If built on time, Jaitapur Project in Maharashtra would be the largest nuclear power generating station in the world by net generation capacity, at 9,900 MW.

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project

• Jaitapur Project is a proposed nuclear power plant in India.
• The power project is proposed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and would be built at Madban village of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.
• It is being built with technical cooperation from France.

Project description

• It is proposed to construct 6 European Pressurized Reactors designed and developed by Framatome (former Areva) of France, each of 1650 MW, thus totaling 9900 MW.
• These are the third generation pressurized water reactors (PWR).
• The cost of building the plant is about ₹20 crore (US$2.7 million) per MW electric power compared with ₹5 crore (US$660,000) per MW electric power for a coal power station.
• A consortium of French financial institutions will finance this project as a loan. Both French and Indian government will give sovereign guarantee for this loan.

Issues with the project

(I) Liability for nuclear damage

• The lack of clarity on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 passed in Indian Parliament in August 2010 is a hurdle in finalizing deal.
• This Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 has a clause that deals with the legal binding of the culpable groups in case of a nuclear accident.
• It allows only the operator (NPCIL) to sue the manufacturers and suppliers. Victims will not be able to sue anyone.

(II) Clearance issue

• Environmental effects of nuclear power and geological issues have been raised by anti-nuclear activists of India against this power project.
• Even though the Maharashtra state govt completed land acquisition in 2010, only few people had accepted compensation cheques.

(III) Seismicity of the area

• Since Jaitapur is a seismically sensitive area, the danger of an earthquake has been foremost on the minds of people.
• According to the Earthquake hazard zoning of India, Jaitapur comes under Zone III. This zone is called the moderate Risk Zone and covers areas liable to MSK VIII.
• The presence of two major creeks on the proposed site has been ignored while clearing the site.

(IV) Nuclear waste disposal

• It is not clear where the nuclear waste from the site will be shipped for recycling or removed for disposal.
• The plant is estimated to generate 300 tonnes of used nuclear fuel each year.

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