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The United States and India Strengthen Cooperation on Civilian Nuclear Energy and Security


The United States and India agreed on Wednesday (13th) to strengthen civil nuclear energy and security cooperation, including the construction of six US nuclear power plants in India.


Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao reported on the 14th that Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Andrea Thompson, the US Under Secretary of State for Ordnance Control and International Security, issued a joint statement saying: “The two countries are committed to strengthening bilateral security and civil nuclear energy cooperation. , including the construction of six U.S. nuclear power plants in India.”

However, the statement did not mention further details of the nuclear power plant plan. "Lianhe Zaobao" pointed out that India is the world's third largest buyer of crude oil, and the Trump administration in the United States has been seeking to sell more energy products to India.

In 2008, the United States and India signed a civilian nuclear energy agreement. According to a report by India's New Delhi Television (NDTV) on the 14th, the United States and India have been discussing the supply of reactors to India for more than ten years, but a long-term obstacle is that India must align its liability rules with international norms, that is, any accident The cost is borne by the reactor operator, not the manufacturer.

The world's largest nuclear power equipment manufacturer, Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric, has been negotiating with India for years to build reactors, but has made little progress, partly due to India's nuclear liability regulations.

According to a previous report by Nikkei Chinese, in 2015, the United States and India reached an agreement on using India's insurance system to compensate for accident damages, opening the way for exports. In June 2016, then-U.S. President Obama held talks with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House and reached a basic agreement on the construction of six nuclear reactors in India by Westinghouse Electric (WH), a subsidiary of Toshiba. In April 2018, Westinghouse received strong support from U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry on the Indian nuclear power project and planned to build six AP1000 reactors in Andhra Pradesh, India.

It is unclear whether the newly announced nuclear power plant construction plan by the United States and India is related to the 2016 agreement.

According to New Delhi TV, India hopes to triple its nuclear power generation capacity by 2024 to solve the pollution problem caused by fossil fuels.

According to previous reports by the Russian Satellite News Agency, in October last year, during the 19th annual Russian-Indian leaders’ summit held in New Delhi, the two sides signed an agreement to build six Russian-designed nuclear power plant units in new sites in India to expand cooperation in third countries. , and to enhance cooperation between Russia and India in the field of atomic energy except for the construction of nuclear power plants.

According to reports, the document stipulates that Russia will provide a new design of the "third+" generation water-water power reactor for the nuclear power plant project, and plans to increase its localization in India.

According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, India now has 7 nuclear power plants and 22 nuclear reactors in operation, with a total installed capacity of 6780MW, and 21 nuclear reactors are under construction. By 2021-2022, India plans to double its atomic energy production and build another 6,700MW of reactors, which will reach 22,000MW by 2030.

However, according to a previous report by India's "Economic Times", India's nuclear reactors have been underoperated due to uranium shortages in the past due to sanctions imposed after India conducted a nuclear test in 1974. India is currently actively expanding uranium imports.