China Builds French Reactor for 40% Less, Areva Says

Areva SA said the EPR nuclear reactor costs 3 billion euros ($4 billion) to build in China, 40 percent less than the price tag Electricite de France SA has put on building one in Normandy.
Chinese nuclear builders’ grasp of the technology is “very worrying” for European companies, Areva Chief Executive Officer Anne Lauvergeon told a hearing at the French Senate today in Paris. She also said Chinese companies are more efficient.
The third-generation reactor designed by Areva is being built in France, Finland and China at varying budgets and construction schedules. Once considered key to the success of France’s atomic exports, the design has been criticized as too big and costly after the country lost to a Korean group for a $20 billion order in the United Arab Emirates last year.
“The EPR isn’t more expensive than the competition for the same product,” Lauvergeon told senators today. “All of the lessons learned in Finland are being integrated into construction at Taishan. We are simplifying and improving.”
Talks on developing two more of the reactors in China in addition to two already under construction are “near completion,” Lauvergeon said. Areva is also in the final stages of negotiating the sale of two EPRs in India, plus a nuclear fuel contract, she said.More at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-24/china-builds-french-designed-nuclear-reactor-for-40-less-areva-ceo-says.html