India finalizes Indo-US deal

India’s Parliament approved a final, critical piece of a long-delayed landmark civil nuclear agreement on Monday, a pact regarded as a cornerstone of a Bush-era effort to transform the relationship between the United States and the world’s largest democracy.

But even as supporters praised a historic victory, the end result is probably not what the United States had hoped for, nor does it seem likely to signal a new era in relations between the United States and India. Indeed, some analysts say the compromises needed to move Monday’s legislation through India’s contentious Parliament could undermine the practical impact of a political, diplomatic and economic accord that took years to negotiate.

With President Obama scheduled to make his first visit to India in early November, the governments in both countries are trying to strengthen a relationship sometimes described as a natural and strategic alliance of democracies. But drawing closer has proved complicated as differences remain on issues like trade and climate change as well as how to effectively deal with Pakistan.

The nuclear issue, putatively about India’s future, has sparked weeks of bitter political debate in New Delhi, tapped into Indian nationalism and public suspicion of foreign corporate interests while also dredging up a very different chapter in the countries’ relations: the 1984 Union Carbide industrial disaster at Bhopal, which killed thousands. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accused of toadying to America, appeared before the lower house of Parliament to deny that his allegiance was anywhere but with India.

“We kind of assume that we will be the dominant partner in any partnership,” said Teresita C. Schaffer, a former ambassador to Sri Lanka who also served as an American diplomat in India. “India does not make that assumption.”

Mr. Singh, who announced the nuclear deal in a 2005 joint statement with former President George W. Bush, has an expansive vision of the role of nuclear energy as a power source for India’s future. For decades after its 1974 nuclear test, India had refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and was subjected to a three-decade American moratorium on nuclear trade. But the deal opened a controversial back door for India to join the nuclear club while also opening an Indian market estimated at $150 billion to foreign energy companies once blocked by the moratorium.

Now the question is whether foreign or even Indian energy companies will be willing to come in to provide the expertise India needs to expand, because of the liability guidelines codified in the legislation in case of a nuclear accident. Existing international conventions place liability solely with the operator of a nuclear reactor while immunizing suppliers. But the Indian law bucks international norms and makes suppliers potentially liable, too. Indian industrial groups have already expressed reservations, while analysts warn that many private foreign energy companies may now decide not to take part.

“This makes the fruits of the Indo-U.S. deal go to waste,” said G. Balachandaran, a security analyst in New Delhi with a specialty in nuclear issues. He added: “It may well be the end of civil nuclear growth in India.”

India currently has 19 nuclear reactors, and the government wants to attract foreign and domestic suppliers to build more. The liability legislation was critical, because most private foreign energy companies need a legal framework outlining their risks and potential liabilities before entering a market. International conventions largely abide by a principle in which liability is “channeled” strictly to the operator of a reactor rather than the long list of suppliers.

During the debate before Monday’s vote in the upper house of India’s Parliament, the government’s point man, Prithviraj Chavan, said the law would make India the sole country in the world that placed some liability on suppliers. “The suppliers are not happy,” said Mr. Chavan.

The government originally proposed legislation more palatable to suppliers, but opposition parties had demanded tougher provisions, particularly after the ghost of the Bhopal disaster inflamed the debate.

In Bhopal, thousands of people were killed after an explosion in December 1984 at the Union Carbide pesticide factory unleashed a poisonous cloud over the city. India sought $3.3 billion in damages from Union Carbide, since purchased by Dow Chemicals, but would later settle for $470 million. Much of the money has not been distributed, and many victims have gotten only nominal payments.

In June — 26 years after the accident — India’s court system announced light criminal sentences against eight former executives of Union Carbide’s Indian subsidiary, one of whom had since died. Meanwhile, Warren M. Anderson, the former chairman of Union Carbide, has never been prosecuted, having absconded to the United States, which has declined to extradite him. After the issue resurfaced, the public was outraged, and the Bhopal tragedy again dominated the Indian media.

Then on Aug. 19, an Indian news channel reported that a senior American official had cautioned a top Indian official in an e-mail that the “noise” over Dow Chemicals could hurt investment in India. The official, Mike Froman, a deputy national security adviser, issued a statement denying that he was making any sort of threat — but the episode further inflamed the nuclear debate.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition, insisted on language that left open the possibility that suppliers could be sued in the case of an accident.

On Monday, Arun Jaitley, the B.J.P. leader in the upper house, scoffed at the notion that foreign energy companies would stay away from India. He said India’s appetite for new nuclear reactors would create a “buyer’s market” and the law would provide leverage for the government. He said the law abided by the principle of channeling by holding only the operator liable for claims from accident victims. The difference, he said, is that the law allows an operator to sue a supplier under certain circumstances.

Had the law not been changed, he said it would have been “a suppliers’ immunity law.”

But Indian business groups and even the government’s own Nuclear Power Corporation, which operates the existing reactors, have warned that such liability language was problematic and could dissuade private suppliers. India already has a separate bilateral agreement with Russia, and liability is less central an issue since Russian companies are state-owned. Yet Russia also has expressed concern. Private companies in other countries, including France, which also has a bilateral agreement with India, could be more exposed. And Japan, which is also negotiating a nuclear agreement with India, is likely to raise the issue since Japanese companies are heavily involved in the industry.

“It really increases the exposure of Indian and international suppliers,” said Ashley Tellis, a former American diplomat involved in negotiating the framework of the United States-India deal. “The net effect is that it is going to restrict the prime minister’s options and it could even be fatal to his vision of expanding the nuclear power sector in India.”

Source: The New York Times

Indo-Japan nuclear deal is essential

An India-Japan civil nuclear pact would be critical in signalling that they would like to build a partnership to bring stability to the region at a time when China is going all out to reward Pakistan with civilian nuclear reactors, says Harsh V Pant.

Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was in Delhi recently for the fourth round of India-Japan strategic dialogue and made it clear that negotiations on civilian nuclear cooperation pact are going to be rather difficult.

There are indications that negotiations on the pact between Japan and India have stalled and it now looks unlikely that this pact would be signed during the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan in October as originally planned. India and Japan started discussions on the possibility of Japan signing a civil nuclear agreement with India in June. This was a significant move for Japan that has long been critical of Indian nuclear policy. Though India-Japan ties have blossomed in recent years on a whole range of issues, the nuclear issue has been a major irritant in the relationship.

The Indian nuclear tests of 1998 marked the lowest point in bilateral relations with Japan reacting strongly to the nuclearisation of the sub-continent. Tokyo suspended economic assistance for three years as well as put on hold all political exchanges between the two nations. Japan’s economic measures against India included freezing of grant aid for new projects, suspension of yen loans, withdrawal of Tokyo as a venue for India Development Forum, a ‘cautious examination’ of loans to India by international financial institutions and imposition of strict control over technology transfers.

Japan took the lead in various international fora like the G-8 in condemning nuclear tests by India and Pakistan while the Japanese Diet (parliament) described the tests as constituting a threat to the very survival of human beings.

This strong reaction from Japan was in many ways understandable given that the Japanese are the only people to have experienced the brutality of nuclear weapons and that experience has continued to shape their world-view. Yet, many in India saw the Japanese reaction as hypocritical given that India’s genuine security concerns were brushed aside even as Japan itself enjoyed the security guarantee of the US nuclear umbrella.

As many in India see it, Japan’s commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, in many ways, remains predicated upon its reliance on American nuclear deterrence. Continued…

Read more: Harsh V Pant, Rediff News

India: Rajasthan groundbreaking begins

A ceremony has been held to mark the start of groundbreaking for units 7 and 8 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) in India. First concrete is scheduled to be poured at the site before the end of the year.

Excavation work started at the site on 19 August, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) reported. Approval to start the work had been granted the previous day by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

A traditional Bhoomi Pajan ceremony is performed to inaugurate the site for the construction of RAPP 7 and 8 (Image: NPCIL)

RAPP 7 and 8 will be 700 MWe indigenously designed pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). The pouring of first concrete for the units is planned for December, after excavation works have been completed. The reactors are scheduled to begin commercial operation in June and December 2016, respectively. The estimated cost of constructing the two units is put at Rs 123.2 billion ($2.6 billion).

In May, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) was awarded an Rs 8880 million ($188 million) contract by NPCIL to undertake main plant civil works of RAPP 7 and 8. HCC has constructed all six existing units at RAPP, which are also PHWRs of varying sizes, the first of which began operating in 1973 and the latest earlier this year.

The Indian government gave the go-ahead for the construction of RAPP 7 and 8 in October 2009. At the same time, it approved the construction of two further 700 MWe PHWRs at Kakrapar in Gujarat state. According to NPCIL, excavation work has now been completed for the two units at Kakrapar and the company is awaiting approval from the AERB to begin pouring concrete. The Kakrapar site already hosts two 220 MWe PHWRs, which entered commercial operation in 1993 and 1995, respectively. The larger Kakrapar units 3 and 4 are due to start operating in 2012.

Source: World Nuclear News

Indo-Japan deal in the works

Japan on Saturday said that the much anticipated civil nuclear agreement between the two nations was on the anvil, and would be formulated ‘as soon as possible.

Speaking at a joint press conference in national capital, Japan’s Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said: “These are discussions on nuclear cooperation agreement and as such, it goes without saying, we are discussing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. As for a timeline, I would say…as soon as possible, but we have not really set a specific deadline.”

Mentioning about the stir caused by the deal in the socio-political circles of Japan, Okada said he lobbied for the inclusion of the non-proliferation clause in the agreement.

“Considering the domestic criticism in Japan, I asked for consideration on the part of India so that this philosophy of nuclear disarmament and non proliferation would be contained in the nuclear cooperation agreement,” Okada said.

While calling it a win-win situation for both the nations, Okada, however, said that if India were to break its self-imposed, voluntary unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests, the deal would be suspended.

“I do not think we can say or suggest that India refrain from conducting any nuclear tests. But if such a thing were to happen, then Japan would have no option but to suspend our cooperation,” said Okada.

Earlier in the day, Okada, who is undertaking a two-day state visit to India, called on Krishna to conduct the fourth round of the Indian-Japan Strategic Dialogue.

The meeting comprised crucial negotiations on the civil nuclear agreement between the two nations, which went smoothly, said officials.

Japan has been hesitant to sign a civilian pact with India because the nation is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), thus barring Japanese companies from supplying nuclear products to India.

Previously, the Indo-American 123 agreement on civil nuclear cooperation had created a worldwide stir, since India became the first nation to keep its atomic weapons and to trade in nuclear technology despite not having signed international treaties and norms on non-proliferation.

India has often maintained that it will not adhere to the NPT, and will not sign it as long as it is discriminatory and biased towards more powerful nations.

In the course of his visit, Okada and Krishna also had a productive exchange of ideas to consolidate the socio-economic and political dimensions of the bilateral relations between India and Japan.

Okada’s visit is aimed at firming up the agenda for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to Tokyo in October this year, during which he will have a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The bilateral nuclear agreement is expected to be formulated before Singh’s visit to Japan.

Source: India Gazette

India: Cabinet amends nuclear liability bill

After debating a parliamentary panel report, the Indian cabinet has agreed changes to the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, which should now gain support from former opponents.

RTT News reported that the liability limit has been tripled from Rs 500 crore ($109 million) to Rs 1500 crore ($327 million) and that the time period for making claims in relation to a nuclear incident has been doubled from 10 to 20 years.

A further amendment, bound to be of great interest to foreign firms interested in investing in the Indian nuclear sector, is that the bill has dropped an existing clause that exempted suppliers from liability in the case of an accident. Normally it is the responsibility of the operator of a nuclear facility to work safely, under the authority of a regulator that independently checks and monitors the appropriateness of plant design and safety measures. The exact wording of this deletion has not yet been released, but allowing for supplier liability would run contrary to the principles of liability as established in other countries and international frameworks.

The amended bill also prevents India from ratifying the Convention Supplementary Compensation for nuclear damage, and indeed any international treaty or framework governing nuclear liability under which the supplier cannot be sued in their home country.

Speaking on NDTV today, senior leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Murli Manohar mentioned that their major concerns had all been discussed and accepted by the government. He said the new bill is now more ‘India-centric’ and more closely focused on the rights of victims of potential nuclear accidents.

Other opposition parties are still not in agreement with the amended bill. Voices on the left are calling for a yet higher increase to the limit of liability, yet others such as a Communist Party of India spokesman, who spoke on the same NDTV broadcast, do not see why there needs to be a cap to liability at all.

The revised bill is expected to be entered to the Lok Sabha (parliament) within days. Its passage would complete a long international legislative process to allow India access to nuclear goods and services from other countries. The vastly populous nation wants to expand its nuclear sector from providing just a few percent of power today to around one quarter by 2050. Key to this will be the import of large advanced reactors and moves towards this have been made with major vendors from Europe, Japan and the USA.

Source: World Nuclear News

India hopes to ink nuclear accord with Japan

Downplaying recent adverse remarks by Japanese officials about civil nuclear cooperation with India, India Friday said it would shortly hold another round of negotiations with Japan here and underlined that it was hopeful of ‘a win-win’ atomic accord soon.

‘Both countries have been working towards a good agreement which will be a win-win situation for both India and Japan,’ Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary in charge of East Asia in the external affairs ministry, told reporters here.

‘We are hoping that the Japanese negotiators will come to New Delhi,’ he said, a day before Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada comes here Saturday for talks that will also include the prospects of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

‘It’s for the Japanese side to handle these viewpoints and decide on nuclear pact with India. The Japanese government has taken a decision after considering all viewpoints,’ said Bambawale.

‘We share a common goal of creating a world free of weapons of mass destruction,’ said Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry.

There is a robust anti-nuclear domestic constituency in Japan that has been critical of starting nuclear negotiations with India, a country that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The mayor of Nagasaki, one of the two Japanese cities scorched by atom bombs to extract Japan’s surrender during World War II, made a declaration Aug 9 that calls for the abolition of all nuclear weapons in the world.

Ahead of his visit to India, Okada said he was to ‘candidly convey to India critical public opinions in Japan’ and urge New Delhi to make efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

India and Japan launched the first round of nuclear negotiations June 28-29 after a nod from Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Tokyo had supported New Delhi’s bid to resume global nuclear commerce in the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group in September 2008.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will hold delegation-level talks Saturday with Okada on a wide range of bilateral issues, including intensification of economic ties, the UN reforms and civil nuclear cooperation.

Okada will also call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The two sides will review progress negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). ‘Another round of talks will take place in September on this issue,’ said Bambawale.

The talks between Krishna and Okada will also prepare the agenda for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo, likely towards October-end.

India is confident of further progress in civil nuclear negotiations by the time Manmohan Singh visits Tokyo, said sources.

Nudged by the US and France to fast-track the nuclear pact with India so that General Electric Co and France’s Areva can use Japanese suppliers for nuclear power projects for India, Japan has decided to accelerate the negotiations.

Japanese companies like Hitachi and Toshiba are eying a share of India’s growing nuclear pie, estimated to be worth $150 billion.

Issues related to the UN reforms will also figure in discussions, said sources. India and Japan, along with Brazil and Germany, make the G4 grouping seeking permanent seats in a reformed UN Security Council.

Source: Yahoo! News

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Tata Consulting Engineers Exploring Potential Design and Workforce Development Opportunities for New Reactor Projects

Preliminary Agreement Sets Stage for Future ESBWR Engineering Collaboration

WILMINGTON, N.C.—August 17, 2010—GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) today announced it has signed a preliminary agreement with India’s Tata Consulting Engineers, Ltd. (TCE) to explore potential project design and workforce development opportunities in support of GEH’s future nuclear projects in India and around the world.

As GEH prepares for potential ESBWR projects in India and other countries planning to build new reactors, the agreement sets the stage for the companies to collaborate in areas such as workforce skills identification and development, as well as early feasibility design studies, product and project engineering work.

India’s government has identified two possible sites for a potential new station featuring multiple reactors based on GEH’s 1,520-megawatt (MW) ESBWR model. The sites are located in the western state of Gujarat and southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

India currently has 19 reactors that generate a combined 4,560 MWe but plans to expand its installed nuclear generating capacity to 20,000 MWe by 2020 and to 63,000 MW by 2032.

Mumbai-based TCE is a subsidiary of the Indian industrial conglomerate the Tata Group and is one of India’s leading engineering consulting firms with a wide range of international experience in a wide range of power plant, water, transportation, chemical, manufacturing and other infrastructure projects.

“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 leveraging 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).

“We are excited at the prospect of working with TCE on our future ESBWR projects. TCE has the proven engineering and industrial expertise to support the broad infrastructure requirements of nuclear power plant projects,” said Danny Roderick, GEH’s senior vice president for nuclear plant projects.

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), one of GEH’s parent companies, designed and helped build India’s first nuclear power plant in Tarapur during the 1960s and today, after more than 40 years, the GE BWR reactor at the Tarapur plant, now owned and operated by NPCIL, is among the most reliable operating reactors in India. In 2008, the U.S. and Indian governments signed an agreement to lift the ban on U.S. nuclear exports to India.

Since 2008, GEH has been building its local supplier network in India to complement the company’s global project supply chain while it explores opportunities for new reactor projects as well as providing fuel and other services to existing and new nuclear power plants.

In addition to TCE, GEH also has signed preliminary project development agreements with NPCIL, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Limited.

GEH’s 1,520-MWe ESBWR design is Generation III+ technology that offers utilities 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.

Nuclear energy is important in GEH’s long-standing ties with India. Today, GE’s global businesses participate in a wide range of manufacturing, services and technology sectors in India, as GE seeks to be a partner in the nation’s economic growth.

About GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Based in Wilmington, N.C., GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) is a world-leading provider of advanced reactors and nuclear services. Established in June 2007, GEH is a global nuclear alliance created by GE and Hitachi to serve the global nuclear industry. The nuclear alliance executes a single, strategic vision to create a broader portfolio of solutions, expanding its capabilities for new reactor and service opportunities. The alliance offers customers around the world the technological leadership required to effectively enhance reactor performance, power output and safety.

For more information, contact:
Michael Tetuan
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
+1 910 819 7055
michael.tetuan@ge.com

Tom Murnane or Howard Masto
Masto Public Relations
+1 518 786 6488
tom.murnane@mastopr.com
howard.masto@ge.com

Source: GE Press Center

India: Panel recommends tougher nuclear liability bill

A parliamentary panel will on Wednesday recommend changes to a bill aimed at opening up a $150 billion nuclear power market, including more compensation for accidents and extending liability to private suppliers.

The panel will recommend the liability cap be trebled to $320 million, a member of the panel who asked not to be named, said.

The recommendations, largely backed by opposition parties, will mean higher costs for firms such as U.S.-based General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, a subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba Corp, which would have to pay higher insurance premiums.

“The operator will also sign a contract which will hold suppliers liable if any accident is caused by defective equipment,” the member said on condition of anonymity as the report has to be presented to parliament first.

The original draft law had capped liability at about $110 million for the state-run reactor operator without placing any compensation burden on private suppliers and contractors.

State compensation was capped at up to 300 million special drawing rights. Opposition leaders, who had slammed the bill and demanded changes, say the liability of a U.S. operator under U.S. legislation is $12.5 billion.

The bill was introduced in parliament earlier in the year, but opposition protests forced the government to refer it to the panel, composed of members from several parties, for scrutiny.

“We have addressed the concerns of the (main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party) BJP and more or less of the left parties. This report has been more or less unanimously approved,” said Congress’ T. Subbarami Reddy, who chaired the panel.

Communist party members of the panel will submit a note of dissent on the report, as they want no liability caps, but the BJP has said it is willing to support the rewritten bill.

“The government has addressed our concerns on the bill and we have decided to support it,” S.S. Ahluwalia, a BJP member on the panel, said.

The bill has the personal backing of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whose 2008 deal with former U.S. president George Bush ended India’s isolation in the global nuclear market.

The government is keen on ratifying the bill and smoothing entry for global firms, including those from the United States, before President Barack Obama’s planned November visit to India.

French and Russian firms, whose governments underwrite their liability, are already working on setting up reactors in India.

Source: Reuters/Yahoo! News

India will not allow privately-ran nuclear power plants

The government Friday said it has no intention to allow private firms to set up nuclear power plants independently, flatly rejecting the recommendation of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council that the nuclear power sector be opened up.

The private sector for the time being will have to be content with ‘being a minor partner’ in state-run enterprises setting up nuclear power plants, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan told the Rajya Sabha.

‘At this stage, the government does not intend to change the related provision of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, for private participation in setting up of nuclear power plants,’ said Chavan in response to a question on private investment in the nuclear power sector.

He said the 1962 Atomic Energy Act permitted private participation in setting up of nuclear power plants as ‘a minor partner of a government company’.

The act, amended in 1987, ‘empowers the central government alone to develop, use and dispose of atomic energy either by itself or through any authority or corporation established by it or a government company.’

‘The entry of private entities as minor partner in this activity will enable them to learn complexities of nuclear technologies, quality and safety culture and a long-term commitment which extends up to the entire life time of power plants,’ the minister said.

Chavan ruled out changes in the 1962 legislation as suggested by the PMEAC to allow private firms in the business of nuclear power generation.

The PMEAC in its ‘Economic Outlook for 2009-10′ highlighted the need to diversify the country’s fuel sources and develop more natural gas and nuclear energy based power plants as opposed to the coal based capacities.

It sought legislative changes to allow the entry of private companies into the business of nuclear power generation within an appropriate regulatory framework so that ‘investment including that from established private companies interested in this business, can begin to flow.’

The minister, however, added that the government has as of now no intention to change the existing legal provisions on private participation in nuclear power generation.

Source: India Gazette

India-US agreement takes another step forward

Nuclear energy cooperation between the USA and India has taken another step forward with the signature of an agreement that will enable India to reprocess US-obligated nuclear material.

The agreement on arrangements and procedures for reprocessing signed in Washington by US under secretary of state for political affairs Bill Burns and Indian ambassador to the USA Meera Shankar is the culmination of over a year of negotiations. Once it enters into force, it will mean that India will be able to reprocess US-obligated nuclear materials at a new national facility dedicated to the reprocessing of material under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

Ambassador Shankar and Under Secretary Burns seal the deal (Image: Embassy of India)

The US State Department is keen to point out that the reprocessing agreement was negotiated and concluded under the administration of President Obama, although in fact it follows on from the US-India nuclear cooperation agreement finalised during the previous US administration. Nonetheless, it is a prerequisite for US nuclear fuel suppliers to carry out trade with India, which has a flourishing nuclear power program but only modest domestic uranium resources. The US, which currently does not carry out reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, has previously only extended similar consent to European Union countries and to Japan.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Shankar talked of India’s ambitious nuclear development program – the country plans to have 35,000 MWe of nuclear capacity installed by 2022 and 60,000 MWe by 2032. “International cooperation, including cooperation with US firms, is an important component of this plan,” she said, going on to mention that the Indian government has already designated two sites for nuclear power plants to be established in cooperation with the USA. “The companies of the two countries are now engaged in discussions,” she said.

Although not a signatory to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), India has a comprehensive safeguards agreement in place with the IAEA, plus an Additional Protocol agreed by the IAEA in March 2009 but not yet ratified by the Indian government. Another important milestone for overseas cooperation in India’s nuclear program will be the country’s proposed law on nuclear civil liability, which is currently before the Indian government but has been the subject of much contention between Indian politicians.

Source: World Nuclear News

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