France and India Work Together on Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

France and India will work together to create small modular nuclear reactors, which will improve energy security and promote a low-carbon economy.

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to France, India’s foreign ministry announced that the two countries would collaborate on the development of small modular nuclear reactors.

To “strengthen energy security” and move toward a “low-carbon economy,” Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the value of nuclear energy.

It follows days after Delhi declared its intention to amend its stringent nuclear liability law, which blames operators for delays in past nuclear projects and holds them responsible for accidents or problems.

Modi is also anticipated to talk about possible nuclear investments made by US companies when he travels to Washington on Thursday.

India’s foreign ministry announced that Paris and Delhi would create innovative and tiny modular reactors for civil usage.

Factory-built reactors of this type can be transported to assembly and installation sites.

They’re much smaller than conventional nuclear reactors and don’t need much acreage or a lot of infrastructure.

Since modular reactor technology was “still in its initial stages,” the goal was to start “cooperation,” according to Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

In order to overcome the challenges encountered in prior traditional initiatives, he stated, “We hope to be able to collaborate in co-designing the reactors, co-developing them, and co-producing them.”

The proposed collaboration represents a change in India’s approach to nuclear energy.

After a history of stringent nuclear power regulation, Modi’s administration seems to be allowing more private sector involvement and foreign collaboration.

In an announcement earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set lofty goals for nuclear energy, aiming to produce 100GW by 2047.

Over $2 billion (£1.6 billion) has been allocated by the government for nuclear research and development, with the majority of that money going towards the goal of building five domestic reactors by 2033.

Another change in India’s nuclear cooperation with France is the emphasis on compact modular reactors.

Prior plans called for the nations to construct the largest nuclear power station in the world in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Nevertheless, the project has been delayed for over ten years, primarily due to provisions added to India’s nuclear liability law in response to claims that the country had previously absolved Western corporations of responsibility for the catastrophic gas leak from a pesticide factory in the city of Bhopal in 1984 and nuclear safety concerns following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

Modi will meet with business executives and President Donald Trump during his two-day visit to the United States.

Hardeep Puri, the federal oil minister of India, raised the possibility that the two leaders will discuss nuclear energy earlier in the week.