The Hindu Business Line : Nuclear Power Corpn plans greenfield facilities

NUCLEAR Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has proposed putting up greenfield facilities, apart from ramping up capacity at the existing ones in order to advance schedules and replenish the grid.

Mr S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, NPCIL, told Business Line that he could not name the new sites. He would only say the selection policy criteria favoured sites to be removed as far away from coalfields as possible. This would obviously rule out the north-east and other places identified with coal belts.

"Electricity demand is going up at the rate of 10,000 MW every year. Right now, the total demand is 1.3 lakh MW. In the next 10 years, it would touch 4 lakh MW. We don't have enough hydel, coal, gas or oil reserves to feed this demand. This leaves us with nuclear power, and we are blessed with the mineral resources required, and have developed the technology for generating the same", Mr Jain said.

NPCIL has also submitted to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) a proposal for scaling up installed capacity at the existing sites. If only had the general elections not intervened, the AEC would have forwarded the same to the Government for consideration. It's now left to the new Government to decide on the new sites as also those where capacity addition would be taken up.

The company had originally planned to achieve 20,000 MW by the year 2020. But it is now aiming to achieve this target in the next five to six years, after being prodded on by the Planning Commission and the Union Power Ministry.

The company is in a good position for advancing the schedule and enjoys sound financials, too. The project management at all the nine sites where construction activity is currently going on is competitive. Each of the existing sites holds the potential of generating anything ranging from 3,000 MW to 6,000 MW.

For instance, capacity of Kudankulam alone can go up to 6,000 MW. Apart from the two 1,000-MW reactors under construction, it has the potential to house four more.

At Kaiga, the new reactors would be of 740-MW capacity. Kakrapar has got only two reactors; it can have four more, that too of 740 MW. Tarapur has got 2X220 MW and 2x540 MW. It will accommodate the advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) of 740 MW.

In the medium term, NPCIL is bound by word to commission 2X540 MW at Tarapur and the 220-MW unit at Kaiga aggregating 1,300 MW during the 10th Plan period ending March 2007, said Mr Jain.

"We have now been asked to put our best foot forward and double the target to 2600 MW. We've agreed to take up the challenge. As per this commitment, we'll have to commission one 1,000 MW unit at Kudankulam and two more 220-MW units at Rajasthan and Kaiga before March 2007. The way we're progressing, we're very confident of achieving the target set", he added.