20 Feb (NucNet): India is still “confident” that it can successfully conclude a deal with US reactor maker Westinghouse Electric Company to build six Generation III+ AP1000 nuclear power reactors in the country, local media quoted an Indian official as saying.
Satish Sharma, managing director of state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India, told The Hindu newspaper that progress on the deal is still expected after the eventual closure of Westinghouse’s bankruptcy procedures.
Westinghouse, which went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2017, has been sold by its owner Toshiba to Brookfield Business Partners, a private equity group, for $4.6bn (€3.7bn). However, the deal is conditional on approval from the bankruptcy court and regulators around the world.
Westinghouse was forced into bankruptcy after lengthy delays and rising costs at the Vogtle and Summer AP1000 nuclear projects in the US, for which it was supplying the AP1000 reactor technology. In May 2017, Westinghouse told NucNet it remained committed to the AP1000 technology and would continue to pursue other potential AP1000 projects because they will be structured in a manner that does not include construction risk.
Former US president Barack Obama and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announced in 2016 that engineering and design work would begin for Westinghouse to build six AP1000s in India, possibly in Andhra Pradesh state, in a deal that was then expected to be signed by June 2017.
