Russia to supply VVER reactors to be installed for the 2000 MW park The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has completed talks with the State government, exploring the possibility of selecting a coastal site for setting up the second nuclear power park on the Andhra Pradesh coast. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), under the DAE, will set up the nuclear park with Water-Water Energetic Reactor (VVER), a Russian technology. The NPCIL is already engaged in building the 7,248 MW capacity Kovvada Nuclear Park (KNP) on the Srikakulam coast by installing six reactors; Advanced generation of Boiling Water Reactors with the technology provided by Westinghouse Electric Company. The Kovvada Nuclear Park falls in the Seismic Zone-II, a safe zone. On July 3, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Prime Minister’s Office, told Lok Sabha that the DAE and NPCIL had held discussions with the government of Andhra Pradesh on the feasibility of identifying a second coastal site for setting up nuclear power park in the State. Mr. Singh was responding to Guntur MP Jayadev Galla in the Lok Sabha, who sought information on the status of the new nuclear park. However, Mr. Jitendra Singh did not disclose the exact site to be proposed for the new nuclear park. Russian co-operation The DAE’s new nuclear park will have 2,000 MW capacity to be built with Russian design of “Water-Water Energetic Reactor (VVER), for which III+ (Generation Three-Plus) technology is available in Russia. “Considering the future nuclear power programme expansion planned, and the advantage of coastal sites in view of availability of abundant cooling water and ease of transportation of large, heavy equipment by sea, the possibility of a coastal site in Andhra Pradesh is also being examined to locate nuclear power plants with Russian technical cooperation,” Mr. Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha. The DAE had made it clear that various scientific studies, including geotechnical investigations and seismological studies, would require to be carried out as a part of determining the suitability of a “potential site” for setting up the new park. Criticised Former Union Energy Secretary and environmental activist E.A.S. Sarma told The Hindu; “Both projects — KNP and the other one near Kavali in Nellore district — are being set up because the people in Gujarat and West Bengal did not want them. Andhra Pradesh has agreed for the second nuclear park. This speaks volumes of how insensitive the Andhra State government is to the people’s welfare.”