9,600 MW Nuke Plant

Work on the 9,600 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project near Mumbai will kick off Thursday with the process of acquiring 938 hectares of land.

The project, in collaboration with French company Areva, would involve setting up six European pressurised water reactors (EPRs), each with a 1,600 MW capacity is expected to be completed around 2020.The technical specifications for the first two EPRs, each with a 60-year life-span, would be decided within a month's time, while the techno-commercial modalities would be worked out by the year-end.

The first stage, involving the construction of two EPRs, at a cost of around US Dollar 7billion would be financed through 70:30 debt equity.70% debt component would be made available by the French Export Credit Agency and the rest would come from domestic and international markets.

The project has already completed the relevant environmental studies and clearance will come within the next 6 months.

The project may have 80 percent localization.

India would acquire stake in some of the uranium mines of Areva located in Australia, Niger and Kazakhastan. NPCIL and Areva jointly acquiring mines in other countries and setting up fuel processing facilities.

Speaking on the occasion, French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said that India and France had arrived at the implementation stage of the bilateral agreement on civilian nuclear agreement.

NPCIL operates 17 nuclear reactors in the country with a generation capacity of 4,120 MW, with plans to soon create additional 2,660 MW capacity.