New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) Washington and New Delhi look to deepen cooperation in the area of nuclear civil power along with a strong focus on energy transition, according to a US official.
India and the US in 2008 signed the nuclear deal which provides for the transfer of nuclear material, nuclear trade, equipment, components, and related technologies and cooperation in nuclear fuel cycle activities.
Speaking about Indo-US cooperation in a virtual presser on Monday, US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey R Pyatt said, “I for one am quite optimistic as we look to the future that we’re going to continue to see deeper cooperation between the United States and India also in the area of civil nuclear power.” “We have gone much, much faster than anybody anticipated two decades ago and that our cooperation has become so broad and so deep, and that would not have been possible if we had not removed the nuclear – the nuclear chokepoint – in our strategic relationship.” Pyatt said there is a shared interest to figure out how the two countries can move forward on the large traditional reactors, which were foreseen as part of the US-India nuclear deal.
“But also, importantly, the fantastic new opportunities that are emerging around small and modular reactor (SMR) technology,” he added.
Pyatt said he found strong interest in SMR from Indian companies like Adani, Tata, Reliance, and Birla.
All of them have expressed interest in using SMRs as part of their larger decarbonization strategy, he added.
He further said, “The way you (India) build energy security is not be dependent on anyone outside player. That’s what we’re trying to do with the Mineral Security Partnership.” It’s not about designing out China’s role as part of the clean tech supply chain, he said adding that it’s about reducing a situation where we’ve allowed ourselves to become almost entirely dependent on a country which can then take steps – as China has done, for instance, with its export controls on spherical graphite – to use that resource domination as a coercive power against customers and countries around the world.
About encouraging renewable, he said, “I see this as, as I said, an area of tremendous potential for collaboration between the US and India, and an area where I think we’re on the right track.” Pyatt, who visited India in January, spoke about energy transition, reliable supply chains, energy security, and advancing commercial cooperation with private sector partners in India’s rapidly growing clean energy sector.
He said India is one of the US’s most important energy relationships in the world.
He said he met Microsoft and renewable energy firm Greenko Group during his visit to Hyderabad last month, saying the progress in infrastructure was jaw-dropping. PTI KKS MR
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