With energy security on their minds, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump have affirmed their faith in atomic energy. After their talks at the White House on Thursday, they reinforced their commitment to work together on US-designed nuclear reactors in India “through large-scale localisation and possible technology transfer.”
Since 2008, when the landmark India-US Civilian Nuclear Deal was signed, there has been no headway in negotiations. No new American nuclear reactor ever made it to Indian soil in the 21st century. Seeking to end the stalemate, the leaders have now shown interest in not only building large reactors but also advanced small modular reactors in India.
A stumbling block has been India’s people-friendly nuclear liability regime, which has been a bugbear for American nuclear suppliers. Most global nuclear damage liability regimes are friendlier to commercial entities.
In their joint statement today, PM Modi and Trump welcomed Budget 2025 announcements to amend the Atomic Energy Act and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) for nuclear reactors.
The statement said the two leaders also “decided to establish bilateral arrangements in accordance with CLNDA, that would address the issue of civil liability and facilitate the collaboration of Indian and US industry in the production and deployment of nuclear reactors.”
Interestingly, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in opposition in 2010 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ensured that “people-friendly” provisions were incorporated into the CLNDA. Now, one will have to wait and see how the amendments are made which can reconcile both American and Indian interests.
Russians are already working on additional reactors at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, and proceeded with it even after India passed the new nuclear liability regime.
This new understanding between leaders may just open doors for American suppliers to make reactors on Indian soil. Westinghouse Electric Company has been negotiating to sell AP 1000 nuclear reactors to India. New Delhi had also identified a Greenfield site to build these large passively cooled reactors.
The Indian government and Westinghouse have also been discussing a project to build six 1,000-MW nuclear reactors at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh.
On the anvil are also the small and modular nuclear reactors that have gained traction in recent times. In his meeting with US Security Advisor Michael Waltz too, PM Modi discussed industrial cooperation and civil nuclear energy with an emphasis on small modular reactors.
PM Modi and Trump said the path forward for enhanced civil nuclear cooperation will unlock plans to build large US-designed reactors and enable collaboration to develop, deploy, and scale up nuclear power generation with advanced small modular reactors.
Wrapping up the PM’s US trip, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said there was an agreement to realise the potential in civil nuclear energy, building US-designed nuclear reactors in India, and taking forward that process also through large-scale localization as well as technology transfer.
“The two countries have been discussing for some time, cooperation in small modular reactors and that is again something that was flagged today. The obstacles in realizing this cooperation in previous years on account of some of the legal provisions that have remained in place in India have already begun to be addressed. You would have noticed the announcements that have been made in the budget in this regard, and we imagine that progress on these issues will enable us to realize the promise of cooperation between India and the US in this very important sector,” he said.
This rapprochement follows a Budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the creation of a new ‘Nuclear Energy Mission for Viksit Bharat’ and a push for amending laws that are limiting this growth. In her speech, Ms Sitharaman said that the development of at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 is “essential for our energy transition efforts”.
“For an active partnership with the private sector towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act will be taken up,” she had said.
India has end-to-end capabilities in nuclear technology – from uranium mining to making atomic power plants to reprocessing nuclear fuel. However, there aren’t enough uranium resources.
Atomic energy is considered the only sustainable almost zero carbon emission source for supplying base load power, which is why many countries are embracing nuclear energy to mitigate the effects of climate change even as they generate more electricity.
Ms Sitharaman has also said that a ‘Nuclear Energy Mission for research & development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR)’ with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore will be set up. At least five indigenously developed SMRs will be operationalised by 2033, she said while presenting her record eighth consecutive budget.
Dr AK Mohanty, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, had earlier told NDTV that 100 GW by 2047 is “very achievable” as India now has the technical capability. “But getting land and appropriate atomic fuel could be a limiting factor. The private sector can help augment capacity by building captive atomic plants especially small modular reactors,” he said.
India has so far installed a capacity of 8,180 MW of nuclear power, according to the Department of Atomic Energy, and presently, the country has 24 operating reactors. Among these, 20 reactors are Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and four are Light Water Reactors (LWRs).
India being a very heavy energy consumer is now eyeing nuclear energy due to the low carbon source of base power generation.
