Nuclear solution to power crisis

Power crises in Punjab remain a long-pending issue. The proposal for setting up a 1,000 Mw nuclear power plant in Punjab needs to be revived because it has no coal mines, and no access to the National Gas Grid. Demand for power is increasing at a rate of 500 Mw every year.

Highly-placed sources at the PSEB(Punjab State Electricity Board) say the nuclear plant is the only immediate option before the state government to solve the power crises, an option which had earlier been ruled out because of security reasons.

Moreover, the consumption of 84,000 tonnes of ash, which would have to be produced every day by the Ropar thermal plant, was seen as a great problem in the coming years.

Speaking to Business Standard, the former chief engineer, PSEB, Padam Jeet Singh, said, "The proposal for the 1000 Mw JV plant at Patran needs to be revived, with the participation of PSEB and NPCIL. The demand for power in Punjab is increasing at the rate of 500 Mw annually. A day will come when 8-10 hour-long power cuts will have to be imposed to provide this vital electrical power. In the ninth five year plan, therere was a proposal for 2505 Mw of additional generating capacity from PSEB's own sources, but nothing has come up till date. These were proposed at Shahpur Kandi (168 Mw), UBDC, Stage 3 (78.5 Mw), SYL(50 Mw) Goindwal Sahib (500 Mw), GHTP Stage 2(500 Mw), the naptha based thermal plant at Bathinda(150 MW), and R&M of Bhakhra Right Bank(38 Mw). In some countries like France, the share of nuclear power is more than 75 per cent. Here, the problem of ash disposal does not exist, and large areas for the ash dumps are not required. However, blowing ash has to be avoided, due to strong winds affecting agriculture and vegetation. Also, historical trends show huge risks in fuel prices in case of oil, and gas. Coal-based plants also release an almost equal amount of radiation, due to release of radon gas entrapped in coal," he said.

"Security threats due to the construction of a thermal plant are a myth. In countries like France, 70 per cent of power is produced by nuclear plants. It takes only about 3 years for a thermal power to get operational, where as it takes around 15 years for a new hydel unit. However, almost 8 trains of coal (28000 tonnes) will have to be consumed daily (at the Ropar thermal plants) to provide power to the entire Punjab region. The thermal plant will have to produce around 84,000 tonnes of ash. Its consumption is going to be a big problem," said a highly placed source at the state electricity board.