North India’s first Nuclear Plant is being built in Haryana in the town of Gorakhpur, which is about 150 km north of the national capital of New Delhi.
Disclosing this here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime, one of the major achievements would be the installation of Nuclear/ Atomic Energy plants in other parts of the country, which were earlier confined mostly to the South Indian States like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh or in the west in Maharashtra.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that this is keeping in line with the priority to increase India’s nuclear capacity with a number of path-breaking decisions taken in the last 8 years. He added that a bulk approval of the installation of 10 nuclear reactors has been given a nod by the Modi Government.
The Minister said that the Department of Atomic Energy, GoI has also been given permission to form joint ventures with PSUs for resources to open up atomic energy plants. This is an upcoming and promising sector and has the potential to fulfil India’s energy needs in the future.
Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana’s(GHAVP) has two units of 700 MWe capacity, each Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) indigenous design is under implementation near Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district in Haryana.
To date, an amount of ₹4,906 Cr has been spent out of the total allocated funds of 20,594 Cr. (Total Financial progress is 23.8% as of date).
Construction of other Main Plant buildings/structures viz. 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 Tunnel & Trenches, Retaining walls, and Garland Drain is progressing well.
Ground improvement in Turbine Building -1 & 2, 220 kV Switchyard, and IDCT-1A is completed. Ground improvement in other areas IDCTs, 400kV Switchyard, Emergency makeup water pond, and station roads are in progress. The contractors for the IDCT package and Turbine Island Package have mobilized the site.
Purchase orders for major long manufacturing cycle equipment/components like Primary Coolant Pumps, Calandria, Reactor Headers, Refuelling Machines Heads, Moderator, and other D20 Heat Exchangers, etc. are already in place.
End Shields and all Steam Generators for the first unit have been received at the site. Manufacturing of other equipment is in various stages and delivery at the site is expected well in time to meet the construction schedule.
Construction of a Water Duct from Tohana to GHAVP for meeting operational cooling water requirements has been taken up through Haryana Irrigation & Water Resources Department (HI&WRD) as deposit work and is progressing well.
Sources: THX News & Department of Atomic Energy.
