The Nuclear Power Corporation of India and US corporation, Westinghouse, will begin engineering and site design work immediately for six nuclear power plant reactors in India and conclude contractual arrangements by June 2017.
The mega projects and partnership on civil nuclear issues were announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama during the two leaders meeting at the White House meeting on June 7, 2016.
Welcoming the start of preparatory work on site in India for six reactors to be built by Westinghouse, the two leaders also noted the intention of India and the US Export-Import Bank to work together toward a competitive financing package for the project.
It is the core part of the US-India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India’s growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
NPCIL and Westinghouse will work toward finalising the contractual arrangements by June 2017, the White House said.
These reactors would bring clean energy to India and generate thousands of jobs in the US, Brian Deese, Senior Advisor to the US President, told reporters in a conference call.
The two governments through the US-India Contact Group, have addressed among others the nuclear liability issue over the last two years. India has also ratified the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage.
Westinghouse will build the six AP-1000 reactors in Andhra Pradesh, after the original site proposed for the multi-billion-dollar project, in Gujarat, faced local opposition.
The latest agreements on nuclear were concluded during Modi’s visit to Washington on June 7-8. fii-news.com
