Haryana nuclear plant to use “ultra-modern” tech: NPC chief

The nuclear power plant being set up by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) at Kumahria in Fatehabad district of Haryana will be completely safe and it will provide employment opportunities to the local people, its Managing Director S. K. Jain said on Thursday while talking to media persons and rural people at the project site.

He asserted that the other 17 nuclear power plants functioning at different places in the country are also safe and no untoward incident has happened so far.

He said the nuclear power plant at Kumahria would use “ultra-modern” technology which is safe for human beings as well as environment.

The plant will be set up over an area of 1,050 acres and will have 700 employees. It will use 50 tonnes of uranium per year.

Mr. Jain assured that full compensation would be paid to the farmers whose land is acquired for this plant, besides providing employment opportunities on a priority basis for the members of these families. Facilities like education, health and infrastructure would be provided in the villages falling within the radius of 5 km.

The Corporation would adopt poor children and provide education and employment to them. Besides, free books, notebooks, uniforms and shoes would be provided to the school children, he added.

Technical institutes would also be set up by the Corporation in the area and the students passing out from these would be provided employment in the plant. Facility of mobile dispensaries would also be provided for health check-ups of the villagers and primary health centres would be set up by the Corporation in villages which do not have these centres. Community centres would also be constructed in the villages. Trees would be planted in a one-km radius around the plant to keep the environment pollution-free.

Replying to a question regarding the waste spewed out by the nuclear power plant, he said it would be processed to produce plutonium for use in other activities related to electricity generation. The country’s first plutonium-based plant is being set up in Chennai.