The government today said it has not decided to shift the location of a proposed nuclear power plant from Haripur in West Bengal to neighbouring Orissa.
Minister of state in the PMO V Narayanasamy said this in reply to a written question in the Lok Sabha.
The coastal region of Haripur had been allotted to Russian company Rosatom for developing a nuclear park for its 1000 MW atomic power plants.
Reports had said that Russia was keen on shifting the project to neighbouring Orissa given the politically sensitive issue of land acquisition.
The concerns were reportedly expressed by the Russians in the wake of the Trinamool Congress joining local fishermen in protests against a possible rise in the temperature of seawater in the Bay of Bengal.
As envisaged in the 12th five-year plan, six Russian-made nuclear reactors were in the pipeline - two at Haripur in West Bengal and four at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.
In reply to a separate question, Narayanasamy said pre-project activities were in progress for two 700 MW indigenously-developed nuclear power plants at Gorakhpur in Haryana and another two similar units at Chutka in Madhya Pradesh.
A pair of 1000 MW nuclear power plants are being built at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu by Russia. Haripur site has been allocated to Russia for building two 1000 MW nuclear power plants. Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh and Chhaya Mithi Virdi in Gujarat have been allocated to US companies for developing atomic power plants. Two 1650 MW plants are expected to be built at Jaitapur in Maharashtra by French company Areva.
The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors are expected to come up at Gorakhpur in Haryana and Chutka in Madhya Pradesh in about six years from the start of work.
"The recently approved completion cost of the indigenous PHWR project is about Rs8.2 crore per MW," Narayanasamy said.
He said the time schedule and cost of projects proposed to be set up with international cooperation will depend on the business model finalised and will be known after conclusion of techno-economic contracts.
