 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
India, France sign nuclear accord framework: officials
New Delhi (AFP) Jan 25, 2008 India and France on Friday signed the framework of an accord paving the way for nuclear power cooperation once New Delhi is able to enter the global atomic energy market, French officials said. The agreement covers cooperation on research to the supply of reactors, said an official accompanying French President Nicolas Sarkozy on a state visit to India. India, which has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, needs to clear hurdles with the UN's nuclear watchdog and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group as part of a landmark nuclear deal it signed with the United States in 2006. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday that talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were "moving forward," although he is facing domestic opposition. Singh's left-wing allies fear an accord with the IAEA, which would involve unprecedented inspections, would compromise the country's strategic programme. The French nuclear energy group Areva estimates that India, currently the fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, will need 25 to 30 nuclear reactors. As well as the United States and France, Russia is also eyeing fuel-hungry India as a major atomic energy market. India also agreed Friday to take a stake in a scheme to build an advanced reactor in southern France that will carry out research into nuclear fuel and other materials, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) said. New Delhi will take a three-percent stake in the project under a cooperation agreement signed by the CEA and India's Department of Atomic Energy (DEA). "In exchange for financial participation, India will have guaranteed access to the facility to carry out its own research into the behaviour of irradiated material," the CEA said in a statement. Work started in March last year on building the 500-million-euro (735-million-dollar) Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) at Cadarache, near the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille. Due to start operation in 2014, the JHR is a light-water reactor, designed to test fuel for future nuclear reactors, see how materials respond to radiation stress and produce isotopes for medical use. India will become the ninth partner in the scheme. The others are the CEA, the French electricity generator EDF and nuclear plant maker Areva, as well as research institutes in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Japan. Under the current financing arrangements, the three French partners account for 80 percent. pa-ri-burs/sas/adm Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Indian PM hopes nuclear talks with IAEA will conclude soon
New Delhi (AFP) Jan 25, 2008Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said talks with the UN's nuclear watchdog on a pact allowing New Delhi to buy nuclear power plants and technology will be soon completed. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
