Top energy official in Prez team as US, India eye N-deal

NEW DELHI: The Trump visit could mark the return after a long time of civil nuclear cooperation to the centre stage of Indo-US bilateral ties with the US looking to circumvent India's liability law to sign a fresh agreement for supplying 6 reactors to India. In the absence of a trade deal, the proposed agreement for nuclear reactors between US energy major Westinghouse and India’s NPCIL could turn out to be the biggest takeaway from Trump’s first visit to India as president.
While there was no official announcement, official sources said that the US Friday included energy secretary Dan Brouillette in the delegation of the higher-ups who will accompany Trump to India.This is being seen as another sign that the 2 countries are close to finalising the agreement for 6 reactors in Andhra Pradesh.
US reservations over India’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act 2010 and the fact that Westinghouse went bankrupt before being acquired by a Japanese company in 2018 only delayed civil nuclear cooperation with India. The government sees nuclear partnership with the US as important for India’s energy security and one which adds significantly to its clean energy options. Officials said though that any commercial agreement had to be consistent with India’s law and practice.
Official sources here said India has already done enough to address concerns in the US that CLND may make suppliers liable for any nuclear mishap. Indian officials have maintained that India’s liability law, while ensuring strict liability, is channelled to the operator. They have also repeatedly told their US counterparts that India’s decision to create a nuclear insurance pool will help considerably in overall risk-management.
Without giving anything away on whether or not the MoU would be signed, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had Thursday said Westinghouse and NPCIL were involved in a discussion to build 6 1100 MW reactors at Kovvada, Andhra Pradesh. ``Following resolution of Westinghouse’s bankruptcy issues, the two sides are in discussion regarding the division of responsibility of the work. NPCIL has visited the U.S. reference plant to understand Westinghouse’s modular construction methodology,’’ he had said.
The 2 countries are currently also having regular discussions on space cooperation, given their long history of cooperation in, as the official said, civil space arena including earth observation, satellite navigation, and space exploration.
``There is a Joint Working Group to regularly review cooperation and identify new areas. Currently, our sides are cooperating in Mars exploration, heliophysics, and human spaceflight. On commercial front, ISRO has launched 209 satellites from US, on-board PSLV, as co passengers,’’ he said, adding that ISRO is also working with the US government agencies for cooperation in safety of spaceflight through exchange of situational awareness information.