The Hindu Business Line : Global reactor biggies hope for Indian nuke business

Bright prospects
The NSG waiver paves the way for Russian and French players
US-based nuclear firms have to wait for the clearance of the deal by the US Congress

Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Sept. 6 With investment opportunities pegged at $100 billion over the next 20 years, the opening up of the Indian nuclear space spells big ticket business for global nuclear biggies.

While French nuclear major Areva NP and Russian state-owned firm Rosatom are touted as among the frontrunners for the Indian nuclear pie, US players General Electric Co. and Toshiba Corporation’s Westinghouse Electric Co are among the key players waiting for the deal to be finally cleared by the US Congress. Global uranium suppliers, led by Australian, Kazakh and Canadian firms, are also eyeing fuel supply contracts .

Areva NP, the world’s largest nuclear power firm and a joint venture between Areva and Siemens, has announced that it could enter the Indian nuclear power sector through a subsidiary. “Areva is certainly following with great interest the developments of Indian nuclear market,” Mr Marco Graziano, Areva Group’s Senior Vice-President – Business Development, told Business Line in a recent e-mail. Areva NP designs and builds power plants, research reactors and related components, besides providing nuclear products and services to power generation players. It also supplies nuclear fuel and its services include engineering, maintenance and repair services.

Russian firms are helping India build two 1,000-MWe (megawatt electric) light water reactors at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu and plans for six additional units, through Russian assistance, are likely to be put on fast-track. The Minister of State for Power and Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said the NSG waiver paves the way for Russian and French players. “Besides the Russians, we can now also look at Areva more seriously,” he said.

According to DAE officials, the proposed Jaitapur project in Maharashtra, where a light water reactor was to be set up through French assistance, is likely to be expedited.

US-based nuclear firms, meanwhile, have to wait for the clearance of the deal by the US Congress to commence trade with India. GE would be leveraging its joint venture with Hitachi for entering the Indian market and is open to local partnerships, once the rules are spelt out. “It’s a bit too early to lay out our plans… We are open to partnering with local firms, depending on what the rules are... Our strength is technology and we will be open to local tie-ups,” the GE India chief, Mr T P Chopra, told Business Line. GE’s nuclear unit is a joint venture that is 40 per cent owned by Japan’s Hitachi Ltd.

State-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), the monopoly nuclear power generator, has identified four reactor manufacturers — Westinghouse Electric Company (AP1000 series of reactors), GE-Hitachi (ABWR reactor series), Areva (1,000 MW European pressurised reactors) and the Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom (VVER 1,000 reactors) — as among the frontrunners for new projects planned across the country. This is based on “suitability” of technical parameters for placement of orders that will form the first phase of the Centre’s plan to build 40,000 MW of nuclear capacity by 2020.

Nuclear parks

Once nuclear trade commences, NPCIL hopes to set up “Nuclear Parks” or reactor clusters, for which four coastal sites have been identified across Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. These “parks” are being envisaged with a capacity of housing up to eight reactors of 1,000 MW each at a single location. The orders would initially be placed for around two reactors of 1,000 MW at each of the locations, following which more reactors could be added.

“Cost specifications and safety parameters would form the two foremost parameters for the selection of the foreign equipment suppliers for future projects,” a DAE official said. Foreign reactor suppliers are, however, unlikely to be allowed to own equity in the projects in the first phase, officials said.

India has 17 nuclear power plants with a total installed capacity of 4,120 MW in operation. Six additional units, with a capacity of 3,160 MW, are under various stages of construction. If nuclear trade with global players opens up, the Centre, which was originally targeting 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020, hopes to double nuclear capacity addition to achieve an installed capacity of 40,000 MW over the next 12 years.

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