Anu Vidyut Pariyojana launched in Haryana

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation of 2,800 Megawatt nuclear power plant in Fatehabad district of Haryana on 13 January 2014.

The project called Anu Vidyut Pariyojna, will have four units of 700 MWes each and it will be built at a cost 23,502 crore rupees.

They are Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) which will use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as both coolant and moderator.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) will build these reactors. This is the first time Haryana will have a nuclear project.

In the second stage, the NPCIL will build two more PHWRS of 700 MWe each at the Gorakhpur site of Haryana.

The nuclear plant will accelerate the pace of development of the area and it would also generate more employment opportunities.

The NPCIL is already building four PHWRS of 700 MWe each, two units each at Kakrapara in Gujarat and Rawatbhatta in Rajasthan. The units at Kakrapara are under advanced stage of construction and they will attain criticality in 2016.

NPCIL is the sole body responsible for constructing and operating India’s commercial nuclear power plants. The company had 21 nuclear reactors in operation at seven locations. Total installed capacity of nuclear reactors is 5780 MWe.

The Indian nuclear program is in three stages. The first stage will use uranium (imported). Second stage will use enriched uranium and thorium in blanket form in fast breeder reactors and third stage will use fuel of second stage.

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