India’s nuclear lobbying
Viewpoint: India’s nuclear lobbying and an increasingly isolated Pakistan, BBC News, By Ahmed RashidLahore 14 June 2016
India’s American-backed bid to join the prestigious Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has once again isolated Pakistan in South Asia.
Pakistan is increasingly finding itself friendless in the region as Iran, Afghanistan and India all find fault with Pakistan’s inability to end terrorism on its soil and in particular to bring the Afghan Taliban to the table for peace talks, as Islamabad promised to do nearly two years ago.
The 48-nation NSG, which sets global rules for international trade in nuclear energy technology, has become the latest diplomatic battleground between India and Pakistan. It is due to hold a crucial meeting this month. The Pakistani military 
is angry that after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Washington, the US has been furiously lobbying all member countries to give India a seat at the NSG table.
Pakistan then asked for the same, but its proliferation record is not as good as India’s and it clearly would not succeed. Instead, it has asked China to veto the Indian bid which it is likely to do. However, smaller countries are angry with the US, who they accuse of browbeating them, and complain that neither India nor Pakistan can become members until they sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) which is an essential requirement.
President Obama is going against his own policy of nuclear restraint and disarmament by offering to make India – but not Pakistan – a member of the NSG, when the US has also tied up plans to sell India six nuclear power plants……..http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36518330
EDF/AREVA keen to get in on selling nuclear reactors to South Africa
Bullish Areva wants in on SA’s nuclear tender, City Press Yolandi Groenewald 2016-06-
10 France’s state-owned nuclear businesses are focused on winning the lucrative South African nuclear tender despite recent financial difficulties.
The French will bid as EDF/Areva – nuclear technology company Areva sold its reactor business to the state-owned energy utility EDF earlier this year……..
EDF was facing large investments at its French operations. Its investment compromised about €50 billion (R869.6 billion) over 10 to 15 years, which would extend the operating lifespan of its ageing fleet to 60 years……
The French nuclear industry has faced a number of storms during the past year. Areva teetered on the edge of bankruptcy after years of losses wiped out its equity. It was rescued by French state aid and a sale of its reactor business to EDF.
The Flamanville project in France, Areva’s first European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) nuclear pressurised water reactor, is years behind schedule, way over budget and riddled with technical difficulties…….
France, Russia, China, the US and South Korea are competing for what could be South Africa’s biggest procurement project. The contract, estimated to cost between R580 billion and R1.56 trillion, aims to add nuclear capacity of 9 600 megawatts.
The government has said the nuclear programme would be developed at a pace the country can afford……..http://city-press.news24.com/Business/bullish-areva-wants-in-on-sas-nuclear-tender-20160603
USA not yet able to get India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group
Nuclear Suppliers Group Meeting On India’s Membership Ends Inconclusive http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/nuclear-suppliers-group-meeting-on-indias-membership-ends-inconclusive-1417783 Agencies | June 10, 2016 VIENNA:
HIGHLIGHTS
- No decision on India’s application to enter NSG in Vienna meeting
- Application to be taken up in meeting in Seoul on June 20
- Countries led by US support India’s bid, others led by China oppose
India’s application is now expected to be taken up in a meeting in Seoul on June 20.
The US-led push for India to join the club of countriescontrolling access to sensitive nuclear technology had made some headway on Thursday as several opponents appeared more willing to work towards a compromise, but China has consistently remained defiant.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG aims to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons by restricting the sale of items that can be used to make those arms. It was set up in response to India’s first nuclear test in 1974.
India already enjoys most of the benefits of membership under a 2008 exemption to NSG rules granted to support its nuclear cooperation deal with Washington, even though India has developed atomic weapons and never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the main global arms control pact.
After meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Thursday, President Barack Obama pledged America’s backing for India to be given a seat in the NSG.
But China on Thursday maintained its position that the Non-Proliferation Treaty is central to the NSG, diplomats said.
Stumbling block prevents Toshiba Westingouse selling nuclear technology to India
Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of State for South Asian affairs, told a Senate committee on May 24 that a commercial deal was “quite close.”
The stumbling block, however, has been one article in a 2010 piece of Indian legislation that would make Westinghouse — and its suppliers — potentially vulnerable to crippling litigation under local Indian laws in the event of an accident. India has offered to establish insurance pools, but companies have not accepted that plan. There was no indication Tuesday that this issue had been resolved.
“They’ve painted themselves into a corner,” Omer F. Brown, a lawyer and nuclear liability expert, said of the Indian government. “I don’t know how they get out of it given that they wrote the law the way they did.”
Westinghouse and General Electric’s nuclear arm have been striving to reach a deal with India for more than a decade, and in 2008 Congress approved an agreement to promote nuclear cooperation with India, which critics said undermined half a century of U.S. nonproliferation efforts.
Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, said the U.S. push for India’s membership in the NSG “would compound the damage in my view of Bush administration’s exemption” for India. He and 16 other non-proliferation experts, including from the Obama administration, have written a letter urging the administration to drop its support for India’s membership……..http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/6-nuclear-power-reactors-for-andhra-deal-on-but-foreign-media-1416685
Contradictions in the nuclear marketing frenzy – theme for June 2016
One contradiction is the increasing recognition that nuclear power is uneconomic, and could even bankrupt the sellers. It’s doubtful that the sellers will really make money out of it, especially Russia, funding so many other countries’ nuclear set ups. Still, we know why, really. It’s all part of the irrational battle to be Topp, to have that geopolitical presence and advantage in other countries.
An obvious contradiction is the way in which both Russia and the West agonise about nuclear terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation, while enthusiastically marketing nuclear technology to all and sundry. Never mind if it’s to an unstable Middle Eastern or East Asian regime, with a high risk of both terrorism and nuclear weapons development.
Another contradiction is the pretense going on that Big nuclear reactors and Small nuclear reactors are being happily promoted at the same time. The “conventional” big reactor companies. Toshiba Westinghouse, Rosatom, AREVA etc are determined to sell their stuff, and no way want to let the “new little” nuclear reactors take over the market. You can see this battle going on in Britain, with the “little nukes” lobbying away, and getting themselves set up as a “charity” for goodness’ sake!
How long will it be before the world recognises that the commercial nuclear empire is crumbling. We don’t need their toxic expensive product. Meanwhile renewable energy gets ever cheaper, fast to set up, versatile, and attractive to the public.
India’s Prime Minister Modi lobbying the world, for India to join the nuclear salesmen
Modi’s global nuclear lobby tour, Nikkei Asian Review KIRAN SHARMA, Nikkei staff writer NEW DELHI 7 June 16, — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally lobbying Switzerland, the U.S. and Mexico for his country’s admission into the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group ahead of its next meeting in Vienna on Thursday.
India’s entry has been opposed by China, and Modi’s lobbying is the major component in a five-nation tour begun Saturday that also takes in Afghanistan and Qatar.
The announcement in Geneva was a boost to India because Switzerland had earlier been dubious about backing entrance to the NSG by nonsignatories to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. India considers the NPT discriminatory, and has not signed up.
India applied for Nuclear Suppliers Group membership on May 12 after preparing for several years. The group was created in response to India’s first nuclear test in 1974 to control the global supply of atomic material and technology. ……..
China, India’s biggest neighbor, argues that any new Nuclear Suppliers Group member should have signed the NPT. The U.S. backs India, citing its clean nonproliferation record. The U.S. helped India secure a special waiver from the NSG in 2008 for a bilateral civil nuclear deal. ………
India says it seeks a nuclear industry compliant with international norms and practices, but views the NSG and the NPT as separate matters.
“The NSG is a regime,” said Jaishankar. “It is a sort of a flexible arrangement amongst states, which is quite different from the NPT — which is a treaty.” The Indian foreign secretary pointed out that the central words in the two titles were “supplier” and “proliferation.” “So, I think the objectives are different,” he said……..
After the NSG’s meeting this week in Vienna, the group will meet in Seoul on June 24 and will review India’s application…..http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Modi-s-global-nuclear-lobby-tour
A hitch in India’s entry to the nuclear selling cartel
- Nuclear Suppliers Group still debating India’s application
-
Obama and Modi have pushed for membership in nuclear cartel
India will probably need to wait a while longer before it joins the elite club of nations that control trade in advanced nuclear technologies, according to three diplomats with knowledge of the process.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group, or NSG, is unlikely to accept India’s application for membership when it meets June 20 in Seoul because officials in New Delhi haven’t yet met all the criteria for admission, said the diplomats, who represent governments inside the 48-nation group. They asked not to be named in line with diplomatic rules for discussing private deliberations.
A delay could roil plans by U.S. President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who were meeting in Washington on Tuesday, to bring the world’s second-most-populous nation into the nuclear mainstream. It would push back a decision on Indian membership to later in the year, and risk bumping into the U.S. presidential election. Continue reading
India and Japan – no progress yet on nuclear business co-operation deal
India-Japan nuclear deal stuck on technical details, THE HINDU, KALLOL BHATTACHERJEE
The agreement misses Japan’s National Diet session
The India-Japan civil nuclear agreement is likely to have a long waiting period, probably more than a year, before it fructifies. This is because, the National Diet failed to take up the agreement in the summer legislative session which ended on June 1. Japanese diplomats further told The Hindu that even the “technical details” of the deal were yet to be finalised.
The civil nuclear agreement firmed up during the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in December 2015 needs the legislative approval as Japan wants to convince the political parties in the Diet that the “nuclear cooperation by Japan shall be carried out only for peaceful purposes”, Yasuhisa Kawamura, Press Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affair of Japan told The Hindu.
- “The summer session of the Diet ended on June 1 and the nuclear agreement was not taken up for discussion. The next session of the Diet is in autumn,” Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu said on Tuesday in Delhi indicating that the agreement failed to make it to the Diet despite growing expectation that Japan would fast track the legislative approval for the same which came up after India concluded similar agreements with several major nuclear energy producing countries including the U.S.
Elaborating on the ambassador’s comments, Mr. Kawamura said “both Japan and India have been working on technical details of the Japan-India nuclear cooperation agreement, which have to be finalised as is mentioned in the memorandum which two Prime Ministers signed last December,” and added that the “schedule of submitting the Agreement to the Diet has not been yet decided”…….http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indiajapan-nuclear-deal-stuck-on-technical-details/article8701794.ece
Russia pushing United Arab Emirates to buy nuclear technology
Nuclear power key for UAE energy security, Khaleej Times Sarakshi Rai/moscow June 5, 2016 Nuclear power is the best way for the world and the UAE to meet its energy demands, according to top nuclear energy professionals at the recently concluded Rosatom Atomexpo 2016.
Atomexpo is the largest exhibition venue for meetings and negotiations between world leaders in the nuclear power sector. This year’s exhibition and conference focused on new players entering the nuclear energy sector.
Mohamed Shaker, minister of electricity and mineral resources, Egypt; Hassan Mahmoud Hassanein, first deputy minister of electricity and mineral resources, Egypt; Khaled Toukan, chairman of Jordan Atomic Energy Commission; and Hashem Yamani, president of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, Saudi Arabia; featured in day two of the conference at a panel discussion highlighting the future of nuclear power and new players…….
Russia’s Rosatom keenly marketing nuclear power to Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos
Russian nuclear agency bullish on Asean outlook ACHARA DEBOON ME THE NATION, Thailand, MOSCOW June 6, 2016 ROSATOM, Russia’s state nuclear-energy agency, is bullish on the outlook of its business in Southeast Asia after the speedy development of a project in Vietnam and a range of agreements with every country in the region except Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei.
“Public acceptance is a key element, and we pay much attention to it,” he said…….
At the expo, a number of agreements with Indonesia were signed, also involving the training of specialists. This followed an agreement on the basic reactor design signed last year.
In the past few years, seven countries including Thailand have signed cooperation agreements with Rosatom. This month, a working group was established with Cambodia’s National Council for Sustainable Development after an agreement on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Myanmar and Laos also have similar cooperation agreements.
Three Myanmar students are now studying nuclear science in Russia on scholarships……
USA tries to bend the rules, so Toshiba-Westinghouse can sell nuclear reactors to India
No Exceptions for a Nuclear India http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/opinion/sunday/no-exceptions-for-a-nuclear-india.html?_r=0 By THE EDITORIAL BOARD JUNE 4, 2016 America’s relationship with India has blossomed under President Obama, who will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week. Ideally, Mr. Obama could take advantage of the ties he has built and press for India to adhere to the standards on nuclear proliferation to which other nuclear weapons states adhere.President Bush squandered an opportunity to demand more of India when he signed the 2008 deal, which opened the door to American trade in nuclear technology for civilian energy, something India had insisted was a prerequisite to more cooperation and lucrative business deals.
As part of the 2008 deal, the Indians promised they would be “ready to assume the same responsibilities and practices” as other nations with advanced nuclear technology. But they have fallen far short by continuing to produce fissile material and to expand their nuclear arsenal.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group is to discuss India’s application later this month. Mr. Obama is lobbying for India to win membership through a special exception. If he succeeds, India would be in a position to keep Pakistan, which has also applied for membership, from gaining membership because group decisions must be unanimous. That could give Pakistan, which at one time provided nuclear technology to North Korea and Iran, new incentives to misbehave.
Opposition from China, which is close to Pakistan and views India as a rival, could doom India’s bid for now. But the issue will not go away. India is growing in importance and seeking greater integration into organizations that govern international affairs. If it wants recognition as a nuclear weapons state, it should be required to meet the nuclear group’s standards, including opening negotiations with Pakistan and China on curbing nuclear weapons and halting the production of nuclear fuel for bombs.
Finland’s Fennovoima nuclear station dependent on Russia for all the finance
“……the extraordinary problems at Olkiluoto have cast doubts over Finland’s ability to manage such projects, while Fennovoima was hit by a farcical hunt for European investors for Hanhikivi.
Worries about Russian involvement almost brought down the previous Finnish coalition government. The Green party left the administration, accusing its former partners, some of whom are still in power, of pursuing a policy of “Finlandisation” — an extremely loaded term locally meaning the accommodation of Russian views in Finnish policy. …..
The deal is also of huge importance to Rosatom and its international ambitions to play a leading role in any revival of nuclear power outside the former Soviet Union…..” Finland raises its bet on nuclear power, Ft.com 5 June 16
USA pushing nuclear deal with India, in the interests of Japanese company Toshiba Westinghouse
this [India] is a country both Wall Street and Washington have their eyes on
Will U.S. Get India To Ink Big Nuclear Deal With A Japanese Owned Company?, Forbes, Kenneth Rapoza , 2 June,
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to town on Monday, a Japanese-owned company may be the biggest beneficiary.
One of the key takeaways Modi and President Obama would would like to see come of this trip is a commitment to build six nuclear power plants by Westinghouse Electric. The Western Pennsylvania based company is an historic American electric manufacturer, but it was acquired by Toshiba in February 2006. Even the Kazakhs own 10% of it under Kazatomprom, their state-owned nuclear power company. Yet, Westinghouse is Washington’s favorite nuclear power company and next week it might make headlines again if it manages to ink a muito-billion dollar deal for its new AP-1000 reactors.
India Ambassador Arun Singh told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was in its “advanced stages.”
The two sides were largely waiting on a nuclear liability law that will essentially create a new insurance product for nuclear power utilities. Westinghouse and its partner in India, the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL), are still waiting for the details of that insurance policy to be ironed out, thinks Richard M. Rossow, a senior fellow on U.S.-India policy for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington………
Westinghouse has a long history of tapping Washington for lucrative deals abroad. Since the mid-2000s, Westinghouse has been able to count on Washington to pitch its wares to countries where Russia is a key, if not dominant player. Currently, Russia’s Rosatom has only two reactors in India, both located in Tamil Nadu state. India has 21 nuclear power plants, most of it indigenous technology.
A deal for all six power plants would be good news for Westinghouse Electric and its owners at Toshiba, which has fallen on hard luck over the past five years.
Toshiba used to design and build reactors for half of Japan, also supplying those reactors with the fuel rods that hold the uranium used to generate electricity. The March 2011 Fukushima disaster lit a match to those service contracts and Toshiba’s Fukushima reactors are decommissioned. Germany shut its reactors down after Fukushima, too. They also used Westinghouse as a source for fuel rods. In less than two years, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric lost contracts at 60 reactors. Between 2012 and 2014, Westinghouse Electric’s cumulative operating losses reached $1.43 billion, according to Toshiba……
this [India] is a country both Wall Street and Washington have their eyes on…….http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2016/06/03/will-u-s-get-india-to-ink-big-nuclear-deal-with-japanese-owned-company/#4f7edc32c94f
Russia keen to get in on the business of cleaning up Fukushima nuclear mess
Rosatom, Japan discuss decommissioning of Fukushima installations https://rbth.com/news/2016/06/02/rosatom-japan-discuss-decommissioning-of-fukushima-installations_599603
“Our partners are showing ever greater interest in the final stage of the life cycle: decommissioning. We are currently discussing this with the Japanese partners,” Kirienko said.
Rosatom enterprises have fulfilled the order to develop unique technology for treating water at Fukushima for the Japanese partners, he added.
Russia moving in on America as a market for its nuclear fuel
Russian Nuclear Fuel Giant Making A Move In U.S. Markets, Oil Price, 2 June 16, http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russian-Nuclear-Fuel-Giant-Making-A-Move-In-US-Markets.html CHARLES KENNEDY Far from the specific paranoia of the Cold War era, talk now is that Russia’s Rosatom nuclear fuel giant may soon end up supplying 10 percent of U.S. nuclear fuel needs.
In partnership with General Electric Co. (GE), Russian state-owned Rosatom is expanding its nuclear fuel supply to the US, hoping to gain a 10-percent market share—adding to the 20 percent of the US enriched uranium market it already controls.
Last week, Rosatom’s TVEL signed an agreement with U.S. Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, a subsidiary of GE-Hitachi, on cooperation in licensing, marketing and fabrication of fuel for U.S. Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs).
According to Russian news agencies, Russia currently holds 17 percent of the global nuclear power plant fuel market. That means it has covered all of its own supply for 76 reactors, along with the reactors in 14 more countries. By 2019-2020, Rosatom hopes to be supply nuclear fuel to the U.S..
Speaking at the Atomexpo-2016 on Monday, where it signed US$10 billion in deals, Rosatom TVEL Fuel Company vice-president Oleg Grigoryev said: “We expect the share of our deliveries to be more than 10% of the US market for this kind of fuel.”
TVEL’s exports already exceed US$1 billion annually, according to Russia’s Tass news agency. The move to gain this extra nuclear fuel market share still requires approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
According to Bloomberg, Rosatom has been supplying low-enriched uranium to the U.S .since 1987.
Rosatom is apparently not targeted by U.S. sanctions.
In 1992, according to Bloomberg, an anti-dumpling investigation prompted trade controls that affected how much low-enriched uranium Rosatom could supply to the U.S.. From 2002 to 2011, Rosatom had to stop commercial supplies to the U.S. For now, the Russian giant has long-term uranium delivery contracts with Centrus Energy Corp. ,NextEra Energy Resources and Exelon Generation Company LLC.
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