Amid rising opposition from state governments and locals over land acquisition and safety concerns, India’s ambitious plan to lift its nuclear capacity to 63,000 Mw by 2032, from the present level of 4,780 Mw, is running into more and more hurdles each day.
After the 9,900-Mw Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra, it’s now the turn of the 2,000-Mw Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu to run into troubles.
As protests by locals and activists intensified, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa yesterday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop work on the project until concerns and fears about the plant’s safety were addressed.
Singh has sent Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, V Narayanasamy, to hold talks with state chief secretary and the protesters and allay their apprehensions.
Recently, West Bengal Power Minister Manish Gupta announced the state government had decided to scrap the proposed 4,800-Mw nuclear power plant at Haripur in East Midnapore.
Other nuclear projects facing stiff opposition include the 2,800-Mw Gorakhpur project in Haryana, the 6x1,000-Mw project at Mithi Virdi in Gujarat, and the 1,400-Mw Chuttka project in Madhya Pradesh.
India now operates 20 reactors at six sites, with a capacity of 4,780 Mw, through Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). It aims to increase its nuclear capacity to 7,280 Mw by next year, more than 20,000 Mw by 2020 and 63,000 Mw by 2032 by adding nearly 30 reactors.
An official at NPCIL told Business Standard, “This is quite disappointing that despite NPCIL’s track record, there has been opposition. This is also despite the prime minister’s clarification that India’s nuclear programme remains unaltered, especially after the Fukushima nuclear accident. NPCIL is making all necessary efforts to discuss issues such as safety, security and impact on environment with all stakeholders. The compensation will be paid as per the prescribed norms.”
C B Jain, Jaitapur project in-charge, said the compound wall for the project would be completed by the end of this month. “So far, 178 of the 2,338 project affected persons have accepted compensation. The revised compensation package is under the Maharashtra government’s consideration and immediately after its release, the necessary payment will be made to the project affected persons,” he said.
Sanjay Gumaste, Gorakhpur project in-charge, said the project would need 1,500 acres of land, 1,313 acres for the plant and the balance for township. “So far, the Haryana government has received consent from the villagers for 1,109 acres. However, the villagers are opposed to the acquisition of the remaining land required for the project. NPCIL has approached nearly 1,200 persons to remove all doubts, as it is fully committed to safety and security.”
