France to build reactors for India

France's nuclear giant Areva will construct two nuclear reactors in India by 2020

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/157705.html


An Indian state-run nuclear company and a French firm have signed a 9.2-billion-dollar deal for the construction of two nuclear reactors in India by 2020.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and France's nuclear group Areva inked a series of contracts for building two 1,650-megawatt reactors in India.

The development comes two years after Areva reached an agreement with India on the supply of six European pressurized reactors (EPRs).

"India has little experience in the field of civilian nuclear power, which entails a large amount of technical preparation and lengthy negotiations," an Areva engineer said.

India's Environment Minister Jairam Ranesh says that the project will be implemented on a 1,000-hectare site at Jaitapur, south of Mumbai and fulfils all the conditions to "reconcile the objectives of economic growth, fuel-mix diversification, global diplomacy and environmental protection."

Until 2008, there was an embargo on sales of civilian nuclear technology to India, but it is now the third country to purchase from Areva, after Finland and China.

India currently satisfies 70 percent of its energy needs from coal.