4 Feb (NucNet): Up to six of Areva�s European Pressurised Water Reactors (EPRs) could be built in India under an agreement signed today.

France�s Areva group said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in New Delhi with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for technical cooperation to work on developing two to six EPRs at NPCIL�s site at Jaitapur in Maharashtra state.

Areva said the MOU included lifetime fuel supplies for the units built.
The agreement was signed by S K Jain, the chairman and managing director of NPCIL, and Areva�s chief executive officer Anne Lauvergeon.

Other dignitaries attending the signing ceremony included France�s minister of state for foreign trade, Anne-Marie Idrac, and the chairman of India�s Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar.

The MOU follows a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation signed by both countries in September 2008, under which Areva agreed to supply India with 300 tonnes of uranium for reactor units operating under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has said that the country�s �modest� target of a nuclear generating capacity of 20,000 megawatts by 2020 could be doubled following the lifting of restrictions on international cooperation by the Nuclear Suppliers Group in September 2008.

� by John Shepherd

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Nuclear Suppliers Group Backs Civil Cooperation With India (News No. 70, 7 September 2008)

India And Russia Confirm Plans For Additional Kudankulam Units (World Nuclear Review No. 47, 5 December 2008)

India Signs Uranium Supply Deal With Areva (News in Brief No. 144, 18 December 2008)

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