ashok321
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WILL THE WESTINGHOUSE AP1000 NUCLEAR REACTORS PROVE TO BE TURKEYS FOR INDIA?
India moved swiftly to sign a deal allowing America's Westinghouse Electric to set up six nuclear reactors in India. But this agreement has drawn a lot of flak for being commercially nonviable. This strong resentment is gaining ground as the US reactors are most likely to cost three times more than that of Russian reactors already in operation at Kudankulam Nuclear Complex.
The government's proposition was part of the talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama during the former's latest visit to the US.
Many are questioning the rationale behind such a commitment as installing nuclear reactors manufactured by Westinghouse would overshoot the cost of Russian reactors. The proposed project that Westinghouse is building in the US, costs $7.5 million per megawatt, while the approved cost of Kudankulam Unit 3 & 4 is $2.9 million. So it seems evident that the cost of Westinghouse reactors will exceed to that of the Russian reactors currently operating in India. Russia's Rosatom operates two reactors at Kudankulam.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India -Marxist (true to their pathological & traditional hatred towards America) is also skeptical of the viability of projects involving western nuclear reactors. A CPI(M) statement said, "The cost of the AP1000 reactors are going to be prohibitive, just as the French Areva reactors to be set up at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. By a conservative estimate, it is going to cost more than USD 42 billion for the six reactors. The cost of power produced from these reactors is going to be unsustainable."
Alternatively, solar and wind energy are already cheaper than nuclear power in India — in this scenario, any new nuclear project has to be evaluated for its commercial viability, otherwise India risks ending up with a white elephant.
In January 2016, Finland's Fortum Finnsurya offered to supply solar power at a record low price of Rs. 4.34/kilowatt-hour (kWh) in India. Apart from Fortum, several other bidders have offered to supply solar power at less than Rs. 5/kWh. The wind energy tariff in India, on the other hand, ranges from Rs. 4.13-Rs. 6.60/kWh, depending upon the location.
India and Westinghouse haven't discussed commercial terms, including the price of reactors. Nonetheless, a joint statement released after the meeting between Indian Prime Minister & the US President Barack Obama states, "Both sides welcomed the announcement by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, and Westinghouse that engineering and site design work will begin immediately and the two sides will work toward finalizing the contractual arrangements by June 2017.
Therefore, based on the price disadvantage and unproven technology arguments advanced by a disparate raucous and disgruntled elements, a thorough viability study has to be conducted before any harebrained conclusions are drawn. Nevertheless, despite the outcome of this analysis, it seems only prudent for India to hasten the process of importing Russian VVER-1000 Nuclear Reactors (technology insalled at Kudankulam NPP) because these reactors have proven to be safe and damn cheap to run.
India moved swiftly to sign a deal allowing America's Westinghouse Electric to set up six nuclear reactors in India. But this agreement has drawn a lot of flak for being commercially nonviable. This strong resentment is gaining ground as the US reactors are most likely to cost three times more than that of Russian reactors already in operation at Kudankulam Nuclear Complex.
The government's proposition was part of the talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama during the former's latest visit to the US.
Many are questioning the rationale behind such a commitment as installing nuclear reactors manufactured by Westinghouse would overshoot the cost of Russian reactors. The proposed project that Westinghouse is building in the US, costs $7.5 million per megawatt, while the approved cost of Kudankulam Unit 3 & 4 is $2.9 million. So it seems evident that the cost of Westinghouse reactors will exceed to that of the Russian reactors currently operating in India. Russia's Rosatom operates two reactors at Kudankulam.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India -Marxist (true to their pathological & traditional hatred towards America) is also skeptical of the viability of projects involving western nuclear reactors. A CPI(M) statement said, "The cost of the AP1000 reactors are going to be prohibitive, just as the French Areva reactors to be set up at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. By a conservative estimate, it is going to cost more than USD 42 billion for the six reactors. The cost of power produced from these reactors is going to be unsustainable."
Alternatively, solar and wind energy are already cheaper than nuclear power in India — in this scenario, any new nuclear project has to be evaluated for its commercial viability, otherwise India risks ending up with a white elephant.
In January 2016, Finland's Fortum Finnsurya offered to supply solar power at a record low price of Rs. 4.34/kilowatt-hour (kWh) in India. Apart from Fortum, several other bidders have offered to supply solar power at less than Rs. 5/kWh. The wind energy tariff in India, on the other hand, ranges from Rs. 4.13-Rs. 6.60/kWh, depending upon the location.
India and Westinghouse haven't discussed commercial terms, including the price of reactors. Nonetheless, a joint statement released after the meeting between Indian Prime Minister & the US President Barack Obama states, "Both sides welcomed the announcement by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, and Westinghouse that engineering and site design work will begin immediately and the two sides will work toward finalizing the contractual arrangements by June 2017.
Therefore, based on the price disadvantage and unproven technology arguments advanced by a disparate raucous and disgruntled elements, a thorough viability study has to be conducted before any harebrained conclusions are drawn. Nevertheless, despite the outcome of this analysis, it seems only prudent for India to hasten the process of importing Russian VVER-1000 Nuclear Reactors (technology insalled at Kudankulam NPP) because these reactors have proven to be safe and damn cheap to run.
