FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

U.S. Agrees To Supply and Set Up Six Nuclear Reactors in India

March 14, 2019 (EIRNS)—The United States and India on March 13 agreed to strengthen security and civil nuclear cooperation, including building six U.S. nuclear power plants in India, the two countries said in a joint statement. The agreement came after two days of talks in Washington.

The United States under President Donald Trump has been looking to sell more energy products to India, the world’s third-biggest buyer of oil. The talks involved Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Andrea Thompson, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

“They committed to strengthen bilateral security and civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six U.S. nuclear power plants in India,” the joint statement said, according to the New York Times report.

The United States and India have discussed cooperating on nuclear reactor technology for more than a decade, but liability rules of the Indian government have slowed those talks. Most international nuclear projects require the costs of any accident to be borne by the operator of the plant, rather than the maker of the reactor technology. India, though, places liability on the shoulders of those behind the technology.

Westinghouse has been negotiating to build reactors in India for years, but progress has been slow. Last April, Westinghouse received strong support from U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry for its India project, which envisaged the building of six AP1000 Pressurized Water Reactors in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.