North India’s first nuclear power plant is coming up in Gorakhpur, Haryana, about 150 km north of the national capital, said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Saturday.

The Union minister added that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime, one of the major achievements would be the installation of nuclear/ atomic energy plants in other parts of the country, which were earlier confined mostly to the southern states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh or in the west in Maharashtra.

Jitendra Singh said that this is keeping in line with the priority to increase India's nuclear capacity, a number of path-breaking decisions were taken in the past eight years.

He added that bulk approval of the installation of 10 nuclear reactors has been given the nod by the central government. He said that the Department of Atomic Energy has also been given permission to set up joint ventures with PSUs for resources to open atomic energy plants, having the potential to fulfill India’s energy needs in times to come.

According to the Department of Atomic Energy, Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana’s(GHAVP) having two units of 700 MWe capacity each of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) indigenous design is under implementation near Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district in Haryana.

To date, an amount of ₹4,906 crore has been spent out of the total allocated funds 20,594 crores.

Construction of other Main Plant buildings/structures viz. Fire Water Pump House (FWPH), Safety Related Pump House (SRPH), Fuel Oil storage area-1&2 (FOSA-1&2), Ventilation stack, overhead tank (OHT), Switchyard Control Building, Safety related & Non-safety related Tunnel & Trenches, Retaining walls and Garland Drain are progressing well. Ground improvement in Turbine Building -1 & 2, 220 kV Switchyard and IDCT-1A is completed.

Ground improvement in other areas IDCTs, 400kV Switchyard, Emergency makeup water pond and station roads are in progress. The contractors for IDCT package and Turbine Island Package have mobilized site.

Purchase orders for major long manufacturing cycle equipment/components like Primary Coolant Pumps, Calandria, Reactor Headers, Refuelling Machines Heads, Moderator and other D20 Heat Exchangers, etc. are already in place. End Shields and all Steam Generators for the first unit have been received at the site. Manufacturing of other equipment is in various stages and delivery at site is expected well in time to meet the construction schedule.

Construction of a Water Duct from Tohana to GHAVP for meeting operational cooling water requirements has been taken up through Haryana Irrigation & Water Resources Department (HI&WRD) as deposit work and progressing well.

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