Mulford hopes India is birth place of global nuclear industry

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) With the conclusion of the Indo-
U.S. nuclear deal, Washington Friday hoped India would be the
"birth place" of a major international civil nuclear industry
but cautioned that earning its place in the global market
would be a key challenge.

"I hope India is the 'birth place' of a major
international civil nuclear industry, but earning that place
would be a major challenge," U.S. Ambassador David Mulford
said.

He pointed out that India will be competing with the U.S.
and other countries as they expand their civil nuclear power
production to meet the growing demand for clean energy.

At a seminar on 'Indo-U.S. Cooperation in Nuclear Energy:
The Path Forward', Mulford also made it clear that the U.S.
was the world's largest producer of nuclear energy generating
27 percent of the atomic power produced globally.

He expressed displeasure over the "volumes of inaccurate
comments" about the U.S. nuclear industry during the course of
negotiations on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.

"Many misinformed commentators have inaccurately alleged
that the U.S. civil nuclear industry has been out of the
business for almost 30 years and that we are no longer
competitive in nuclear technology and engineering," he said.

"The U.S. ranks number one in the world in terms of
number if nuclear reactors (104) with 24 percent of the
world's total," the U.S. envoy said pointing out that France
ranked number two with 13.4 percent of world's atomic power
reactors which generate 17 percent of nuclear power produced
globally.

"...contrary to popular comment in India, over the last
15 years, U.S. civil nuclear engineering companies have
remained at the forefront of international civil nuclear
engineering," the U.S. envoy said.

The envoy said the U.S.-India Business Council will be
leading a trade mission to New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai
next month to promote American technology expertise and know-
how in nuclear energy technology.

The U.S. government and private industry looks forward to
expanding cooperation with India in supporting the flourishing
of India's power sector, specially its civil nuclear energy
sector, he said.

"The trade mission will include executives from major
nuclear reactor technology manufacturers, nuclear energy
engineering and consulting firms, suppliers of nuclear fuel,
fuel components and conversion technologies and nuclear
radiation analysis specialists," Mulford said.

According to him, India now needed a public-private
civilian nuclear strategy that establishes sound, transparent
policies that lay the groundwork for large scale and
competitive electricity production.

Terming the India-U.S. nuclear deal as "historic
accomplishment, he said "however, as satisfying as this great
accomplishment is, we have to face the fact that what comes
next will be no less difficult than what has already been
achieved."

Building a large, world class, civil nuclear industry
will take time, capital, ingenuity, competitive technology, a
sound regulatory architecture, private sector input and a true
political commitment to excellence, Mulford said. PTI SKU
DEP