Jaitapur nuclear power project gets green nod

• The 9,900-mw Jaitapur nuclear power project on Sunday received clearance from the Environment Ministry, which prescribed 35 conditions and safeguards.
• Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said he considered various issues like economic growth, diversification of fuel mix for power generation and environment protection before giving nod to the proposed project on Konkan coast, which had faced opposition from locals and green groups.
• Will be jointly developed by state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) and French giant Areva.
• An agreement between Areva and the NPC is expected to be signed during French President Nicholas Sarkozy's India visit next month.
• The project would help energy deficient States like Maharashtra, which face compulsory power cuts and the NPC expects the first unit of the project to be commissioned by 2017-18.
• The project had been opposed by groups like the Konkan Bachao Samiti which expressed concern about the radiological safety of the nuclear plant and its impact on the environment.
• They also pointed "faults" in the environmental impact assessment report prepared by the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) alleging that it is based on generic and incomplete inputs on radioactive threats.