New Delhi, (IANS) The cabinet Tuesday approved a proposal of the Department of Atomic Energy for the procurement of equipment as a pre-project activity for two 1,400 Mwe (megawatt equivalent) nuclear power projects.
“One of them is proposed to be situated at Kakrapar in Gujarat and the other at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan,” said union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Chidambaram explained: “The procurement of delivery equipment is a prerequisite for timely completion of the project. This ensures timely availability of equipment so as to take advantage of parallel progress of civil construction and equipment erection. The long delivery equipment will be obtained from indigenous manufacturers.”
“Two Boiling Water Reactors and 15 Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) with a total installed capacity of 4,120 MWe are currently in operation.
“Three 220 MWe PHWRs and two 1,000 MWe Light Water Reactors (LWR) with a total capacity of 2,660 MWe are under advanced stage of construction. Construction work has also been taken up on one 500 MWe Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, signifying launch of the second stage of the nuclear power programme.
“With the completion of these projects the total nuclear power capacity in the country will reach 7,280 MWe by March 2011,” the minister assured.