Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that the first nuclear power plant in North India will be built in Haryana’s Gorakhpur. He stated that one of the major achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime would be the installation of nuclear and atomic energy plants in other parts of the country, which were previously confined mostly to southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, as well as western Maharashtra.
The Government of India’s Department of Atomic Energy has also been granted permission to form joint ventures with PSUs for resources to open up atomic energy plants. The atomic energy sector is an upcoming and promising sector with the potential to meet all of India’s energy needs in the future.
Dr. Jitendra Singh invited the private sector and start-ups to participate in the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) technology in India in November last year. To meet its commitment to a clean energy transition, India is taking steps to develop SMRs with capacities of up to 300 MW. Over the past eight years, a number of ground-breaking decisions have been made to augment India’s nuclear capacity. The minister also stated that the Modi government has given its approval for the installation of ten nuclear reactors in bulk.
Other Main Plant buildings/structures such as the Fire Water Pump House (FWPH), Safety Related Pump House (SRPH), Fuel Oil Storage Area-1&2 (FOSA-1&2), Ventilation stack, overhead tank (OHT), Switchyard Control Building, Safety related & Non-safety related Tunnels & Trenches, retaining walls, and Garland Drain are being built. Ground improvement in Turbine Buildings -1 and 2, as well as the 220 kV Switchyard and IDCT-1A, has been completed.
Landscaping work is ongoing at other sites, including ODKP, 400 kV switchboard, emergency supply tank, and station road. IDCT and Turbine Island package contractors arrived on site. Purchase orders have already been placed for major equipment/long-term operating components such as Primary Coolant Pumps, Calandria, Reactor Manifolds, Charge Machine Heads, Reducers, and other D20 Heat Exchangers. Unit 1’s end shields and all steam generators arrived on site. The remaining equipment is being manufactured at various stages and will be delivered to the site ahead of schedule. Construction of the conduit from Tohana to GHAVP to meet operational cooling water demand has been undertaken by the Haryana Irrigation and Water Department
(HI&WRD) as deposit work and is progressing smoothly.