Vidyut Bhavan in Patna. Telegraph picture

Patna, Feb. 6: Lack of availability of water at Phulwaria reservoir is proving to be a hindrance to the state government’s dream of setting up a nuclear power plant at Rajauli in Nawada district.

This project is expected to come up with a solution to the power woes in the state.

The state government spoke to the officials of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) about setting up 2x700 MW (1400MW) nuclear power plant at Rajauli.

A team of experts of the Centre and NPCIL, a public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the department of energy, had earlier approved the site at Rajauli for setting up the plant.

Principal secretary (energy) Ravikant told The Telegraph: “We are pursuing the case. NPCIL has pointed out the lack of availability of water for the nuclear plant at Rajauli. The state government is contemplating the setting up of another dam near the project site to meet the water requirement.”

A senior official of Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) said: “The NPCIL officials sought data of the past 10 years with regard to the availability of water in Phulwaria reservoir on which the plant will be run. We communicated this to the state’s water resources department in December last year.”

As no river flows through the region, the Phulwaria reservoir is solely dependent on rainwater, the board official said. He added the water resources department was contemplating the construction of a dam on Dhanarje river, which could be connected with Phulwaria reservoir by a canal to meet the water requirement.

Officials of the water resources department said once the dam is constructed, it would provide 130 cusecs of water everyday. However, none of the department officials was confident about the timeframe within which the dam would be constructed.

In its tariff order for 2010, Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Berc) had suggested the state government and BSEB to explore possibilities the setting up of an alternative to the thermal and hydel power plants, such as nuclear energy, biomass and gas. “Berc views nuclear power as an established and clean source of energy to meet the base load demand. The board should try to set up nuclear power plants in the state,” the commission had said in its tariff order for 2010-11. “NPCIL is in talks with National Thermal Power Corporation , Indian Oil Corporation , the railways and other state electricity boards for a joint venture to set up nuclear power plants. The state government and the board should take up the matter with NPCIL and appropriate authority,” the tariff order added.

The total power generation from nuclear energy stands at 4560MW in the country apart from an additional capacity of 5350MW of nuclear energy that is underway and would be commissioned in several phases.

The Centre’s goal is to enhance the nuclear power generation up to 20000MW by 2020.