US Nuclear Industry Delegation Visiting India To Tap Private Sector Opportunities

A delegation of senior executives from the American nuclear industry is visiting India this week to explore opportunities in the country’s newly opened private civil nuclear sector. The 20-member team, organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and the Nuclear Energy Institute, will meet government officials, state leaders, and private companies in New Delhi and Mumbai from May 18-21.

Discussions are expected to focus on project development, strengthening supply chains, and building long-term commercial partnerships under India’s new SHANTI Act, which replaced the older Atomic Energy Act and eased liability provisions for nuclear suppliers.

India aims to scale its nuclear power capacity to 100 GW by 2047, up from the current

9 GW, as part of its efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and meet its net-zero carbon target by 2070.

The SHANTI Act replaced the Atomic Energy Act of 1964 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CNLD) Act of 2010. The CNLD Act had tougher liability provisions on nuclear suppliers which global companies found to be an impediment to exploring the Indian market.

The US nuclear industry delegation is travelling to India as part of an initiative by the USISPF and the Nuclear Energy Institute, a leading US policy and technical organisation.

India and the US are also exploring cooperation in nuclear fusion technologies in addition to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor that is being developed at Cadarache in France.

“India’s ambition to scale nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047, combined with the opening of the sector to private players, presents a major commercial opportunity for US firms,” said Shaswat Kumar, Fellow, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington DC based think tank.

He said recent 10 CFR Part 810 authorisations to Holtec, Clean Core Thorium and Flowserve signal renewed momentum in bilateral nuclear cooperation. “Going forward, realising this potential will hinge on parallel action faster export approvals from the US and, in India, progress on reprocessing infrastructure and addressing end use verification concerns,” Kumar told PTI.

The US industry delegation is expected to explore joint project opportunities with the Indian private sector in civil nuclear energy.

After the India-US civil nuclear agreement was signed in 2008, two sites — Chhayamithi Virdi in Gujarat and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh — were allotted to US companies to establish 1,000 MW nuclear power plants.

India and the US are also exploring cooperation in small modular reactors (SMRs) which are billed as the future of nuclear power due to ease of deployment, particularly by repurposing sites of coal-based power plants.

The US is also taking steps to speed up SMR deployment and explore recycling and reprocessing of spent fuel. The US has not reprocessed or recycled nuclear fuel since 1970.

In India, private sector players such as Tata Consulting Engineers, Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro among others have evinced interest in the civil nuclear sector.

India’s public sector undertaking National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has established a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to build at least six power plants at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Chutka in Madhya Pradesh.

(With inputs from PTI)