NPCIL awaits prescription of ToR for AP & Gujarat nuclear power parks

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), under the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), has deferred the prescription of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited`s (NPCIL) 6x1000 MWe nuclear power park, located in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, pending the submission of some more relevant project details. In tandem, the Committee has postponed the prescription of ToR for the power utility's same capacity power park, in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, on the same ground. Accordingly, NPCIL will now be required to furnish details of land use, environmental setting of the project site, location of the site with respect to the coastal regulatory zone (CRZ), extent of reclamation and dredging involved, details of the township component, etc. to enable the EAC to consider prescribing ToR to these two projects during the next meeting of the Committee, the schedule of which is yet-to-be-decided by the MoEF.

Pertinently, both the two power parks are envisaged to be implemented in three stages of 2x1000 MWe, each. Further, these two projects are estimated to have a total land requirement of of 650 hectares, each, for the main plant, while another 75 hectares of land will be acquired by NPCIL for developing the residential township for each of the two projects. Again, the water requirement for the two parks will be met from the sea water, while the fresh water requirement for the township will be met through establishing a desalination plant for each of the two projects. Moreover, NPCIL proposes to construct a jetty for each of the two projects in order to ensure smooth movement of heavy equipments through the sea route.