N-power plant: State to seek Centre's nod

Hyderabad: The state government which has proposed to set up a 2000 MW nuclear project at Srikakulam is seeking to get central clearance for the project before 2009 elections. Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy himself is likely to pursue the issue of approval of the central cabinet .
The proposal for setting up a nuclear power plant was revived about six months ago and the Genco had taken up preliminary exercises.But it was put on hold as the Centre was busy pushing the nuclear deal with the US.
It is mandatory for the state government to get clearances from the Nuclear Power Corporation and approval from the Union cabinet. Even the capacity of the power plant has to be decided by the NPC and the process is a lengthy one involving several clearances and approvals since it involves safety and environmental issues. The capacity is likely to be around 2000 MW, sources say.
Sources said efforts to set up a nuclear power plant has its genesis in 1962 when a site selection committee of NPC visited the state under the chairmanship of M Hayath, ex-chairman of central water and power commission and collected data for six sites located in Nellore and Mahbubnagar . The discussions between the Centre and state went on till 1971.
In 1971, the site selection committee of atomic energy headed by M N Chakravarthy visited Srisailam , Kothapatnam in Visakhapatnam and Marrigudem in East Godavari district.
The then Union minister for power Dr K L Rao suggested a site near Nagarjuna Sagar left canal head regulator and the committee agreed on the site as it had merits like water, hard foundation strata, communication facilities , power grid, etc. At that time it was proposed to set up a 1700 MW project. However, there was no further progress on the matter.
In 2006, the NPC again mooted the idea of setting up 4000 MW nuclear power plants in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa at an estimated cost of about Rs 3 crore.
With the state government now taking up the issue again, the AP Genco is revising the estimates , generation cost, etc., and feels that Srikakulam would be best suited for the project and is confident that it would be able to get forest and environmental clearances.