India to Start Talks This Month for Reactors From Areva, GE...

Nuclear Power Corp., India's state- run monopoly, will begin talks this month with Areva SA and General Electric Co. while it waits for the U.S. Congress to clear a deal that allows the South Asian nation to buy atomic technology and fuel.

Nuclear Power plans to buy more than $14 billion of equipment in 2009 from four companies including Areva, General Electric, Rosatom and Westinghouse Electric Co., Chairman Shreyans Kumar Jain said today in a telephone interview in Mumbai.

The orders will help cut power shortages in the world's second-fastest growing major economy and end India's 34-year nuclear isolation. The country on Sept. 6 won the right to buy atomic technology, equipment and fuel from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group as part of a U.S.-proposed deal.

``The exploratory discussions with the Russians and French can now become more focused. We can start finding partners and source fuel for some of our existing plants,'' Jain said. ``We can now start serious negotiations with all four companies.''

General Electric, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, Paris- based Areva, Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse and Rosatom may each win contracts valued at more than $3.5 billion, to supply two reactors that can generate more than 1,000 megawatts apiece, Jain said. The orders will be part of a $40 billion reactor-building program, he said.

`Nuclear Parks'

Nuclear Power plans to set up plants at four sites, he said. The nation's monopoly atomic-power generator plans to build ``nuclear parks'' housing reactors capable of generating as much as 8,000 megawatts at a single location.

The orders will form the first phase of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's plan to build 40,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity by 2020, equivalent to a third of current generation. India needs to add to the 3 percent of electricity that comes from Russian-designed reactors to meet soaring energy needs and reduce its reliance on coal-fired power plants.

During peak hours, India's power supply falls 14.8 percent short of demand, according to the government. Lack of infrastructure, especially power, has eroded 2 percentage points off the country's growth, according to the Asian Development Bank. About 400 million people, or a third of the population, have no access to electricity, according to the United Nations.

India signed a similar civilian nuclear agreement with Russia in January last year. Russia is helping India build two 1,000-megawatt light water reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power station in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Nuclear Power plans to buy the AP1000 series of reactors from Monroeville, Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse, the `ABWR' series from General Electric, Areva's serial designs for the 1,000 megawatt plants and the Russian VVR 1,000 units, Jain said.