of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) have conducted various surveys and tests at the site of the plant, he said.      

The setting up of this plant would accelerate the pace of development and new ventures would come up which would lead to creation of jobs and increase income of the people, the release said.       

It said the Gorakhpur-Kajalheri road would soon be constructed along the plant so as to provide better connectivity to the people.           

Gorakhpur village would be developed as a Model Village under Corporate Social Responsibility and for this, a detailed action plan has been provided to NPCIL which would cover various issues like development of village, training to youths, women's development, education and health.         

The area is home to several wildlife species and special arrangements have been made for their conservation.          

Directions have been issued in this regard to NPCIL so that better and safe places could be provided for the wildlife species, it said.

Source

Read More...

India will not halt nuclear programme...

 

India will continue its nuclear programme without any interruption, irrespective of decisions taken by other countries, said R.K. Sinha, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy on Wednesday.

Referring to Germany and Japan, which plan to end their dependence on nuclear energy, Dr. Sinha said India had no reason to follow these countries.

“We have been pursuing our nuclear programme on our own. We are in the process of establishing new nuclear power plants across India, without being dependent on any foreign country. There is no question of following them and halting our nuclear programme,” as said by Dr. Sinha. He said the Japanese government may decide to return to nuclear power in future, after completing security inspections.

On the proposed 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant to be set up in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, Dr. Sinha said the techno-commercial agreement with the French company Areva was yet to be signed and negotiations had not been concluded.

Areva will be providing six European Pressurised Reactors to this project, the work on which is expected to begin by October 2015.

“The issues such as deciding the cost of electricity and the liability are pending. But we are confident that the issues will be resolved and we will not miss the deadline,” he said.

Earlier, Dr. Sinha delivered an address at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre here on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the late Homi Jahangir Bhabha.

He said improved uranium supply from domestic and international sources had led to the growth of nuclear power generation.

“As a result of using advanced techniques, we have been able to identify new resources of uranium. In the last year our reserves have registered an increase of about 5 per cent,” he said.

On the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, he said commercial operations of one unit would start by December 2013.

Source

Read More...

Sinha to head Atomic Energy Commission…

Power India found that Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Ratan Kumar Sinha on Monday took charge as Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy from incumbent Srikumar Banerjee.

 

Sinha, a topper in mechanical engineering from Patna University who headed the reactor design group at BARC for several years, will guide the Indian nuclear sector in its next phase in which large indigenous as well as foreign reactors would be installed to rapidly ramp up India’s nuclear power generation capacity.

 

“My priority will be removing irrational fear about radiation from people’s mind as
nuclear energy will have a larger role in our growth,” Sinha told Deccan Herald over phone from Mumbai.

 

“In many of our rules, we do not factor well established scientific facts based on studies conducted at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have restrictive and conservative rules. I want to have a look at all these rules with new scientific findings,” he said.

 

Sinha, who would be at the helm of affairs in the nuclear sector for the next three and half years said development of large commercial light water reactor and providing drinking water solution in villages using nuclear technology would be his other priority areas.

 

Asked about operationalisation of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, the new AEC chief said that the first unit might be operational within the next two months as work was progressing at a fast pace. But it will ultimately depend on the speed of regulatory approval from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

 

Sinha joined BARC in 1973 and over the years was actively involved in designing new reactors. He guided research programmes for new advanced reactors for thorium utilisation and the futuristic Indian high temperature reactor intended for hydrogen generation.

 

As a part of his research work on reactor design, he led the project to design the compact high temperature reactor, which serves as a technology demonstrator for future high temperature reactors.

 

While Banerjee is likely to return to Kolkata after 45 years in the nuclear sector, the government may nominate Anil Kakodkar – Banerjee’s predecessor – in the Rajya Sabha. The official announcement, however, has not been made.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Read More...

According to secretary, DAE, India can build cheaper nuclear reactors…

Power India found that according to Dr Srikumar Banerjee, secretary in the DAE, India can build cheaper nuclear reactors than even South Korea.

 

Dr Srikumar Banerjee, secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said India can now manufacture nuclear reactors at $1,700 per unit.

As said by Dr Banerjee

"We are now the world's most economical manufacturer of nuclear reactors. Our cost per unit, of $1,700 (for a 700mw reactor) is substantially less than our nearest competitors. The average international cost is now between $2,500 and $3,000 (for a 1,000mw reactor). South Korea demonstrated its ability to build nuclear reactors for less when it wrested a massive reactor deal for the UAE from French giant, Areva, a couple of years ago.

 
With the protests in Kudankulam piping down, Banerjee said DAE was waiting for a couple of clearances from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to start Kudankulam-1.  The AERB will have to conduct a robotic inspection of the pressure vessel in the Kudankulam plant. This is done after what they call the "hot run", which is a kind of a rehearsal but without nuclear fuel. "After this, they open the cap of the pressure vessel to do a robotic inspection. Only after clearing this inspection are we allowed to put in nuclear fuel."

 

The DAE chief said he was looking at Kudankulam going "critical" by mid-June. "The approach to criticality should happen around that time," he said. "That will be exciting." Six months down the line, Banerjee said the DAE hopes to commission the second Kudankulam plant as well.

 

Indian companies manufacturing components and systems for nuclear reactors, Banerjee said, can now do the same work for much less cost. For instance, he said, L&T, which supplies many critical components for the Indian nuclear and defence sectors, can make the large reactor vessel in their new Hazira plant. This is something of an achievement because it's traditionally been the preserve of Japanese engineering expertise.

Banerjee was clear that the despite Fukushima, countries like India will have a high demand for nuclear energy. "In the months after Fukushima, we have received expressions of interest from Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to set up nuclear power plants. We will do all of them," asserted a confident DAE chief.

 

 

-----------------------------------

Power India – A popular blog on Indian Power Sector

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Read More...