India, France Affirm Nuclear Cooperation

[ROUDRAM]

Undeterred by public protests, the government committed to France on Thursday to go ahead with the nuclear power project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra. “We are awaiting the completion of the French Review of Safety Aspects of EPR (European Pressurised Reactors) design. Both sides are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safety in the project,” said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna after holding talks with his visiting French counterpart Alain Juppe.

Admitting that the civil-nuclear liability legislation was an irritant in bolstering nuclear cooperation, both sides decided to continue discussions “to ensure an appropriate framework for sound development of cooperation”. India and France are in the middle of discussions on building two 1,650 MW reactors in Jaitapur.

“We discussed the issue of nuclear energy.....We shared the view that nuclear energy is a vital source of power provided we develop the highest levels of safety rules. And we are working on this issue at the international level with the International Atomic Energy Agency and at the national level, of course,” said Juppe at a joint press conference. "France is determined to be completely open with its Indian partners on the safety measures taken…. This framework will help strengthen our cooperation especially to finalise an agreement on EPR project....," Juppe said.

According to a joint statement issued at the end of two-hour long talks, both countries also agreed to enter into an agreement on intellectual property rights on the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. “They agreed to strengthen the cooperation between the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India and the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire of France, and their technical support organisations,” the statement said.

Krishna and Juppe also reviewed the progress in the discussions between the French company AREVA and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) aimed at finalising the contract on the construction of two EPR reactors in Jaitapur. They also expected an agreement between ALSTOM, NPCIL and BHEL for supplying Indian nuclear power plants with the most recent technology for manufacturing turbo generators

Juppes’ visit comes amid mounting concerns over nuclear safety and protests against the proposed Russian-built Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu besides the one in Jaitapur. In the aftermath of Fukushima nuclear radiation leak in Japan, there have been apprehensions in India about the safety of nuclear plants leading to several protests at nuclear plant sites. France was the first country to sign a bilateral civil nuclear accord with India in September 2008 after the Nuclear Suppliers Group gave a waiver to India paving way for nuclear commerce with New Delhi.

[b]JOINT SATELLITE:[/b] While welcoming the successful launch of Megha-Tropiques satellite, a joint contribution to the global scientific community engaged in research on climate and weather systems, the two countries also announced the launch of another joint satellite SARAL, which will study sea surface altitude. Indian Space Research Organisation and the French National Space Agency were asked to pursue further cooperation in Earth System Science and Climate within the framework of the MoU signed in December 2010 and to explore new fields of cooperation.

[b]DEFENCE COOPERATION:[/b] Expressing satisfaction at the finalisation of the project for modernisation of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 aircraft, the two countries also noted ongoing efforts to finalise joint defence research and development programmes-- SRSAM and Kaveri.



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