Mulford hopes India is birth place of global nuclear industry
With the conclusion of the Indo-US nuclear deal, Washington hoped India would be the "birth place" of a major international civil nuclear industry but cautioned that earning its place in the global market would be a key challenge.
"I hope India is the 'birth place' of a major international civil nuclear industry, but earning that place would be a major challenge," US Ambassador David Mulford said.
He pointed out that India will be competing with the US and other countries as they expand their civil nuclear power production to meet the growing demand for clean energy.
At a seminar on 'Indo-US Cooperation in Nuclear Energy: The Path Forward', Mulford also made it clear that the US was the world's largest producer of nuclear energy generating 27 percent of the atomic power produced globally.
He expressed displeasure over the "volumes of inaccurate comments" about the US nuclear industry during the course of negotiations on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"Many misinformed commentators have inaccurately alleged that the US civil nuclear industry has been out of the business for almost 30 years and that we are no longer competitive in nuclear technology and engineering," he said.
"The US ranks number one in the world in terms of number if nuclear reactors (104) with 24 percent of the world's total," the US envoy said pointing out that France ranked number two with 13.4 percent of world's atomic power reactors which generate 17 percent of nuclear power produced globally.
"...contrary to popular comment in India, over the last 15 years, US civil nuclear engineering companies have remained at the forefront of international civil nuclear engineering,"
The envoy said the US-India Business Council will be leading a trade mission to New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai next month to promote American technology expertise and know- how in nuclear energy technology.
The US government and private industry looks forward to expanding cooperation with India in supporting the flourishing of India's power sector, specially its civil nuclear energy sector, he said.
"The trade mission will include executives from major nuclear reactor technology manufacturers, nuclear energy engineering and consulting firms, suppliers of nuclear fuel, fuel components and conversion technologies and nuclear radiation analysis specialists," Mulford said.
According to him, India now needed a public-private civilian nuclear strategy that establishes sound, transparent policies that lay the groundwork for large scale and competitive electricity production.
Terming the India-US nuclear deal as "historic accomplishment, he said "however, as satisfying as this great accomplishment is, we have to face the fact that what comes next will be no less difficult than what has already been achieved."
Building a large, world class, civil nuclear industry will take time, capital, ingenuity, competitive technology, a sound regulatory architecture, private sector input and a true
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