Will Jaitapur project cost go up like the Flamanville?

pEDF SAs decision to hike the cost of evolutionary pressurised reactors EPR to over 11 billion for the Flamanville nuclear project in France has triggered a debate over a similar hike by Areva SA another French firm for the two EPRs it will supply to the Jaitapur nuclear project in MaharashtrappThose who spearhead the campaign against the proposed 9900-Mw Jaitapur project claim the Jaitapur project cost and the per unit tariff are bound to increase following the Flamanville wayppThey expect the state-run Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd NPCIL to provide clarity in this regardpp&ldquoJaitapur will have same EPRs to be supplied by Areva In view of EDF&rsquos move the per megawatt cost for the Jaitapur project works out to be Rs 3819 crore and the total cost at Rs 378 lakh crore&rdquo Anil Gachke a senior representative of Swadeshi Jagran Manch SJM saidppSJM which has close links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is in the forefront of the campaign against the Jaitapur projectppTwo years ago NPCIL had estimated the Jaitapur project cost to be at Rs 1 lakh crore and had estimated per unit tariff at around Rs 330ppStricter regulation in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster contributed to bringing the total cost of the 1600-Mw Flamanville European pressurised reactor to 85 billion 1111 billion the EDF group said on December 3 In 2005 the state-owned utility estimated the reactors cost at 33 billionppNPCIL and Areva are currently engaged in negotiations to enter into the final works contract after India and France signed an inter-government civil nuclear agreement in December 2010ppHowever after the Fukushima accident in March 2011 and the subsequent reports by French and Indian atomic energy regulators suggesting upgrade of safety in EPRs the tone and tenor of negotiations got changedppNPCIL chairman and managing director K C Purohit said he had not received any official communication on EDF&rsquos move to increase the EPR cost He told Business Standard &ldquoI am not aware of any such move As far as NPCIL&rsquos talks with Areva on the supply of EPRs for the Jaitapur project are concerned they are in progress&rdquoppAreva India chairman Arthur DE Montalembert said &ldquoAs you know Areva does not comment about on-going discussions with its customers&rdquoppOn the EPR cost Montalembert referred to a statement issued by Areva which said &ldquoFollowing EDF&rsquos announcement of the cost increase at the completion of the Flamanville 3 EPR reactor Areva wishes to point out that this cost is not representative of the price of an EPR reactor in the series offered in the market today"p