One has to rethink how to maintain safety after Fukushima: Choho

…It is completely between NPCIL and financial institutions which have presence in France. We are just playing the role of a facilitator…

Tarik Choho says the EPR technology has received approval from regulators of countries such as France, the UK and China

Makarand Gadgil

http://www.livemint.com/Page/Id/2.1.401075442

Mumbai: Tarik Choho, chief commercial executive officer of the French government-owned nuclear engineering company Areva SA, is also the lead negotiator in the company’s discussions with the Indian government-owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd (NPCIL) to construct the 9,900 MW nuclear power project at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. In an interview last week, Choho countered the claim of anti-nuclear power activists that the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) technology is unproven, arguing that it has received approval from regulators of countries such as France, the UK, China and Finland. Edited excerpts:

What is a current status of your negotiation with NPCIL? When do you hope to conclude negotiations?

We would like to conclude our negotiations as soon as possible. There are some gaps in expectations and we are trying to plug them as soon as possible but can give no time frame. However, if NPCIL wants to achieve its stated goal of operationalizing the plant by 2021, then we should conclude our talks by the end of this year or, at most, by early next year.

On Thursday, the secretary of department of atomic energy (DAE), R.K. Sinha, said in a public forum that when Jaitapur project becomes operational in 2020-21, the cost of the power produced should not exceed more than Rs.6.50 per unit. Is this achievable?

A number of factors are involved in the final cost of the output from Jaitapur project. Our component is going to be just 40% of the total scope of the project. When we agreed to provide technology to build the plant in 2010, the price of power generated from the Jaitapur power plant was expected to be around Rs.4 per unit. Now we are talking of something around Rs.6.50 per unit, which means a number of things have changed and we have to factor in all those changes in our negotiations.

We are also hearing of some numbers such as Rs.9 per unit from people in DAE and NPCIL, so we first need to understand where these numbers are coming from, what assumptions lie behind these numbers and then work out a mutually agreeable solution. I believe, though, the final number will be somewhere between Rs.9 per unit and Rs.6.5 per unit.

We are also trying to source a lot of work from Indian companies to reduce costs and build indigenous capacities to maintain the plant that has a life of around 60 years or more.

Is the Indian civil nuclear liability law the reason behind protracted negotiations?

It is one of the reasons but not the only one. Since the Fukushima accident, one has had to do rethink on how to maintain safety at nuclear power plants. Besides, one also has to consider the exchange rate between the euro and Indian rupee that has altered unfavourably.

Anti-nuclear activists say that not a single EPR is currently operational in the world; reactors in France and Finland are yet to be commissioned. France is trying to sell India unproven technology. What’s your take?

EPR belongs to G3, or third-generation, reactor and the technology which has gone into EPR has evolved from earlier generation reactors, so it is not a completely new product and Areva has built and is operating 98 nuclear reactors all over the world. Besides, this design of EPR has been approved by regulators in France, Finland, the UK and China and currently we are in process of getting safety clearance from the US regulator. All these regulators have approved the EPR design only after going threadbare into the issues related to safety.

Which are the other countries that have opted for EPR technology?

You might be aware that we recently concluded an agreement to build two EPRs in the UK. We will be building two more EPRs in China and we have also won a contract to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey and negotiations are on in the case of Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Brazil.

How much exposure will French financial institutions have in the Jaitapur project?

It is completely between NPCIL and financial institutions which have presence in France. We are just playing the role of a facilitator.

December 4, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized

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