The Hindu Business Line : Centre offers to set up nuclear plant in Meghalaya in lieu of uranium

New Delhi, May 20 With the fuel situation at the country’s nuclear power stations worsening, the Centre has offered to look into the feasibility of setting up a nuclear station in Meghalaya, in lieu of getting to mine uranium in the State.

Mining of uranium in Meghalaya, which, according to estimates, could contribute over 15 per cent of the country’s uranium need in the future, has been held up largely due to public opposition in the State.

With Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) still awaiting the State Government’s go ahead to mine uranium in Meghalaya, even though the Centre has already given environmental clearance for the project, the Union Government has decided to try and break the logjam by offering to look into the possibility of setting up of a nuclear reactor in West Khasi Hills district, Government officials said.

Despite the discovery of high-quality deposits in the State’s West Khasi Hills region, UCIL has been unable to go ahead with mining due to opposition from some groups, who cited possible health hazards and displacement of people.

The mining proposal has often been criticised by various tribal organisations, NGOs and the Khasi Students Union.

UCIL, which had to close mining operations in the Khasi Hills in the early 1990s due to protests by tribal groups, had reapplied to the State Government in 2001 for starting mining.

Nuclear Fuel position

With progress on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal nearly stalled, the nuclear fuel position in the country’s atomic stations has been turning increasingly grim, with new units faced with commissioning delays on account of an ongoing fuel crunch and existing stations starving for fuel.

The total capacity of the 17 nuclear reactors in the country is 4,120 MWe (mega watt electrical) at present.

Existing nuclear stations recorded a PLF (plant load factor) of 46.4 per cent in March, mainly as fuel shortages affected generation.

NPCIL’s new units — RAPS 5 and 6, and Kaiga 4 — are facing delays beyond their June 2008 commissioning schedule due to lack of uranium.

These new units cumulatively add up to 440 MWe of fresh nuclear power capacity.

Contribution

Nuclear energy contributes less than three per cent of the country’s installed generation capacity currently.

India is not well endowed with uranium ore and the short supply of the fuel is becoming the stumbling block for the rapid expansion of nuclear power in the country.