Jaitapur nuclear proj issues being 'well negotiated': France

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler today said that financial and technological issues as well as differences over fixing responsibility for the construction of the proposed 10,000 MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Maharashtra are "being well negotiated".
"The size of the project is massive and there have been certain issues that had to be negotiated between both the countries, be it over cost or financing or the nuclear liability law," Ziegler said at the India Nuclear Energy summit organised by UMB India here.
Ziegler said these issues are being well negotiated and "we expect some action will take place very soon".

The ambassador, however, did not define the timeline in this regard.
French firm EDF and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) have already signed a preliminary agreement to build six atomic reactors at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district.
The six 1,650 megawatt EPR reactors, with a combined capacity of nearly 10,000 MW, would make Jaitapur one of the world's biggest nuclear sites and also the contract.

Speaking on the occasion, Atomic Energy Commission of India member Ravi Grover said the country is working towards achieving its target to have 63,000 MW of nuclear capacity by 2032.
"We have huge scope for developing nuclear capacity. We have tied up with global firms in various fields for increasing our nuclear capacity. At the same time, we are also working on developing domestically designed pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs)," he said.

The Centre has decided to develop 10 new domestically designed PHWRs that will use uranium as fuel.