US commercial N-mission to India to meet stake holders in Dec

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Aug 14 (PTI) With the Indo-US civil nuclear
deal on track, representatives of top US atomic companies
would tour India in December to meet all stake holders in the
country's emerging commercial nuclear sector, the second such
visit in less than a year.

The US India Business Council (USIBC) and Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) announced the India visit of the nuclear
mission, which has the support of the Obama Administration.

Comprising top US nuclear companies, the fifth US
Commercial Nuclear Mission to India would be in New Delhi from
December 7 to 9 and in Mumbai from December 10 to 11.

"We will meet all the stake holders in the emerging
commercial nuclear sector in India," said Ted Jones, Director,
Energy Environment and Enterprise, USIBC.

He said prominent among those would be senior Government
officials who are making policy, such as the office of Prime
Minister and the Department of Atomic Energy, as also those
from Nuclear Power Corporation, National Thermal Power
Corporation, or those who manufacture equipment like BHEL or
the companies in the private sector like Larsen and Turbo.

"We will meet them via a CII-USIBC Joint Task Force,
which has met regularly since December 2006," he said.

The CII-USIBC Joint Task Force identifies policy issues
on both sides requiring attention in order for India to move
toward its ambitious goals for expanding its nuclear
generating capacity to 30,000 MW by 2020 and 60,000 MW by
2030.

The mission would be co-led by executives from General
Electricals and Westinghouse.

The announcement of the mission comes within a month of
India designating two reactor parks dedicated to at least
10,000 megawatts of US commercial nuclear technology.

Ultimately, six to eight reactors will be installed at
each reactor park. Nationwide, India aims to raise its total
installed nuclear generating capacity from the present 4,120
megawatts to 60,000 megawatts by 2030.

"This is the beginning of a strong and long lasting
cooperation in clean energy," Jones said.

USIBC President, Ron Somers, said the two key issues that
have interfered with US-India commercial nuclear trade appears
closer to favourable resolution. These are conclusion of a US
-India reprocessing agreement and India's adoption of a
nuclear liability law consistent with CSC (Convention on
Supplementary Compensation for nuclear damage).

This would be the second nuclear mission to India in a
year. Earlier in January USIBC and NEI took the largest ever
nuclear mission to India. PTI LKJ
DDC
NNNN




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