'Big things ahead': US envoy Sergio Gor hails India-US collaboration on Nuclear energy

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said that "big things" are coming up for India and the United States in terms of collaboration on Nuclear energy. The remarks from the American envoy came at a time when India is doubling down on boosting its domestic civil nuclear programme based on its mainstay, pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and is opening up to collaborate with external players like the US to scale up.

In light of this, top Indian government functionaries conducted a meeting with a visiting American delegation, where they laid out two clear objectives: 1) To scale up nuclear power to step up base-load capacity, and 2) progressively enter the manufacturing value chain of small modular reactors (SMRs), The Indian Express reported.

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Maharashtra also expressed its intention to lead in this endeavour, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis conducting a meeting with the executive delegation of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) under the 'US Nuclear Executive Mission to India' in Mumbai.

"Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that significant changes are taking place in the global energy transition process. Although Maharashtra has been making substantial investments in solar and wind energy for many years, nuclear energy will become essential for carbon-free and industrial-scale baseload power supply," the Maharashtra Chief Minister's office wrote in a statement on Thursday.

Rectifying its issues

Over the years, India's nuclear establishment has mastered PHWRs, which are based on heavy water and natural uranium. However, it has been increasingly out of sync with the light water reactors (LWRs), or pressurised water reactors. The LWR dominates the international arena with Americans, Russians and the French among the top leaders in the technology.

However, the problem with LWRs from India is the fact that it is a costly endeavour, which translates into a high per-unit cost of power. As a result, there is a sense in policy circles that PHWRs will remain the main focus, with the government willing to explore possibilities on the fuel front, including the potential for thorium fuel.

Hence, any foreign collaboration could largely be limited to SMRs for now, given cost concerns linked to LWRs, an executive who is part of the US delegation told The Indian Express. However, one thing remains clear: New Delhi is focusing on boosting its civilian nuclear capabilities.