Negotiations between the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and French company Areva over the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) in Maharashtra have hit a hurdle as DAE has questioned the capacity of reactors to generate electricity and its high cost.
The bone of contention between the two is the generation of electricity by the EPR reactor, which Areva is planning to give to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
DAE sources pointed out that the department has raised objections because the "reference plant", which was agreed upon between DAE and Areva, was a plant that generated 1430 MW of electricity, but it says, Areva now wants a plant with enhanced power generation capacity.
A reference plant is a nuclear power plant project that has already been tested, commissioned and which has commercially started generating power.
According to a top DAE official, the reference plant for building reactors was one at Flamanville nuclear plant in France, which Areva mentioned with a capacity of 1430 MW. But it has now asked the DAE to enhance the power generation capacity to 1600-1700 MW. The DAE has raised an objection to this, the official said.
"The problem here is Areva is asking us to enhance the power generation capacity. The reference plant mentioned by Areva has not generated electricity between 1600 MW and 1700 MW with this technology. The EPR technology is first of its kind. More importantly, if the technology has been enhanced, even then the reference plant cannot be changed," the official said.
