US To Build 6 Nuclear Plants In India

Why in news?

• India and the US reiterated their partnership in the field of civil nuclear energy and the two have reached an agreement to build six US nuclear power plants in India.
• India and the US committed to strengthen bilateral security and civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six US nuclear power plants in India.
• The United States reaffirmed its strong support of India’s early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
• These announcements were a result of discussions held during the ninth round of the India-US Strategic Security Dialogue held in Washington DC.
• Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale led the Indian delegation and the US delegation was led by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Andrea Thompson.
• The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.

Background: –

• India and the U.S. signed a historic agreement to cooperate in civil nuclear energy sector in October 2008. The deal gave a fillip to bilateral ties, which have been on an upswing since.
• A major aspect of the deal was the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), that gave a special waiver to India enabling it to sign cooperation agreements with a dozen countries.
• Post waiver, India signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with the U.S., France, Russia, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Sri Lanka, the U.K., Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and South Korea.

India-France Nuclear Cooperation

• Negotiations between India and France are also in advanced stages to build the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) in coastal Maharashtra.
• Once constructed, it will be India’s largest nuclear park, constituting six reactors with a capacity of 1650 MW each.

(International)(The Hindu

Pic courtesy:The Asian Age