Demonstrations have forced the cancellation of a public hearing on the proposed Chutka nuclear power plant in India, reports India’s Business Standard newspaper.
A favourable environmental impact assessment report for the 2×700 MWe PHWR was published in mid-May, after the project received in principle approval from the government. The reactor design is based on the indigenous design currently under construction at Rawatbhata 7&8 in neighbouring Rajahsthan state. The station, in India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh, would include natural-draft cooling towers and draw water from the Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi Sagar dam reservoir on the Narmada River. As of June 2011, the expected completion cost of the project is INR 16550 Cr ($2.96 billion).
Construction start is planned for June and December 2015 for units 1 and 2, with project completion five and a half years later.
Protests at the Kudankulam site in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has delayed the station’s commissioning.