Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon discussed bilateral relations, the India-United States nuclear deal and regional affairs in his talks with US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns in Washington, DC.
On his first visit to Washington after taking over as foreign secretary, Menon on Wednesday had a three-hour-long discussion with Burns, who is the key negotiator for the nuclear deal.
India could get access to nuclear fuel supplies from the proposed Angarsk International Uranium Enrichment Centre being set up by Russia for supply of uranium to countries with nuclear energy programmes under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
While Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (RosAtom) representatives have indicated at the possibility of India being included in the project during bilateral meetings held earlier this year, Moscow has clearly linked India’s participation in the project to the lifting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) restrictions in the wake of Indo-US nuclear deal, said the Government officials involved in the exercise.
The 500-MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), now under construction at nearby Kalpakkam, promises power at Rs 3.20 a unit in 2010, when it will commence generation.
Seeking a comprehensive re-engagement to take their partnership to new heights, India and Russia on January 25 inked an agreement for construction of four atomic reactors in the Kudankulam power project in Tamil Nadu besides signing documents related to trade, commerce, culture and civilian use of space technology that will allow India access to Russia’s satellite navigation system. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladmir Putin signed an ambitious joint statement, with which both the countries have entered a new phase in their strategic relationship, underlined greater cooperation on key issues.
Russia on Thursday signed an agreement with India for construction of 4 more nuclear reactors in Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu.
The Memorandum of Understanding on the nuclear issue was part of the nine agreements and MoUs arrived at between the two countries after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Vladimir Putin.
While it was widely expected that Russia would offer help in construction of more reactors in Kudankulam, it is significant that an agreement has been reached on setting up reactors at new sites.
In a significant decision, India on Thursday announced that an agreement on reducing the risk from accidents relating to nuclear weapons will be signed with Pakistan next month.
The agreement ‘Reducing the Risk from Accidents relating to Nuclear Weapons’ will be signed during the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri to New Delhi for the Joint Commission meeting.
Noting that it has certain concerns with regard to the recently-enacted US law on civil nuclear cooperation, India made it clear on Wednesday that it will ‘walk out’ of the deal if at any point it seems to undermine its national interest.
New Delhi, however, expressed confidence that the elements over which it has ‘genuine’ reason for concern, including conditional access to reprocessing technology and reprocessing of spent fuel, would be addressed in the 123 Agreement being negotiated to operationalise the deal.
India is indigenously developing an airborne survey system to identify the presence of uranium deposits located below the ground level. The move is aimed at increasing the pace of such discoveries in the country.
The technology, called the Airborne Time Domain Electromagnetic Survey System (AEM), would utilise a chopper or low flying aircraft-mounted survey device and is extensively used in major uranium exporting countries such as Australia and Canada.
Thorium Power is a privately-held, Washington DC-based company funded primarily through private equity investments. It develops proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technologies. Seth Grae, president, Thorium Power, talks to ET about why thorium is the way forward for India.
Expressing concern that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal impinges on India’s research and development (R and D) in this area, Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Anil Kakodkar on Thursday asserted that the country would maintain its autonomy on R and D .
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