India nuclear plant with French reactors gets clearance

India gave environmental clearance for a nuclear power plant to be built in collaboration with French firm Areva.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the go-ahead for the Jaitapur plant in Maharashtra state, which will use nuclear reactors supplied by Areva, was granted with 35 conditions and safeguards.

“From an environmental point of view, nuclear energy is a cleaner option than coal,” Ramesh said in a press release, adding that he has called for further studies into the power station’s potential environmental impact.

According to the dawn.com, the power station will be situated in the coastal region of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital of Mumbai, and has faced protests from locals and anti-nuclear activists.

Ramesh said nuclear energy accounted for about 2.9 per cent of India’s energy generation, and the government wanted to increase the figure to six per cent by 2020 and possibly 13 per cent by 2030.

The proposed project will eventually have six reactors generating 1,650 megawatts each. It has several more government regulatory hurdles to overcome before being given the final go-ahead.