According to story published in section of national media, the government of India has finalized a site in Gujarat for the first US nuclear reactor after the nuclear deal.

According to Indian Express, the govt of India is learnt to have firmed up a site each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. While this has already been indicated to Washington, sources said, a formal announcement could happen during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit.

Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh were the two states that offered sites for this and have now been approved, according to report.

The identification of the sites flows from a commitment India had given, through a letter of intent under the nuclear deal, which commits India to purchase 10,000 MW from US nuclear companies and mark “at least two sites” for this purpose.

On a broader level, India and the US have agreed to restructure their interaction and condense some 27 ongoing bilateral dialogues at various levels under what will now be called “five pillars” of the relationship — Strategic and Defence Cooperation, Science & Technology and Health Innovation, Energy and Climate Change, Education and Development, and Economic, Trade and Agriculture.

Background

-India had planned new coastal nuclear power stations, using high-end reactors of 1,000 MWe and above.

-It was planned that the stations would be designed to accommodate up to six to eight such reactors so that the overall capacity of each station can be gradually ramped up to almost 8,000 MWe.

-In 2006, a 12-member Site-Selection Committee under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which recommends locations for setting up nuclear plants to the Centre, had visited a number of coastal areas in the country including sites in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. The team had selected Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh finaly.

-Sites were examined in terms of their suitability for setting up large nuclear stations and technical data including soil test, availability of water, flood data, and geomorphological data. The projects were to use light water reactors and are most likely to be run using imported fuel, because of which the coastal sites were selected.

-In September 2008, public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) announced that it had identified locations to set up greenfield units for manufacturing nuclear power equipment in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.