nuclear-news

Citing concerns over the safety of the proposed nuclear reactors at
Jaitapur and the financial credentials of the French company building
them, the Committee has said the Centre and the Maharashtra government
do not seem to have paid due attention to the serious objections
regarding the safety of the proposed Areva reactors and its costs
raised by experts, parliamentarians, public figures and the local
people.

In a letter written to the Prime Minister, the Committee has claimed
that the project has not been subjected to an independent rigorous
scientific techno-economic scrutiny and safety audit in the public
domain. “It is being pushed against the will of the local people. The
‘conditional’ environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of
Environment and Forests in November 2010 is also based on an
unscientific and deeply flawed Environmental Impact Assessment
Report,” it said.

Signed by Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist), A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja of the Communist Party of
India, Lok Jan Shakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Nama Nageswara Rao
(Telugu Desam Party) and K. Danish Ali (Janata Dal-Secular), the
letter said the environmental clearance had not considered seriously
the main environmental issues and expressed doubts over the
suitability if the agency that had been chosen to prepare the
environment assessment.

“The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, the agency
engaged to prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment, is admittedly
not competent on matters concerning nuclear hazards,” the leaders said
in the letter dated August 17. “The Environmental Clearance is subject
to clearance by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) on matters
concerning nuclear energy. We understand that the AERB is yet to
consider and approve the Areva Reactor’s design,” the letter said. It
is also claimed in the letter that recent statutory disclosures showed
that the company building of the Jaitapur nuclear reactors was also in
deep financial trouble. “The Areva group debt stood at Euro 2.77
billion ($3.75 billion) in June 2011. Areva’s operating loss for the
year 2011 is more than 2 billion Euros.”

The leaders said the “untested design” of the 1650 MWe European
Pressurised Reactors (EPR) of Areva had caused serious concerns among
the nuclear safety agencies of different countries.

“There are reliable reports that an internal audit of the French
nuclear industry has criticised Areva and Electricity de France (EDF)
for the undue complexity of EPR and that EDF itself may be planning to
discontinue the EPR design,” the letter said. There were significant
cost and time over-runs for the Areva EPR and claimed that the first
two EPRs, under construction in Finland and France, were yet to be
commissioned and had been delayed by more than four years due to
technical and safety issues, the letter said adding that the EPR
project at Penly in France had been put on hold indefinitely.

“The initial cost of 3 billion Euros had proved to be a gross
underestimation. The costs have already risen to well over 7 billion
Euros for Olkiluoto (Finland) as well as Flamanville in France,” the
letter said, adding that Areva’s share prices had fallen to 1/10th of
its value between 2007 and 2012.
The leaders pointed out that Siemens, Areva’s major technology
partner, has announced its exit from the nuclear power business to
focus on alternative power sources in line with the plans of the
German government. “There are also reports that EDF and Areva have
joined hands with a Chinese firm to develop a new reactor of 1000 MWe
to replace the EPR in the long run,” the leaders said.

“In view of the above developments, it is unlikely that the Areva EPR
would today pass even an elementary test of techno-economic due
diligence,” the letter stated. It claimed that the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Limited had refused to disclose the costs and
resultant tariff from the Jaitapur plant.

“Our own calculations based on available information show that the
investment cost for the Jaitapur plant would be in excess of Rs. 20
crores per MW, which is unacceptable. This would result in electricity
tariff of not less than Rs. 9 per unit at current prices,” the leaders
said in the letter.