GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd (TCE) of India have signed a preliminary agreement to explore potential project design and workforce development opportunities in support of GEH’s future nuclear projects in India and elsewhere. Mumbai-based TCE is a subsidiary of the Indian industrial conglomerate the Tata Group and is one of India's leading engineering consulting firms.
The agreement anticipates an increase in reactor orders around the world and sets the stage for a collaboration in early feasibility design studies, product and project engineering work ad workforce skills identification and development
India currently has 19 reactors that generate a combined 4560 MWe but plans to expand its installed nuclear generating capacity to 20 000 MWe by 2020 and to 63 000 MW by 2032. The government has identified two possible sites for a potential new station featuring multiple reactors based on GEH’s 1520-megawatt (MW) ESBWR model. The sites are located in the western state of Gujarat and southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
“As India prepares to build new reactor projects, TCE is doing its part by working with experienced nuclear industry companies like GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to help ensure that India has the necessary project resources in place to build and operate new nuclear reactors,” said R. Srinivasan, CEO and managing director of TCE.
The agreement helps create the foundation for exploiting India’s domestic engineering capabilities while supporting domestic employment opportunities. It also would enable GEH to increase the local content of its ESBWR product offering for its customer, state-owned utility Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Ltd. (NPCIL).
GE designed and helped build India’s first nuclear power plant in Tarapur during the 1960s. In 2008, the U.S. and Indian governments signed an agreement to lift the ban on U.S. nuclear exports to India.
GEH also has signed preliminary project development agreements with NPCIL, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Limited.
GEH’s 1520-MWe ESBWR design is Generation III+ technology that aims to offer utilities what the company calls "the world’s most advanced passive safety features and a simplified building design, making the ESBWR safer and more cost-effective to build and operate than existing reactor models."
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