Indian Civil Nuclear News & Discussions.

[Screaming Skull]

2 Rajasthan n-power units may start by Jan​

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New Delhi, Oct. 13

After being held up for well over two years due to fuel shortages, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) expects to get the two new units of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) up and running by January.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) clearance for the use of imported fuel in the reactors is expected this month, following which the fifth unit could be commissioned as early as November and the sixth by January, said the Government officials involved in the exercise.

Both the units will come under the IAEA’s India-specific safeguards that will allow them to qualify for running on imported uranium. Nuclear fuel received from Areva of France would be used in the two units, which are both Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors of 220 MWe capacity.

The original schedule for commencement of commercial operations was August 2007 for the fifth unit and February 2008 for the sixth. Fuel shortages had held-up the commissioning of both the units at RAPS, as well as a new unit at Kaiga (unit four) in Karnataka.

Following the decision of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group to relax its guidelines last year, member-countries of the nuclear cartel were allowed to have trade with India. Subsequently, India signed agreements with Russia and France for importing nuclear power reactors and fuel and, earlier this year, received natural uranium in the form of pellets from Russia and as yellowcake from Areva of France for use in its safeguarded reactors.

India had also received clearance from the IAEA for the fabrication of this imported fuel into fuel rods and the process is currently under way at the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad.

With the imported fuel coming in, NPCIL had, earlier last month, synchronised the second unit of the RAPS using the uranium supplies from France, making it the first reactor unit to be operated using the fuel consignments received after the NSG waiver. RAPS-2 was shut down in July 2007.

The reactor, which has a capacity of 200 MWe started generating power from the first week of September.

Under the current fuel fabrication plans of the NFC, enough fuel is expected to be available for the two new units of RAPS — units 5 and 6 — so that they would start operating at full capacity by January, officials said.

Since RAPS-5 and 6 would come under the IAEA safeguards as per India’s Separation Plan, the two reactors would become eligible to receive imported fuel supplies.

However, clearance from the IAEA needs to be obtained before the imported fuel can be fed into the two reactors. RAPS 1 and 2 were already under IAEA safeguards.

NPCIL operates 17 atomic reactors with total generation capacity of 4,120 MW.

The Hindu Business Line : 2 Rajasthan n-power units may start by Jan

 

[Ruag]

During her visit to India, Argentine President signs nuclear cooperation agreement

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India and Argentina today signed an agreement in civil nuclear cooperation and nine other pacts with a desire to establish strategic partnership.

The agreements were signed after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed by Vivek Katju, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs and Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana.
Argentina became the seventh country with which India has signed a civil nuclear agreement after the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a 34-year-old ban on nuclear commerce in September last year.
India has already signed similar pacts with the US, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia and Mongolia.

During her visit to India, Argentine President signs nuclear cooperation agreement|Momento 24

 

[Screaming Skull]

Land acquiring process for Nuke power plants to begin​

Wednesday, October 14, 2009,

Mumbai: The process to build the first nuclear power plants at a cost of Rs 33,000 crore after India's re-entry into global nuclear trade will be set into motion with the beginning of land acquisition tomorrow at Jaitapur in coastal Maharashtra.

French company Areva will be setting up the 1650 MW European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) in collaboration with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for which agreement has been reached with international investors.

To begin with, Areva will build two EPRs of 1650 MW each at Jaitapur, the site allocated to the French company by the government to set up a nuclear park as per the Indo-French civil nuclear cooperation agreement inked last year.

The project cost for the two EPRs is pegged at an estimated Rs 33,000 crore of which Rs 15,000 crore will come from external credit assistance, NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain told reporters here.

The ECA will be from a consortium of five French banks, including BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, HSBC and Calyon.

Jain said although the land acquisition process in Jaitapur will begin from tomorrow, the statutory and environment clearances and public hearing are expected to happen soon.

While NPCIL would infuse an equity of Rs 10,000 crore for the Jaitapur project, the remaining amount will be borrowed from both Indian and French financial institutions, he said.

Both India and France have agreed to set up six units of EPRs over the next 12 to 15 years, and the total funding needs for setting up 10,000 MW capacity is pegged at Rs 1,00,000 crore, Jain said.

Once the first two units come up, the Corporation will replicate the fund raising model, the NPCIL CMD said.

He expressed hope that at least the construction of the township for the French Technical experts in Jaitapur will begin by next year.

NPCIL is also expected to begin resettlement and rehabilitation projects including building a hospital and an education institution with facilities up to class 12 and an ITI and vocational training facility by early next year.

The actual ground work for the reactors and concrete pouring is expected to begin only by the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011, Jain said.

Land acquiring process for Nuke power plants to begin

 

[Screaming Skull]

France set to ratify nuclear deal with India​

Wednesday, October 14, 2009,

Mumbai: France will set in motion tomorrow the process to ratify the civil nuclear agreement it signed with India last year.

The process to ratify the civil nuclear agreement will begin tomorrow and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont told reporters here.

He said the ratification will include cooperation in science including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, university collaboration for higher education to train engineers for nuclear programme, waste management, safety and industrial cooperation.

France is committed to cooperation with India and Jaitapur nuclear island will be a quantum jump in nuclear landscape for India and substantial energy for the people of India, Bonnafont said.

"We are committed to lifetime supply of uranium for these plants," he said.

France was the first country to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India after New Delhi got a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines to participate in international nuclear commerce.

India France news-France set to ratify nuclear deal with India

 

[gogbot]

France set to ratify nuclear deal with India​

He said the ratification will include cooperation in science including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, university collaboration for higher education to train engineers for nuclear programme, waste management, safety and industrial cooperation.

India France news-France set to ratify nuclear deal with India

Holy crap, i Have to say this is the best news this Month.
India will be involved in making the worlds first Fusion reactor.

The Fusion reactor is the solution to Humanity's energy problem.
When it works of course. Maintaining Controlled nuclear fusion is well, HARD

Hopefully, with another country providing funding and R&D. We can be one closer.

Current estimates put fusion reactors 20-30 years from commercial use. Hope we can get there faster

 

[Screaming Skull]

Holy crap, i Have to say this is the best news this Month.
India will be involved in making the worlds first Fusion reactor.

The Fusion reactor is the solution to Humanity's energy problem.
When it works of course. Maintaining Controlled nuclear fusion is well, HARD

Hopefully, with another country providing funding and R&D. We can be one closer.

Current estimates put fusion reactors 20-30 years from commercial use. Hope we can get there faster

India has been a member of the ITER project since 2005! Check out the first few pages of this thread.

ITER Background & Indian participation​

Fossil fuels were the energy source that shaped 19th and 20th century civilization. But burning coal, oil and gas has proved highly damaging to our environment. Carbon dioxide emissions, greenhouse effect gases, and fumes all contribute to the disruption in the balance of our planet's climate.

Global energy consumption is set to triple by the end of the century. And yet supplies of fossil fuels are depleting and the environmental consequences of their exploitation are serious. Two questions loom over humanity today: how will we supply all this new energy, and how can we do so without adding dangerously to atmospheric greenhouse gases?

No single nation can face these challenges alone.

International Collaboration for a New Source of Energy

Twenty-three years ago, a group of industrial nations agreed on a project to develop a new, cleaner, sustainable source of energy.

At the Geneva Superpower Summit in November 1985, following discussions with President Mitterand of France and Prime Minister Thatcher of the United Kingdom, General Secretary Gorbachev of the former Soviet Union proposed to President Reagan of the United States an international project aimed at developing fusion energy for peaceful purposes.

US President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev of the Soviet Union agreeing to pursue an international effort to develop fusion energy for the benefit of all mankind. Geneva, 1985.​

The ITER project was born. The initial signatories: the former Soviet Union, the USA, the European Union (via EURATOM) and Japan, were joined by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea in 2003, and by India in 2005. Together, these seven nations represent over half of the world's population.

In ITER, the world has now joined forces to establish one of the largest and most ambitious international science projects ever conducted. ITER, which means "the way" in Latin, will require unparalleled levels of international scientific collaboration. Key plant components, for example, will be provided to the ITER Organization through in-kind contributions from the seven Members. Each Member has set up a domestic agency, employing staff to manage procurements for its in-kind contributions. The ITER Members have agreed to share every aspect of the project: science, procurements, finance, staffing ... with the aim that in the long run each Member will have the know-how to produce its own fusion energy plant.

Selecting a location for ITER was a long process that was finally concluded in 2005. In Moscow, on June 28, high representatives of the ITER Members unanimously agreed on the site proposed by the European Union - the ITER installation would be built at Cadarache, near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France.

ITER Agreement is signed

The ITER Agreement was officially signed at the Elysée Palace in Paris on 21 November 2006 by Ministers from the seven ITER Members. In a ceremony hosted by French President Jacques Chirac and the President of the European Commission M. José Manuel Durao Barroso, this Agreement established a legal international entity to be responsible for construction, operation, and decommissioning of ITER.

Elysée Palace, Paris, France on November 21, 2006. (Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Dr. Anil Kakodkar can be seen 3rd from right)​

A "Broader Approach" agreement for complementary research and development was signed in February 2007 between the European Atomic Energy Community (known by its initials EURATOM) and the Japanese government. It established a framework for Japan to conduct research and development in support of ITER over a period of ten years. Within the Broader Approach three projects were set into motion that focus on the following areas: materials testing, advanced plasma experimentation and simulation, and the establishment of a design team to prepare for DEMO, the demonstration power plant which will be the next step after ITER. The Broader Approach projects carry great importance for the advancement of fusion energy and will complement the global efforts on realizing ITER.

On 24 October 2007, following ratification by all Members, the ITER Agreement entered into force and officially established the ITER Organization.

July 2007: Union Cabinet approves Indian participation in ITER project​

The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the following:

i) To the project titled Indian Participation in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, at a base cost of Rs.2500 crore. The FE component calculated at base cost will be Rs.1129 crore.

ii) To constitute an Empowered Board by the Governing Council of Institute for Plasma Research with sufficient powers required for effective implementation of the project within the framework of the agreement signed among the parties to the ITER and ITER International Organisation and also within the sanctioned amount for the project of Rs.2500 crore. This shall, inter alia, include:

a) Full financial powers, particularly powers in respect of single limited and restricted tendering process and administrative powers to the total extent of the budgetary sanction and resource allocation for the project.

b) Full autonomy in laying down the rules, procedures and guidelines for financial, administrative and any other matters related to the execution of the project.

c) Full autonomy in deciding the delegation of powers in financial and administrative matters in conformity with the various stipulations and guidelines of the Government and Central Vigilance Commission.

d) Power to create posts and lay down suitable recruitment norms depending upon size and nature of activities subject to over all sanctioned manpower requirement.

To ensure this the Empowered Board, in turn, shall frame administratively and financially sound policies and put into place procedurally transparent rules, regulations and practices.

India’s joining ITER is recognition of India’s scientific and technical capability in fusion energy.

Considering India’s large energy needs in future, our gaining technological capability in fusion energy will be of considerable long term benefit.

India’s participation in ITER will allow India to leapfrog in terms of our national technological capability in fusion energy.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Land take-over begins for 9,600 MW Maharashtra nuke plant​

14 Oct 2009,

MUMBAI: Work on the 9,600 MW Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district will kick off Thursday with the process of acquiring 938 hectares of land, a top official said here Wednesday.

The project, in collaboration with French company Areva, would involve setting up six European pressurised water reactors (EPRs), each with a 1,600 MW capacity is expected to be completed around 2020, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd chief S.K. Jain said.

The technical specifications for the first two EPRs, each with a 60-year life-span, would be decided within a month's time, while the techno-commercial modalities would be worked out by the year-end, Jain told reporters.

The first stage, involving the construction of two EPRs, at a cost of around Rs.33,000-Rs.35,000 crore, would be financed through 70:30 debt equity.

Of the nearly Rs.23,000 crore debt component, about Rs.10,000-15,000 crore would be made available by the French Export Credit Agency and the rest would be raised from domestic and international markets.

The project has already completed the relevant environmental studies and expects clearance of the ministry of environment and forests within six-eight months, Jain added.

The developments follow an MoU signed in February between the French Nuclear Corporation, Areva and NPCIL for the project which intends to have 80 percent indigenisation.

Aiming at multiple sources for its nuclear fuels requirements, India would acquire stake in some of the uranium mines of Areva located in Australia, Niger and Kazakhastan, with the French Nuclear Corporation, or the NPCIL and Areva jointly acquiring mines in other countries and setting up fuel processing facilities, according to Jain.

Speaking on the occasion, French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said that India and France had arrived at the implementation stage of the bilateral agreement on civilian nuclear agreement.

"India's responsible behavior in the field of non-proliferation and given its huge energy needs, civil nuclear cooperation would play a crucial role in achieving the objectives of energy security and development of Indian people in a way that limited greenhouse gas emissions," Bonnafont said.

He expressed France's desire to expand and intensify its partnership with India in basic and applied research, nuclear safety and radiation protection, controlled thermonuclear fusion, fuel supply, fuel cycle and waste management, as well as in higher education and training in nuclear sciences and technology.

NPCIL finance director J.K. Ghai said that the project would come up on 938 hectares, of which 700 hectares would be utilized for the nuclear plant sites and the rest would go towards the support infrastructure.

The company's director (Projects) S.K. Gupta said that the project would not displace a single family since 67 percent of the land being acquired was barren, 25 percent was grassy and only seven percent had a single crop of paddy on it.

NPCIL currently operates 17 nuclear reactors in the country with a generation capacity of 4,120 MW, with plans to soon create additional 2,660 MW capacity.

Land take-over begins for 9,600 MW Maharashtra nuke plant- Power-Energy-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

 

[Screaming Skull]

India, US accelerate talks on reprocessing n-fuel​

14 October 2009

New Delhi: Indian and American nuclear energy officials have held a second round of discussions aimed at setting up a dedicated national nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in India that will handle US-supplied nuclear fuel. The discussions come ahead of a visit by Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Washington in November as the Obama administration's first state guest.

It's being given to understand that both India and the United States made considerable headway in the second round of talks held in Vienna last week and have agreed to meet again early next month in a bid to wrap up negotiations before Dr Singh arrives in Washington on 24 November.

These talks commenced in July this year and, under the provisions of the Indo-US civil nuclear treaty, both sides have until a year to conclude negotiations over what is referred to as 'Arrangements and Procedures' regarding reprocessing of nuclear fuel.

Under Article 6 of the 123 agreement US recognises India's right to reprocess imported fuel. In turn, India has agreed to set up a dedicated national reprocessing facility under IAEA safeguards.

Under existing provisions both sides agree that talks would start within six months of either side initiating the request and would have to conclude within a year. This process has already been initiated with talks starting in July.

Though both sides have until July of next year to conclude negotiations it is felt that the upbeat nature of bilateral relationships under the Obama administration ought to be capitalised upon and negotiations concluded at the earliest to time with Dr Singh's Washington visit.

The respective national delegations at the talks have been headed by Department of Atomic Energy's Ravi B Grover on the Indian side and director for nuclear energy affairs in the State Department, Richard Stratford, on the American side.

At last week's talks, India has shared the broad outlines of the facility it plans to set up and once the procedures are agreed upon the country may then move ahead with the task of constructing the facility. These talks are important for India if it is to realise its goals for boosting power supplies to its population and industry over the coming decades.

It is felt that it is also important for the US to conclude these talks at the earliest in order to provide a fillip to its high-tech, but ailing, nuclear industry. India has already reserved two parks where American companies will set up nuclear reactors.

domain-b.com : India, US accelerate talks on reprocessing n-fuel

 

[Screaming Skull]

Nuclear Fuel Complex plans Rs 1,000-cr greenfield facility ​

Hyderabad, Oct. 15

Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), the lone supplier of indigenous fuel to power the Department of Atomic Energy’s (DAE) ambitious nuclear power programme, is setting up a Rs 950-1,000 crore greenfield fuel fabrication facility in Rajasthan.

The 500-tonne capacity plant, would be dedicated to meet the expected fuel demands from the cluster of four 700 Mwe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) to be established by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

Plans in place

The DAE has approved the project and the pre-project sanction has been obtained from the Union Government. It will be ready by 2014 and located in Rawatbhatta in Kota of Rajasthan, said Mr R.N. Jayaraj, Chief Executive of the Hyderabad-based NFC.

At present the NFC meets the demands of the 15 operating nuclear reactors (with installed capacity of 4,120 MWe) and another three that are almost ready for commissioning, from its fabrication facilities in Hyderabad.

The NFC needs massive expansion of its facilities to meet the demands of the NPCIL, which plans to set up eight new PHWRs of 700 Mwe. In phase-I, four reactors (two in Rajasthan and two in Kakrapar), with indigenous fuel, are expected to be ready by 2014-15, Mr Jayaraj told Business Line here.

When NPCIL goes in for phase-2, comprising another set of four units of 700 Mwe after 2014, “we have to decide either to expand in Rajasthan itself or create another new facility elsewhere”, he added. Each 700 MWe PHWR is estimated to need a minimum of 125 tonnes of fuel a year to run and generate at peak demand.

The NFC has also firmed up a strategy to propose joint ventures with nuclear giants such as Westinghouse, GE from US; Areva of France or Russian companies, which have plans to establish Light Water Reactors..

“Our idea is to have a joint venture to establish fuel fabrication within the country. We can do the zirconium part, where we are strong. Only four of the 30-odd nuclear technology capable countries have expertise in zirconium. India is one of them with the advantage of cost of implementation,” Mr Jayaraj said.

The LWRs to be set up by these foreign companies come with a lifetime guarantee of fuel supply. Through the joint venture there could be a saving in cost and time taken for fuel fabrication to run the nuclear power stations, he explained.

At present, the Russians are setting up two units of 1,000 MWe at Koodangulam in Tamil Nadu. They have proposed two more. The US, as reported during its foreign envoy, Ms Hillary Clinton’s visit to India recently, has been offered sites in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat with Westinghouse and GE expected to set up units. The French, especially Areva, has proposed APRs of 1,600 Mwe.

The Hindu Business Line : Nuclear Fuel Complex plans Rs 1,000-cr greenfield facility

 

[Screaming Skull]

N-reactor sites go to French, Russian and US firms​

17 October 2009,

NEW DELHI: Hours after notifying its separation plan in the IAEA, India on Friday formally announced the designation of nuclear sites for light water reactors by overseas companies.

The French company, Areva, will get Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Russian companies will get Kudankulam (Russia is already building two reactors there) and Haripur in West Bengal, while the US will get two nuclear sites in Kovvada, Andhra Pradesh, and Chayamithi Virdi in Gujarat.

The designation of the US sites had been widely expected during the visit of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton in July. But while the sites were conveyed to her, the announcement took longer. US companies are last off the block as both French and Russian companies have got a head start on them.

The US companies will also be waiting for India to sign the Convention for Supplementary Compensation convention to limit the nuclear liability for them. This might take a little longer.

India notified its Separation Plan to IAEA under which 14 of its 22 reactors will be placed under safeguards of the international nuclear watchdog by 2014. This is seen as a crucial step towards the implementation of the civil nuclear deal with the world, and comes over a year after the Nuclear Suppliers Group cleared the deal.

N-reactor sites go to French, Russian and US firms - India - The Times of India

 

[brahmastra]

Screaming Skull, as always with the good news. Good to have you mate.Thanks.

 

[RPK]

The Hindu : News / National : Foundation for 700 MWe indigenous reactors in December

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of India’s two biggest indigenous nuclear power reactors of 700 MWe capacity each at Kakrapara in Gujarat will take place by the end of next month (December), according to S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). They are called Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and this is the first time that the NPCIL will be building indigenous PHWRs with a capacity of 700 MWe. So far it has built PHWRs of only 220 MWe or 540 MWe.
“The excavation of foundation for both the 700 MWe units at Kakrapara will take place simultaneously by December-end. They will be completed in six years,” Mr. Jain said. Kakrapara is about 80 km from Surat. The indigenous PHWRs use natural uranium as fuel, and heavy water as both coolant and moderator.

The Union government has given financial sanction for the construction of two more 700 MWe PHWRs at Rawatbhatta in Rajasthan. The laying of foundation for them will take place by the middle of 2010. These 700 MWe reactors will form the seventh and eighth units of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS).

The fifth PHWR at Rawatbhatta (called RAPS-5), with a capacity of 220 MWe, will be commissioned by November 20.“The fuel-loading in the reactor has been completed. It is imported natural uranium fuel and it has been fabricated at the Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad,” the NPCIL Chairman said.

Heavy water will be loaded into the reactor soon. After the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), which monitors safety in nuclear installations in India, gives the clearance, the reactor will be started up by November 20.

RAPS-6, which will also generate 220 MWe, will be commissioned by February, 2010.

On reports that residents of the Niweli village in Jaitapur taluq, Maharashtra, were refusing to accept compensation cheques during land acquisition for the French reactors to be built at Jaitapur, Mr. Jain said: “One thing is clear. We want to take all the local people into confidence and land acquisition will be done with their cooperation. We want to do it in a democratic manner, clear the local people’s apprehensions and convince them that it is their project which we are going to build.”

Mr. Jain denied that any “Singur-type of situation” was developing at Jaitapur and called it “a wrong comparison.” He said the NPCIL officials “will talk to the people at Jaitapur, make them part of the project and feel proud of it.” A section of the people had become emotional when physical possession of land had to be done. “If they feel that the project is going to hurt them, we will sit with them and convince them that the project is in their favour,” Mr. Jain said. The NPCIL had deposited the compensation amount with the State government and its officials should acquire the land, he said.

The NPCIL and Areva, a French nuclear company, signed a memorandum of understanding on February 4, 2009 for setting up two to six French reactors called European Pressurised Reactors with a capacity of 1,650 MWe each at Jaitapur in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.

 

[marcos98]

Massive Indo-Canadian uranium order in the works

The world's largest supplier of uranium, Saskatoon, Canada-based uranium miner Cameco Corp, says a multimillion-dollar uranium deal is in the works with India for nuclear power plants.

In a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the company's third-quarter results, CEO Jerry Grandey said negotiations for an export order have been underway between Canadian authorities and India for more than a year and an order for more than seven million pounds of uranium is imminent.

"One of the interesting things is that India, of course, has got a very ambitious civilian nuclear power programme and they have shortage of uranium within the country," Grandey told CBC News in an interview. "So they've been quite eager to establish a long-term relationship with a supplier like Cameco so that we can - over many decades - supply them the fuel that they need."

Cameco opened offices in this country last month.

According to Grandey, India and China were the future of the nuclear power business, and Cameco Corp would expand ties with both of them. Grandey devoted a lot of time to the opportunities his firm saw in the two Asian giants, which are expected to dominate global uranium demand in the years to come.

"We're quite optimistic as time goes on that we'll be a major partner [and] supplier with both countries," he said.

 

[Ruag]

India-EU to sign nuke pact; discuss free trade pact

India and the European Union will sign an agreement in civil nuclear field at their Summit in New Delhi on Thursday during which the two sides are also expected to give a political push to the negotiations for a free trade pact.
The issue of climate change and global financial crisis will also figure prominently in the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country is the current chair of the 27-nation grouping.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will also participate in the 10th annual Summit which the two sides will also discuss stepped up cooperation in counter-terrorism and look at ways to double trade to USD 200 billion by 2013.

The highlight of the Summit would be an agreement in the field of civil nuclear that will facilitate joint research in fusion energy.

The agreement “aims at intensifying cooperation to develop scientific understanding and technological capability underlying the fusion system in the long term. It will develop a specific agenda for fusion research cooperation that goes far beyond ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Research project),” the European Commission said here today.

The pact will mark India’s formal participation in ITER, an ambitious multi-country project to be based in Cadarache in France at an estimated cost of about 4.6 billion Euro (USD 5.4 billion or Rs 25,000 crore). The project involves the US, EU, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

Ahead of the Summit, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma met EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton here and said the two sides are looking at doubling the trade to USD 200 billion in the next four years.

On the negotiations for a free trade pact, which have been dragging for two years, Sharma made it clear that the agreement would be delayed because of persisting differences.

EU is trying to link the pact to “extraneous issues” like child labour and environment which India is resisting.

“The Summit will underline the joint commitment to achieve progress in the negotiations on a bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (free trade pact),” the European Commission said.

The Summit is expected to give a political push to the negotiations on the free trade agreement.

The two sides would also be discussing collaborative ways to tackle the global financial crisis as well as reform of multilateral financial institutions.

Climate change would also be high on the agenda in view of the upcoming Copenhagen Summit.

The EU has been saying that it is ready to help developing countries, including India, if they “deliver” on climate change.

India has been showing its willingness to do its bit to fight climate change but is refusing to accept any binding commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

India-EU to sign nuke pact; discuss free trade pact - Express India

 

[Ruag]

The India-EU nuclear pact shows that though EU has formally asked India to sign the NPT, it does not care much about it.

Good business indeed! Another feather in the cap for Indian diplomats.