State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on Monday said that it has bagged an order worth Rs 736 crore from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for the supply of steam generators to a plant at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district of Haryana.
The order has been received against competitive bidding, a BHEL statement said.
According to the statement, the steam generators will be used for a 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) to be installed at Fatehabad district of Haryana. The steam generators will be manufactured at the Tiruchirappalli plant of BHEL.
BHEL has been a pioneer in the design and development of nuclear steam generators along the NPCIL and has so far supplied 38 steam generators for various nuclear power installations in the country.
Currently, BHEL manufactured steam turbine generator sets contribute nearly half of the countrys total installed nuclear power capacity.
The BHEL claimed that it is the only Indian company associated with all the three stages of the Indian Nuclear Power Programme – the first stage Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR), the second stage Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) and the third stage Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR). It has been a partner for over four decades in the development of the indigenous Nuclear Power Programme since its inception.
Excavation is going to begin soon for the Nuclear Power Plant Project in Gorakhpur, Haryana with the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) according excavation clearance for the project. The project is part of slew of nuclear power plants proposed in the North India. The Union government expects the first pouring of concrete in 2019 and start of the commercial operation of the first unit of the reactor in 2024.
Haryana will become the first state in the North India to establish the nuclear power plant. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Minister of State PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh told this in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
“Land required for setting up of the project is acquired and work of preparation of the site is in final stages, namely, development of infrastructure at site and tendering of equipment and components are at various stages,” Dr Singh apprised the Parliamentarians. He said that the excavation work will follow the excavation clearance for the project that has been accorded recently by the AERB.
Sites for nuclear power plants are selected after carrying out extensive studies by specialised national agencies at the siting stage. The sites are recommended after these meet the criteria laid down in the AERB code on Site Evaluation of Nuclear Facilities. The reactors to be set up are designed for possible impacts of natural and man-made events likely at the site to ensure safety of the personnel, public and environment.
The first phase is comprising of Unit-1 (700 MW) and Unit-2 (700 MW) of Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidhyut Pariyojna (GHAVP). “The work on the project will start with the First Pour of Concrete (the zero date of start of construction) in the year 2019,” Dr Singh added. He also said that the commencement of commercial operation of the first unit is expected five and a half years after the pouring of the first concrete and for the second unit a year later. The two units will be part of 10 indigenously developed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), whose construction was announced by the government last year.
The government has approved a budget of Rs 20,594 crore for setting up GHAVP Unit 1&2 (2X700 MW). The cumulative capital expenditure incurred for the project till December 2017 is Rs 1,031 crore.
