Facilitating opportunities for Westinghouse to develop techno-commercial offer for the Indian nuclear project
Following a recent state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington hosted by President Joe Biden, a joint statement was issued by the two leaders.
On the issue of nuclear energy, the joint statement issued by The White House read - “President Biden and Prime Minister Modi underscored the important role nuclear energy plays in global decarbonization efforts and affirmed nuclear energy as a necessary resource to meet our nations’ climate, energy transition, and energy security needs. The leaders noted ongoing negotiations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India. They welcomed intensified consultations between the U.S. DOE and India’s DAE for facilitating opportunities for WEC to develop a techno-commercial offer for the Kovvada nuclear project. They also noted the ongoing discussion on developing next generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode for the domestic market as well as for export. The United States reaffirms its support for India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and commits to continue engagement with likeminded partners to advance this goal.”
The United States has been discussing the sale of nuclear reactors to India since a 2008 landmark civil nuclear energy pact and in 2019 the two governments announced they were committed to the establishment of the six AP1000 reactors at Kovvada in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
India has embarked on a large nuclear power capacity addition program to cope up with growing energy needs of the country. On progressive completion of projects under construction and accorded sanction, the present installed nuclear power capacity is set to increase from 6780 MW (comprising 22 reactors) to 22480 MW by 2031. The share of nuclear power in the total electricity generation in India is about 3.15%.
Senior officials from the Indian nuclear establishment will be convening at the annual India Nuclear Business Platform meeting in Mumbai this 10-11 October to discuss how best to accelerate the nuclear scale-up in India and enabling faster transition. More information on this meeting is available here.
