PEA for Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project signed

India’s Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and France’s Areva signed a Pre-Engineering Agreement (PEA) to set up two Evolution pressurized Reactors (EPR) in connection with the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra. Each EPR will produce 1650 MWe each.

The PEA will assess whether the two EPRs will be able to function according to Indian laws, codes, guides, regulations, manuals, practices and general acceptability. It will also look to understand EPR technology itself.

The PEA will facilitate NPCIL in obtaining the knowhow of the EPR technology, as well as assess the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant for safety regulations. Once the power plant is taken up for implementation, the PEA will also take care of the the licensing process with Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

In line with government’s Make In India campaign, there will be a stress on building the power plant components locally. To that end, the PEA will look at ways to maximize local production of components. This is expected to help in bringing down the project costs.

These preparatory steps are going to be necessary whenever the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is taken up, thus saving precious time and cost in the implementation of the project.