MAJOR ATTRIBUTES INVOLVED

In general, both the construction and operation of a power plant requires the existence of some

conditions such as water resources and stable soil type. Still there are other criteria that although

not required for the power plant, yet should be considered because they will be affected by either

the construction or operation of the plants such as population centres and protected areas. The

following list corers most of the factors that should be studied and considered in selection of proper

sites for power plant construction:

Transportation network: Easy and enough access to transportation network is required in both

power plant construction and operation periods.

Gas pipe network: Vicinity to the gas pipes reduces the required expenses.

Power transmission network: To transfer the generated electricity to the consumers, the plant

should be connected to electrical transmission system

Therefore the nearness to the electric network can play a roll.

Geology and soil type: The power plant should be built in an area with soil and rock layers that

could stand the weight and vibrations of the power plant.

Earthquake and geological faults: Even weak and small earthquakes can damage many parts

of a power plant intensively. Therefore the site should be away enough from the faults and

previous earthquake areas

Topography: It is proved that high elevation has a negative effect on production efficiency of gas

turbines. In addition, changing of a sloping area into a flat site for the construction of the power

plant needs extra budget. Therefore, the parameters of elevation and slope should be considered.

Rivers and floodways: obviously, the power plant should have a reasonable distance from

permanent and seasonal rivers and floodways.

Water resources: For the construction and operating of power plant different volumes of water

are required. This could be supplied from either rivers or underground water resources. Therefore

having enough water supplies in defined vicinity can be a factor in the selection of the site.

Environmental resources: Operation of a power plant has important impacts on environment.

Therefore, priority will be given to the locations that are far enough from national parks, wildlife,

protected areas, etc.

Population centers: For the same reasons as above, the site should have an enough distance

from population centres.

Need for power: In general, the site should be near the areas that there is more need for

generation capacity, to decrease the amount of power loss and transmission expenses.

Climate: Parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed affect the

productivity of a power plant and always should be taken into account.

Land cover: Some land cover types such as forests, orchard, agricultural land, pasture are

sensitive to the pollutions caused by a power plant. The effect of the power plant on such land

cover types surrounding it should be counted for.

Area size: Before any other consideration, the minimum area size required for the construction of

power plant should be defined.>

Distance from airports: Usually, a power plant has high towers and chimneys and large volumes

of gas. Consequently for security reasons, they should be away from airports.

Archeological and historical sites: Usually historical building …are fragile and at same time

very valuable. Therefore the vibration caused by power plant can damage them, and a defined

distance should be considered.

LOCATION:

The site is on the shore of Gulf of Mannar and is located near the South-Eastern tip of India. It is located in Radhapuram taluk of Tirunelveli – Kattabomman district in the state of Tamilnadu

The town of Kanyakumari is about 27 km away from the project site. There are two railway stations (Broad Gauge) near the site, one at Kanyakumari, which is at a distance of 27 km to the South-West of the site, and the other at Vadakku Valliyur at a distance of 27 km to the North of the site. The nearest National Highway (NH- 7) passes through Anjugramam village and is at a radial distance of 15 km from the site. A Major District road runs along the coast at a distance of 3 km from the site and passes through Kudankulam village. The nearest sea port is at Tuticorin which is at a distance of 100 km from the site. The nearest airports are at Trivandrum and Tuticorin, which are about 90 and 100 km from the site respectively.

Kudankulam site is a coastal site on the shores of Gulf of Mannar located on the South-Eastern tip of India near Kanyakumari. It is located in Radhapuram Taluk of Tirunelveli – Kattabomman district of Tamilnadu state. The site area slopes towards the sea about 1 in 30 to 1 in 40. The ground elevation varies from + 4.00 m near shore

AREA

The total plant area for units 1to 6 is 1053.25 hectares. The site is bounded by 3 m high R.R masonry wall with 0.6 m high barbed wire all along the 2 km radius property boundary measured from the centre of Reactor Buildings. The exclusion radius for the purpose of calculating the doses to the public is 1.5 km from the centre of reactor units.

GEOLOGY

The site is located in the coastal plains of the east coast, which represents a flat undulating country and landforms sculptured by marine action and Aeolian agents. The basement rock in the area is charnockite ( hypersthene granite) trending ENE. Lying unconformably over the charnockites are calcareous sandstones, dull white to pale brown in colour, fine grained and indurate. The khondalite suite of rocks comprise of high-grade metamorphic rocks such as granetiferous gneisses and calcareous granulites. Further north, bands of quartzite and crystalline lime stones also occur. Bodies of charnockites, linear ( trending NW ) and lenticular in shape occur within the khondalite.

The NPP site forms part of the characteristic terrain of the archaean super group and overlain by tertiary sandstones

RAIN AND ELEVATION

The NPP site is situated in the coastal track at an elevation of +3.0m to +45.0m above MSL forming the southern fringe of soil covered plains. These plains extend up to the east of Western Ghats which rise up to a height of 1679.8m above MSL. The Hanuman Nadi and the Nambiar River rise in the eastern slopes of the Western Ghat range and flow in E, SE and SSE direction in the coastal areas both entering the Gulf of Mannar at about 5 km West and 9 km NE of the site respectively. Rivers in the area are seasonal. There are no major lakes or dams within 20 km radius around project site except some local rain fed tanks, which serve the local needs.

WATER

The total depth drilled was about 4268m.

By examining the subsurface sections developed from the bore logs, the subsurface strata may be generalized as below 0.0 to 2.0 - Top soil 2.0 to 5.0 m - Sandy / gravelly soil. 5.0 to 20.0 m - Weathered rock of WIV / W III grade. with joints at less than 1.0 m interval. Below 20.0 m - Moderately weathered (WII / WI - fresh rock)

ELEVATION

The main buildings like Reactor Building ( UJA ), Reactor Auxiliary Building ( UKC ), and Turbine Building ( UMA ) etc. have foundations at about 7m to 9 m below the grade level.

LAND SLIDES

Kudankulam site is located on a weathered rock mass, which, though having joints at regular intervals, is very tightly held, ruling out possibility of sliding along joints

Dams and Embankments

A small water storage reservoir of capacity 65000 m3 has been constructed in the northern part of the plant area. The reservoir is constructed on a natural trough with an earthen embankment of about 7m high on one side.

Earthquake

The site lies in Zone II of the seismic zoning map of India (IS 1893 - 2002) where shocks of intensity VI or magnitude 5 can occur. The seismic zoning map of India is enclosed as Annexure 1.5-1. However, no shock of this magnitude is known to have occurred at less than 100 Km of the site. Within a distance of about 300 Km, some 27 earthquakes of intensity IV to VIII or a magnitude 4 to 5.7 are known to have occurred from 1341 to 1972 as given in different catalogues. As noted from the Gauribidanur Array data, another 27 possible tremors of magnitude 2.2 - 4.8 have occurred during 1968 – 1985. The above earthquake data are enclosed in Annexure 1.5-2. Similarly micro seismic data was recorded in eight seismic stations in a network within a distance of 50 Km from Kudankulam central station for a period of eight years from 1990 to 1998. During the study period of eight years, 29 local earthquakes of magnitude 0.4 to 3.5 have been recorded. These are presented in Annexure 1.5– 3.

There have been a few offshore events in the region, three of them falling within the 300 Km radius circle. The epicentres of these earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and 3.5 lie at distances of about 160 Km and 270 Km respectively. Incidentally, a magnitude of 6.0 for the Gulf of Mannar earthquake has been assigned by IMD while the other references quote the magnitude between 5.3 and 5.9. v) The epicentres of two events of magnitude 5 and three events of magnitude 4.3 in Srilanka at distances of the order of 270-280 Km lie within the said circle.

NOTES

Waterways

A mini port for berthing barges, which bring equipment to KKNPP Site, has been constructed on the coast of KK site.

Roads

District road…E this road connects Nagercoil and Thiruchendur. Buses carrying passengers ply between these places. The intensity of traffic on this road is very less.

There are no military bases, missile sites, waterways, airports, air corridors, railways etc in the near vicinity of the site. Hence there is no possibility of accidents involving explosions, flammable vapors manufacturing plant, chemical plants, refineries, oil and gas pipelines, oil storage, toxic chemicals, fires etc affecting the Nuclear power station.

Earthquakes

No shock of this magnitude is known to have occurred at less than 100 Km of the site. Within a distance of about 300 Km, some 27 earthquakes of intensity IV to VIII or a magnitude 4 to 5.7 are known