Surprising soil conditions led to delay in Haryana's nuclear power project: govt tells LS

NEw new delhi, Localised weak zones in dirt strata and subsequent reviews by the atomic regulator feature delayed Haryana’s number one atomic power plant at Gorakhpur, the government told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Project, comprising two units of 700 MW each, was sanctioned to be built in Haryana’s Fatehabad district in 2014. "The delay has been primarily due to surprises in the soil conditions encountered during construction," Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said in a written reply. He said excavation activities commenced in the year 2018 in the area, which is a soil site with no hard rock. Therefore, a technique of excavation and ground improvement using compacted soil cement mix was carried out. Construction of foundation piles and their qualification was undertaken at the project site. "However, confirmatory geo-technical investigations indicated some localised weak zones in soil strata," the minister said. While work is in progress in the peripheral buildings/structures, the construction activities in the main nuclear island would be taken up in full swing once site-specific ground improvement activities are concluded and regulatory clearance is obtained, the minister said. Singh said a consultant was roped in for the resolution of the issue, who carried out comprehensive investigations and submitted recommendations for remediation, which are presently under review by the regulatory authority. "The above-stated process took significant time, leading to delay in the start of construction of the nuclear island," the minister said. The government plans to build at least four nuclear power units of 700 MWe each at the Gorakhpur site. The minister said the award of work for equipment, major EPC packages and construction of other main plant buildings progressed. In order to streamline the project activities, advance procurement of long manufacturing cycle equipment has been initiated, Singh said. Accordingly, major equipment were ordered, some of which have also been received at the site. All major equipment and works packages including Main Plant Civil Works, Nuclear Piping, Turbine Island, IDCT have been awarded and works are in progress. Singh said constant monitoring of the progress of project activities at multiple levels, timely identification of constraints and making necessary mid-course corrections, frequent meetings with vendors / contractors and re-sequencing of construction activities to the extent possible, have also been taken. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.