US, India ink pact on nuclear fuel

By Zhang Wen

Washington and New Delhi signed a deal Friday on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel that would allow US firms to share India's $150 billion nuclear energy market, indianexpress. com reported Sunday.

The agreement, signed in Washington by Bill Burns, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, and H.E. Meera Shankar, Indian ambassador to the US, will enable India to reprocess US-originated nuclear material in the country with oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

It would, therefore, give US firms the opportunity to compete with Russian, French and British companies in India's large nuclear energy market.

According to a report in New Delhi-based Business Standard newspaper, India has vowed to expand its nuclear energy capacity from the current 6,000 megawatts to 35,000 megawatts by 2022.

Until 2008, India was under international limitations on buying fuel, reactors and other equipment used for nuclear energy. After the limitations were lifted, India decided to build four new nuclear plants using US, Russian and French technology and equipment.

Washington and New Delhi signed their nuclear agreement in 2008 under the George W. Bush administration, in line with improving relations between the two countries.

"Increased civil nuclear trade with India will create thousands of new jobs for the US economy while helping India meet its rising energy needs in an environmentally responsible way by reducing the growth of carbon emissions," the US State Department said in a press release Saturday, calling Friday's deal "one of the final steps" of the civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

"More than 50 percent of India's energy supply comes from coal. It is not a sustainable option, so nuclear energy is one of the best choices," said Amitendu Palit, a senior researcher on South Asian studies at the University of Singapore.

Fan Jishe, a researcher from the Institute of American Studies of the China Academy of Social Sciences, said there is possibility that the deal could allow India, which is short on nuclear fuel, to move some material for civilian nuclear energy to military sectors.

Legislation to limit nuclear firms' liability in instances of industrial accidents has stalled in the Indian Parliament, though it has been cleared by the cabinet, Reuters reported.

However, the liability issue has put US firms at a competitive disadvantage over Russian and French firms, whose accident liability is underwritten by their governments, the agency added.

Agencies contributed to this story