US nuclear industry delegation in India to explore opportunities

Washington: A delegation of senior executives from the American nuclear industry is visiting India this week to explore areas of cooperation after New Delhi opened up the tightly-controlled sector for private players.

The 20-member US Executive Nuclear Industry Delegation will be visiting New Delhi and Mumbai from May 18-21. The team will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, officials from the Department of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited apart from the leaders from several private sector companies interested in India's civil nuclear sector.

“The goal is to understand how American and Indian companies can further collaborate to support project development, strengthen supply chains, and build long-term commercial partnerships,” the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) said.

The delegation will also understand from state governments how they can support the state’s nuclear projects and build manufacturing partnerships at the local level.

The members will interact with government officials and private sector leaders keen to explore opportunities in the civil nuclear sector available since the enactment of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) law in December last year.

The SHANTI Act replaced the Atomic Energy Act of 1964 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CNLD) Act of 2010. The CNLD Act had tougher liability provisions on nuclear suppliers which global companies found to be an impediment to exploring the Indian market.

The US nuclear industry delegation is travelling to India as part of an initiative by the USISPF and the Nuclear Energy Institute, a leading US policy and technical organisation.

India and the US are also exploring cooperation in nuclear fusion technologies in addition to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor that is being developed at Cadarache in France.

“India's ambition to scale nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047, combined with the opening of the sector to private players, presents a major commercial opportunity for US firms,” said Shaswat Kumar, Fellow, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington DC based think tank.

He said recent 10 CFR Part 810 authorisations to Holtec, Clean Core Thorium and Flowserve signal renewed momentum in bilateral nuclear cooperation.

“Going forward, realising this potential will hinge on parallel action faster export approvals from the US and, in India, progress on reprocessing infrastructure and addressing end use verification concerns,” Kumar told PTI.

The US industry delegation is expected to explore joint project opportunities with the Indian private sector in civil nuclear energy.

After the India-US civil nuclear agreement was signed in 2008, two sites -- Chhayamithi Virdi in Gujarat and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh -- were allotted to US companies to establish 1,000 MW nuclear power plants.

India and the US are also exploring cooperation in small modular reactors (SMRs) which are billed as the future of nuclear power due to ease of deployment, particularly by repurposing sites of coal-based power plants.

The US is also taking steps to speed up SMR deployment and explore recycling and reprocessing of spent fuel. The US has not reprocessed or recycled nuclear fuel since 1970.

In India, private sector players such as Tata Consulting Engineers, Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro among others have evinced interest in the civil nuclear sector.

India’s public sector undertaking National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has established a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to build at least six power plants at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Chutka in Madhya Pradesh.

India has set a target of producing 100 GW nuclear power by 2047, a significant rise from the present installed capacity of nearly 9 GW. The move is aimed at reducing dependency on fossil fuels, which in turn, will help in achieving India's long-term target of net zero carbon emissions by 2070.