Electrical Monitor :: Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project

EM NEWS BUREAU ,

Monday, May 09, 2011, 17:09 Hrs [IST]

The Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra proposed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India would be the biggest single-location nuclear power station in the country, and by current thinking, also in the world. In its final shape, the nuclear power station will have a total capacity of 9,900 mw coming from six massive reactors of 1,650 mw each. For a frame of reference, the total capacity of JNPP would be more than twice of India's total current nuclear power capacity that stands at 4,780 mw coming from 20 reactors. The first phase of JNPP, with two reactors, is scheduled to commission by 2019.

NPCIL PROJECTS UNDER PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION*
Project	Location	Capacity	Expected
		(MW)	Completion
Kudankulam Atomic Power Station (Unit 1&2)	TN	2x1000	Mar-12
Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (Unit 7&8)	RAJ	2x700	Dec-16
Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (Unit 3&4)	GUJ	2x700	Dec-15
Total for six reactors		4,800
*As of March 31, 2011

The Centre sanctioned the project in October 2005 and as of now, pre-project work largely relating to land acquisition is underway. There are concerns on various counts—first, resistance by local inhabitants; second, safety of a nuclear power plant of this magnitude in view of the unfortunate developments at nuclear power plants in Japan following the earthquake; third, environmental impact; and lastly, issues related the technology to be deployed.

As such, the environmental approval for the JNPP was accorded in November 2010 and NPCIL has reiterated that each of the 35 conditions stipulated as part of the environmental clearance will be adhered to in a fully transparent manner. The immediate concern is addressing apprehensions of the local population and the safety standards at the plant site.

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NPCIL: AT A GLANCE*
No. of atomic power stations	6
No. of reactors	20
Total capacity (MW)	4,780
Total generation (mln kwh; 2010-11)	26,473
Capacity factor (%; 2010-11)	71
Capacity under physical construction (MW)	4,800
*As of March 31, 2011

In a meeting between the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and several ministers and NPCIL officials, the JNPP was discussed at length. Here are some of the decisions that were taken at the meeting, held on April 27, 2011.

The government will introduce a Bill in the next session of Parliament to create an independent and autonomous Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India that will subsume the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
The initial results of the six safety review committees set up by the Government of India after the recent Fukushima accident of Japan will be made public. Action taken on previous safety reviews will be put in the pubic domain.

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POWER GENERATION BY NPCIL*
	Generation	Capacity
	(mln kwh)	Factor (%)
2006-07	18,880	64
2007-08	16,956	53
2008-09	14,927	50
2009-10	18,831	61
2010-11	26,473	71
*Aggregate from all 20 reactors

The best available expertise will be used to ensure the highest levels of safety. The Government will invite the Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) of IAEA to assist in its own safety reviews and audit. Each reactor in JNPP will have its own individual stand alone safety and operation systems.
All reactors and technologies, whether indigenous or imported, will without exception meet the safety standards that are stipulated by the regulatory authorities, and there will be complete transparency in the functioning of the nuclear power programme.

How & Why?

Here are some officially-released facts of JNPP, presented in a question-answer format:

Where is Jaitapur?
Jaitapur is a village in the coastal district of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. Jaitapur is around 200 km south of Ratnagiri city.

How feasible is the site selected for JNPP?
The Site Selection Committee recommended setting up a nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, based on the suitability of meeting criteria like availability of land vis-à-vis population density, available source of cooling water , seismicity, safe-grade elevation at site, environment aspects and proper access for transportation of heavy and over-dimensional equipment to plant site. Along with these conditions and based on some other considerations the government approved Jaitapur site for the setting up of a nuclear power plant.

Is Jaitapur earthquake-prone?
The Jaitapur site (latitude: 16° 34' 38" N to 16° 36' 29" N; longitude: 73° 19' 02" E to 73° 20' 48" E) is not considered earthquake-prone. As per seismic zoning map of Government of India, Jaitapur site falls within Zone III.

As per the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) code requirement, there should not be any active fault within 5 km radius from the proposed site of a nuclear power plant. Further, based on the studies carried out by various government institutes/organisations, there is no active fault found up to 30 km radius from JNPP site. Hence, the site is not considered earthquake-prone. This is to further confirm that based on the available data of seismicity prevailing in the geographical region, all the structures, buildings and equipment of JNPP would be designed to qualify the "ground motion acceleration".

What is the gestation period of JNPP?
The time required for completion of each unit is approximately six years from the start date. All the six units (reactors) of 1650-mw each will be constructed in twin-unit mode and in a phased manner. It would take 5-6 months to declare commercial operation after completion of construction. The overall gestation period would be 15-18 years.

What technology will be used at JNPP?
The government is considering the use of Evolutionary Pressurised Reactors (EPR) from Areva, France.

What is the source of fuel?
JNPP will be a pressurized water reactor plant, using enriched uranium fuel as fuel. The uranium will be supplied by Areva, France, which will be also supplying the reactor units.

Irrespective of the fuel type, all the safety guidelines based on International Atomic Energy Agency and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board regulations are strictly adhered to by NPCIL to ensure that there is no adverse effect on environment, health and life of people through air, sea and land as a result of the operation of JNPP.

What is the life span of JNPP?
The guaranteed life of the proposed plant is 60 years.

How much electricity will JNPP generate?
Each reactor of 1,650-mw will generate around 36 million kwh of electricity per day. All reactors put together could technically produce 216 million kwh of electricity. For a frame of reference, the average daily generation of all the 20 reactors of NPCIL aggregating 4,780 mw in 2010-11 was around 73 million kwh (see table.)

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