Électricité de France, or EDF and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) will build six EPRs, also known as European Pressurized Reactor, or Evolutionary Power Reactor, at Jaitapur in India’s western state of Maharashtra.
The project will engage the complementary skills of EDF and NPCIL, and aims to build a long-term partnership between the French and Indian nuclear industries. EDF will provide the detailed technical configuration of the reactors, the terms and conditions for the supply of engineering studies, the equipment, as also training for NPCIL’s future operating teams.
NPCIL will be responsible for the construction and commissioning of the units, as well as obtaining all necessary permits and consents in India as the owner and future operator of the plant. This includes certification of the EPR technology by the Indian regulator.
The Jaitapur plant, will have an installed capacity of 9.6 GWe, making it the most powerful nuclear power plant in the world, generating close to 75 TWh per year. It will meet the annual consumption needs of 70 million Indian households and will avoid the emission of an estimated 80 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
India currently has 23 operating nuclear reactors that are pressurized heavy water reactors which have been designed in-house. A few of them are VVER pressurized water reactors and are in operation at Kudankulam.
