French energy major AREVA's European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) would be an ideal choice for India's ambitious nuclear power programme as it is large, safe and economical to run, a senior French official said on THursday.

"Our offer is competitive and the EPR is large (1650 MW), safe and very economical to run," Mario Pain, Senior Nuclear Advisor, Ministry of Environment, Energy and Development, France told PTI on the sidelines of the two-day Indo-French nuclear business meet which concluded here today.

"Although it is expensive to build it is very efficient to operate and even cheaper in terms of megawatt cost," Pain said replying to a query on the competitiveness of EPR with other reactors from Russia and US which are in the process of negotiation with Indian utility company Nuclear Power Corporation of India limited (NPCIL).

Pain said, "India has an ambitious nuclear power programme and therefore will need several international cooperations but our technology is considered as best and it is up to India to choose the best in service of its people."

India plans to have six EPRs at Jaitapur nuclear park in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra and in the first phase two reactors will be built once the regulatory and statutory process are completed.

EPR has leak tight containment around the reactor besides a two-layer concrete wall with total thickness 2.6 meters, designed to withstand impact by air planes and internal overpressure, according to AREVA.

The EPR design has several active and passive protection measures against accidents----four independent emergency cooling systems, each capable of cooling down the reactor after shutdown, in other words 300 per cent redundancy, he said.

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