Undeterred by the uncertainties over the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation deal, state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd is going ahead with its plans to set up the country's first 700 MW generating units.The Centre recently sanctioned Rs 2,000 crore to NPCIL for advanced procurement of equipment for four 700 MW plants of pressurized heavy water reactors. The company has placed its orders with state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.NPCIL, which commissioned two 540 MW plants at Tarapur in the last couple of years, now will have to scale up for the four 700 MW units that require huge turbines. In order to have a good pricing mechanism, NPCIL has placed an order for eight of these turbines, NPCIL sources said.The Centre has also given clearance for pre-project activities of four 1,000 MW units each and the work will begin shortly, the sources said.The Centre has also sanctioned up to Rs 18,000 crore for Kakrapar units 3 and 4 and Rajasthan units 7 and 8. In Maharashtra, at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district that will behousing up to 10,000 MW nuclear power plants after the Indo-US deal comes through, the land acquisition process was nearing completion, and the pre-project work was on, NPCIL said.At Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, sources said, the first unit was expected to reach advanced stages of completion by this December end. NPCIL at a function this month erected the reactor pressure vessel of Kudankulam unit 2 which is expected to become operational in 2009.The country's first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) has made a lot of progress with its safety vessel erection, the most difficult process, completing last month. Plans have been drawn to have four ore FBRs by 2020, two at Kalpakkam site, NPCIL Chairman S K Jain said. The sites for others are yet to be identified, he said.India's nuclear power programme witnessed ups and down last year with fuel mismatch making 14 operating reactors of the total 17 reactors run almost below 50 per cent average capacity factor even as a new uranium mill was commissioned in the middle of the year at Jadhuguda to double fuel production. NPCIL's hope has also brightened with the starting of uranium mining in Andhra Pradesh and the recent environmental clearance for better grade uranium mines in Meghalaya.Regarding efforts by NPCIL to overcome short-term shortage of uranium fuel, the company's engineers said they have developed in-house a new strategy for reactor operation with a reconfigured reactor core. Earlier, the company was consuming about 27 kg uranium fuel for generating one million units of power but now only 20 kg was required, they said.The company's profit during 2006-07 slipped to Rs 151 crore compared to the highest profit during the year 2003-04 which was at Rs 2604 crore, when the plants were operating at little above 80 per cent capacity factor."With the new mill began operating at Turamdinh in Jharkhand for doubling the production of yellow cake, and ground breaking of a new mine in Andhra Pradesh, we expect to go full capacity in the next four years," said Jain.NPCIL is also working on diversification programmes to set up wind and hydro energy projects.Jain said NPCIL which began the operation of 10 MW wind farm in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu in January last year, has plans to set up projects at several sites across the country.NPCIL is also working closely with Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation Ltd for building hydroelectric projects, including schemes for pump storage.The Maharashtra government has asked NPCIL to carry out the feasibility studies on pumped storage schemes, Jain added.
Source: Udayavani
8th January, 2008