Nuclear Power in India

[Indx TechStyle]

India plans to have 14.5 GWe of nuclear generating capacity online by 2024: Report
The World Nuclear Performance Report 2016 released at the Singapore International Energy Week said India currently had 6,219 MWe of nuclear generating capacity.

The Indian government has put renewed vigour into nuclear power plans as part of its infrastructure development programme, with negotiations on to unlock long-standing agreements with French, Russian and US companies, said a report released in Singapore on Tuesday. "Its overall goal is to have 14.5 GWe (Gigawatt or one billion watts of electricity power) of nuclear generating capacity online by 2024, compared to 6,219 MWe now," said the World Nuclear Performance Report 2016 released at the Singapore International Energy Week being held this week.

The government gave in principle approval for new nuclear plants at 10 sites in nine states, according to the report by the World Nuclear Association. Those for indigenous pressurised heavy water reactor are at Gorakhpur in Haryana's Fatehabad; Chutka and Bhimpur in Madhya Pradesh; Kaiga in Karnataka; and Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan.

Those for plants with foreign cooperation are Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu; in Jaitapur in Maharashtra; Chhaya Mithi Virdhi in Gujarat; Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh and Haripur in West Bengal, though this location has been in doubt. In addition, two 600 MWe fast breeder reactors are proposed at Kalpakkam.

Unit 2 of the Russian-built Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu was completed in 2015, with the unit continuing in mid-2016. A prototype fast breeder reactor is nearing completion at Kalpakkam, according to the report.

The report also noted performances of the nuclear power plants which were commissioned in Rajasthan in 1973. The unit has had a mixed history with lengthy outages from 1982 to 1987, and 1994 to 1997. It has been put out of service since 2005.

The second unit of nuclear power plant in Rajasthan, which came into operation in 1981, performed more reliably, despite long outages between 1994 and 1998, and from 2007 to 2009. It achieved a lifetime capacity factor of 56%.

Rajasthan 3, starting in 2003, has managed a cumulative capacity factor of 76.5%. Altogether, the country has commissioned 18 Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, two small BMRs - boiling water reactors - (in 1969) and two PWRs - pressurised water reactors - (at Kudankulam in 2014 and 2016, respectively), according to the report.

A dip in the average capacity factor in 2008 and 2009 resulted from contemporaneous outages at Rajasthan 2, Kakrapar 1 and Narora units 1 and 2, it said. The association noted challenges of providing electricity across the world's rural regions where people lack electricity. It has set a higher target for nuclear power - 25% of electricity in 2050, which would require an estimated 1,000 GWe capacity.

It said one possible pathway to this target would be to build 10 GWe a year between 2015 and 2020, step this up to 25 GWe per year to 2025, and then 33 GWe per year to 2050.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India, Japan May Strike Nuclear Deal Soon

As India and Japan have decided to bolster defence ties in order to counter China’s growing influence in Asia, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit Tokyo for a two-day trip.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that PM Modi will arrive in Japan on November 11 to attend an annual summit. Apart from discussing various bilateral issues with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, Modi will sign a civil nuclear deal during his stay in Tokyo. According to the Indian ministry, Modi and Abe will have “in-depth exchanges on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest”. The visiting Indian premier will also hold a separate meeting with Emperor Akihito.

In the past, the two Asian powers failed to sign the civil nuclear co-operation pact mainly because of some technical and legal differences. Currently, they try to resolve those issues through negotiations. Tokyo believes that the proposed agreement will allow it to export nuclear plant technologies to the South Asian nation. However, Tokyo is still non-committal on nuclear deal during Prime Minister Modi’s visit, with a senior Japanese official saying that the pact is still being studied.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Kyodo news agency has reported that the deal will be Japan’s first civil nuclear co-operation pact with a country that has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Tokyo has agreed to strike the deal with New Delhi only after Prime Minister Modi assured Premier Abe that India would never use the nuclear power plant technology for military purposes, Kyodo reported.

Speaking at a press conference a couple of days back, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda said: “We expect (PM Modi’s) visit to advance the special strategic global partnership befitting a new era for Japan-India (relations) and further deepen the bonds and co-operative relationship between our countries.”

Hagiuda’s statement has a special significance, as China is at loggerheads with both India and Japan. While China’s consistent support to Pakistan has irked the top Indian political leadership, Beijing’s elevated activities in the East and South China seas (and in the Indian Ocean) has prompted Japan to bolster ties with India.

Last week, Japan said that it wanted India to speak up on the South China Sea (SCS). “We are encouraging India to speak up on issues related to SCS because maritime security is important,” said Yuki Tamura, the Deputy Director of Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Regional Policy Division.

A major takeaway from the Indian PM’s visit could be an announcement on the agreement under consideration for purchase of 12 Shinmaywa US-2 search and rescue aircraft from Japan.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Russia invites India to join fast-neutron reactor project

A fast neutron reactor, also known simply as a fast reactor, is a type in which the nuclear fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons.(Representative Pic)

MUMBAI: Russia has invited India to join in developing next-generation nuclear reactors and to participate in its fast-reactor research project, an official of Rosatom, the country's state atomic energy corporation, has said.

The multipurpose fast research reactor project, known by the Russian acronym MBIR, is coming up as the International Research Center in Dimitrovgrad located in the Ulyanovsk region.

"The purpose of the programme is the creation of a new technological platform for nuclear energy, which will be based on the closed fuel cycle with fast neutron reactors," Rosatom project manager Alexander Zagornov, visiting India for the opening of the company's South Asia regional centre here, told IANS in an interview.

The closed fuel cycle, which involves recycling the nuclear waste as new fuel, in the case of the MBIR project, essentially signifies research on a sodium-cooled Generation 4 fast reactor to design an advanced fast neutron reactor for use in nuclear power plants.

A fast neutron reactor, also known simply as a fast reactor, is a type in which the nuclear fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons. Such a reactor needs no neutron moderator like normal water, which serves such a purpose in thermal reactors.

"With fast-neutron reactors, it is possible to solve the major ecological problem of reprocessing and deactivation of the accumulated radioactive waste, at the same time providing society with much needed energy," Zagornov said.

"Transition to the closed fuel cycle, which is based on the fast neutron reactors, will lead to the solution of the five key problems -- safety, competitiveness, shortage of fuel, reprocessing and refabricating the used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste -- as well as in enforcing non-proliferation of fission materials and weapons technologies," he added.

Zagornov explained that the main purpose of the MBIR research reactor is to conduct a large number of reactor studies of "Generation 4 nuclear systems, including the fast neutron reactor with closed fuel cycle, as well as small and medium power thermal neutron reactors".

"MBIR's design includes three independent loops that can be used to test different coolants like gas, lead, molten salt, among others, and therefore it will be possible to conduct material testing research in those different environments."

"The trend of the fast research reactors development shows that by 2025 MBIR can be one-of-a-kind facility in the world," he said.

In this connection, Zagornov said that the unique research facility with the high neutron flux cannot be realized on the small scale or as a modular facility.

"Therefore, high cost is inevitable. This fact brings us to the idea promoted by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) of regional 'collective use centers', in which one reactor can be used by multiple international users," he said.

"And we invite Indian partners to participate in such collective centre of excellence like the International Research Center," he added.

The Indian atomic energy programme is currently developing breeder reactors that will be fuelled by the country's vast thorium deposits.

The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor. In its final stages of development, the AHWR is being tested at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai as part of the third stage of India's nuclear energy programme, which envisages the use of thorium fuel cycles for generating commercial power.

India's thorium deposits, estimated at 360,000 tonnes, far outweigh its natural uranium deposits at 70,000 tonnes. The country's thorium reserves make up 25 percent of the global reserves.

Zagornov said the neutron flux directly influences the time needed to conduct irradiation experiments.

"The ability to conduct a 10-year research in three years is extremely important to the scientists around the globe and is one of the key advantages of the high flux reactors," he said.

Russia has offered India a new range of reactor units - the VVER-Toi (typical optimised, enhanced information) design - for the third and fourth units of the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu being built by Rosatom.

 

[wuzetian]

Russia invites India to join fast-neutron reactor project

A fast neutron reactor, also known simply as a fast reactor, is a type in which the nuclear fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons.(Representative Pic)

Any news about when the AHWR will be operational ? I also want to know when construction of Fast Breeder Reactors in other parts of the country will take place .

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Any news about when the AHWR will be operational ? I also want to know when construction of Fast Breeder Reactors in other parts of the country will take place .

4,5,6,7 and probably even 10 years. Delays are usual in research project.
Project ITER (to make world's first fusion reactor) may even overshoot 2040.

 

[wuzetian]

4,5,6,7 and probably even 10 years. Delays are usual in research project.
Project ITER (to make world's first fusion reactor) may even overshoot 2040.

Have you heard of the Kamini project ?

 

[republic_roi97]

4,5,6,7 and probably even 10 years. Delays are usual in research project.
Project ITER (to make world's first fusion reactor) may even overshoot 2040.

This is from the same ET Report :-

The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor. In its final stages of development, the AHWR is being tested at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai as part of the third stage of India's nuclear energy programme, which envisages the use of thorium fuel cycles for generating commercial power.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Have you heard of the Kamini project ?

Please tell me about that just a little.

I will do rest of research myself.:biggrin2:

This is from the same ET Report :-

I know, I meant by operationalizing them.

 

[wuzetian]

I remember seeing a presentation from BARC about a proposal to setup a nuclear power plant that simultaneously products electricity, hydrogen and desalinated water. What are your views on it?
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/...ce-hydrogen-to-fuel-the-hydrogen-economy.html

 

[Indx TechStyle]

I remember seeing a presentation from BARC about a proposal to setup a nuclear power plant that simultaneously products electricity, hydrogen and desalinated water. What are your views on it?
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/...ce-hydrogen-to-fuel-the-hydrogen-economy.html

My views are and will remain as constant as Universal Gravitational Constant is.

Screw the all nuclear regulations and monopoly of P5 up.
On a lighter note, thanks it's informative.

For long term, a lot of Hydrogen is there in space. We can do many types of minings or refinings in upcoming centuries.


You'll get my tag notification after some reports are posted here, specially about India.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Japan, India to ink controversial nuclear deal this week: reports
http://www.dawn.com/news/1294662/japan-india-to-ink-controversial-nuclear-deal-this-week-reports
Look, it's controversial for pakis.:biggrin2:

Same for that Chinese smoker no smoking who says only UNSC permanent members can bend the rules!

 

[Chinmoy]

Japan, India to ink controversial nuclear deal this week: reports
http://www.dawn.com/news/1294662/japan-india-to-ink-controversial-nuclear-deal-this-week-reports
Look, it's controversial for pakis.:biggrin2:

Same for that Chinese smoker no smoking who says only UNSC permanent members can bend the rules!

I too am bit apprehensive of this treaty. Now see it effectively states that any sort of cooperation would be withdrawn if India does a nuclear test. Its just like what US and Canada had said. Now Japan is quite optimistic of the treaty to be signed, but India on other hand is not giving out any clear signal. I am sure that diplomacy is in full swing to find out loopholes and bend the treaty India way .

Now what Japan has laid out is quiet understandable as Toshiba is the parent company under whose Westinghouse is installing 6 reactors in Andhra. So these sort of treaty would always come up with one or two clauses in it to suit American need.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Front-Line Nation: India’s Nuclear Programme Is Making Rapid Progress
7 Nov, 2016, 10:26 am
Swarajya Staff

Narendra Modi

Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh, said on Sunday that India’s nuclear programme has made rapid progress since Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed his government in May 2014.

"With direct and personal patronage from the Prime Minister, India is now among the front-line nations in its nuclear programme. In the years to come, nuclear energy will be a major source of power for India's growing needs," he said during a visit to the 'Hall of Nuclear Power' set up at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

"The union government can clearly take the credit for bringing the nuclear programme to north India. It is during the last two years that a nuclear plant has been set up north of Delhi at Gorakhpur village, in (Fatehabad district of) Haryana," he said.

Similarly, he said, the government was considering setting up more nuclear installations in other northern states like Punjab and Uttarakhand. He said India's claim to membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group is increasingly being accepted by the world nations.

The concept of setting up the 'Hall of Nuclear Power' in Delhi, the minister said, was inspired by the realisation that the Department of Atomic Energy did not have its headquarters here and most of its activities were confined to the western and southern parts of India.

As a result, the minister said, not much was known about the department in this part of the country. On the occasion, Singh directed the officers accompanying him to send circulars to educational institutions across the country to ensure that visits to the 'Hall of Nuclear Power' were made a mandatory component of their Delhi itinerary during educational and other tours.

With inputs from IANS.

 

[IndianHawk]

I too am bit apprehensive of this treaty. Now see it effectively states that any sort of cooperation would be withdrawn if India does a nuclear test. Its just like what US and Canada had said. Now Japan is quite optimistic of the treaty to be signed, but India on other hand is not giving out any clear signal. I am sure that diplomacy is in full swing to find out loopholes and bend the treaty India way .

Now what Japan has laid out is quiet understandable as Toshiba is the parent company under whose Westinghouse is installing 6 reactors in Andhra. So these sort of treaty would always come up with one or two clauses in it to suit American need.

Let them have it . We have not tested nukes in 18 years . And even if we do in future I am sure we can come up with just the right excuse and strategic logic to keep the treaties on or at least re signed in few years

Meanwhile we should pile up as much yellow cake as we can

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India First Non-NPT Nation To Sign Nuclear Deal With Japan
India is set to become the first nation to sign a civil nuclear deal with Japan without having signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
India First Non-NPT Nation To Sign Nuclear Deal With Japan

India is set to become the first nation to sign a civil nuclear deal with Japan without having signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), allowing Japan to export nuclear power plants to India.

The deal is expected to be finalised when Prime Minister Modi arrives in Tokyo for his three-day visit to Japan next week. According to the terms of the agreement, both sides will stop their civil nuclear cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test media reported.

ALSO READ: India Abstains From Voting On Nuclear Weapons Ban At UN

“India has demonstrated a firm commitment to non-proliferation principle in practice. It clearly differs from countries like North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran, which have conducted shady dealings on the ‘nuclear black market’ a researcher of the Tokyo Foundation was quoted as saying.

“…if one considers the matter carefully, it becomes clear that civil nuclear cooperation between Japan and India will have virtually no negative impact on the non-proliferation regime,” the report continued.

ALSO READ: India Completes Nuclear Triad with INS Arihant

“If India continues to control its nuclear technology as carefully as it has for the past half-century, cooperation on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes should not undermine the NPT regime,” said the researcher.

Experts suggest that China’s growing military presence in the region, especially in the disputed South China Sea, helped Japan change its stand on nuclear cooperation.

So far, 11 countries, have signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with India, including US, Russia, Britain, France and Australia.

 

[republic_roi97]

India First Non-NPT Nation To Sign Nuclear Deal With Japan
India is set to become the first nation to sign a civil nuclear deal with Japan without having signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
India First Non-NPT Nation To Sign Nuclear Deal With Japan


ALSO READ: India Abstains From Voting On Nuclear Weapons Ban At UN


ALSO READ: India Completes Nuclear Triad with INS Arihant

Do you know what it tells ?
It tells that now a anti-chinese alliance is being created which is sanctioned by US. A country affected by Nukes is doing nuke deal with a country which is non-npt, it tells us that Chinese foreign policy is as childish and irrelevant as it gets. They might be copying everything but perhaps, intelligent decision making cannot be copied I guess.
Long live India-Japan Nuclear Deal and Friendship.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India, Japan Sign Landmark Nuclear Energy Deal After 6 Years Of Talks: 10 Points

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's PM Shinzo Abe have signed the landmark nuclear deal

Tokyo: After six years of wrangling and intense negotiations, India and Japan today signed a landmark civil nuclear agreement in Tokyo, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held talks. PM Modi is on a three-day visit to Japan, his second in two years.

Here are the 10 latest developments:​

1. "The Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy marks a historic step in our engagement to build a clean energy partnership," said PM Modi.

2. The agreement will allow Japan to supply nuclear reactors, fuel and technology to India, which will be the first country that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT to have such a deal with Tokyo.

3. The two countries had reached a broad agreement last December during Mr Abe's visit to India, but Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, saw strong political resistance to the deal, especially after the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

4. Tokyo had reservations about such an agreement with a nation that hasn't signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and had sought assurances from New Delhi that it would not conduct nuclear tests any more.

5. India has declared a moratorium on nuclear testing since its last explosions in 1998. But with concerns about neighbours China and Pakistan being nuclear armed, it has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, contending that it is discriminatory.

6. Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and this deal will make it easier for US-based companies like Westinghouse and GE to set up atomic plants in India as both have Japanese investments.

7. India is in advanced negotiations with Westinghouse Electric, owned by Japan's Toshiba, to build six nuclear reactors in the south - a part of New Delhi's plan to ramp up nuclear capacity ten-fold by 2032.

8. The Prime Minister landed in Tokyo last night and this morning met Japanese Emperor Akihito. He also addressed top Japanese CEOs and invited investments, saying India has a huge and substantial need for finances and his government is pursuing reform policies to make the country the world's "most open" economy.

9. From Tokyo, PM Modi, accompanied by Shinzo Abe, will travel to Kobe by the famed Shinkansen bullet train, the technology that will be deployed for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Railway. He will visit the Kawasaki Heavy Industries facility in Kobe, where high speed railway is manufactured.

10. Japan wants to edge out China in new bullet train deals with India. The competition between Asia's biggest economies for high-speed rail contracts has been intense. China beat out Japan for a line in Indonesia last year, and the two are set to face off again over a proposed Singapore-Kuala Lumpur link.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India, Russia deal on Kudankulam n-plant units 5, 6 likely by year end

Spassky asserted KNPP is India's best. "I have seen the official estimates (which show that) currently it is the most efficient power unit in India," he said.

MOSCOW: The general framework agreement for the third stage (units 5 and 6) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu is expected to be signed by the end of December, its Russian makers said here.

The plant's blocks 3 and 4 (the second stage) would be commissioned in 2022 and 2023, they said.

"So we are all working with Indian partners, NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd), and are approaching to sign the documents for the two new units (units 5 and 6) of the KNPP. We plan to sign documents in the nearest future. And by nearest I mean nearest," Nikolay Spassky, Deputy CEO for International Relations at Russian atomic energy corporation Rosatom, told IANS here.

As for efficiency, Spassky asserted KNPP is India's best. "I have seen the official estimates (which show that) currently it is the most efficient power unit in India," he said.

Vladimir Angelov, Director for projects in India, ASE Group, the engineering division of Rosatom, expressed the hope that the agreements would be inked by the end of this year.

"First part of the job is negotiating the contract. I have just come back from Mumbai from these talks. We are rather optimistic that by the end of this year, the contracts for units 5 and 6 will be signed," Angelov told IANS.

Construction of KNPP with the assistance of Russia is the largest joint project between the two countries in the energy field.

The first two 1,000 MW units are currently operational at Kudankulam. Unit 1 was connected to the grid on October 22, 2013.

"Unit 1, which is in commercial operation, is in second fuel campaign already. The second fuel campaign is getting close to completion. The Indian operator has decided to extend the second cycle and that is why the unit currently operates at 85 per cent of its normal capacity," Angelov explained.

An inter-governmental agreement between India and Russia was signed in December 2008 for setting up Kudankulam's units 3 to 6. The ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 and 4 was performed earlier this year.

"We plan commissioning units 3 and 4 in 2022 and 2023. The gap between completing construction of unit 4 and beginning construction of units 5 and 6 will be a year- to year-and-half. Thus by 2025, we have very ambitious plans of completing these four units," Angelov noted, adding that the four units would be technologically superior to the first two.

And, to further the nuclear energy road map, Russia is awaiting India's decision on a new site for six additional units.

"We are waiting for the proposals by the Indian side about a new site for six additional units of increased capacity. These will be generation three-plus Russian units," Angelov added.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Press Information Bureau ​

Government of India
Department of Atomic Energy​

01-December-2016 16:43 IST​

Measures to meet targets for Nuclear Power​

The Government has taken measures to ensure availability of fuel in required quantity (from both domestic and imported sources) and to expedite ongoing projects.

In addition, the Government has taken the following measures to facilitate nuclear power capacity addition:

• In principle approval of sites to locate nuclear power plants in future.

• Creation of India Nuclear Insurance Pool to cover the Operator’s Liability as prescribed under the provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010.

• Amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to facilitate establishment of Joint Venture Companies (JVC) by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) with other Central Public Sector Undertakings to set up nuclear power plants.

• Budget speech announcement (2016-17) on augmenting investment in nuclear power.

A focussed approach directed towards research and development with identified goals are being carried out in various fields like advanced reactor development, nuclear fuel cycle, thorium fuel utilisation, reactor safety studies, life cycle & ageing management studies, electronics and instrumentation, high efficiency energy conversion, advanced materials and remote handling and robotics.

The research and development activities in NPCIL are being carried out for development of technology, tools, testing facilities etc. aimed at enhancement of nuclear and radiation safety, reliable operation of nuclear power plants and development of equipment/ components/ systems for current and future nuclear power reactors.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

****
KSD/NK/sk​

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India and Vietnam likely to sign civil nuclear pact this week

Cooperation will entail capacity building and training of Vietnamese nuclear scientists by India.

NEW DELHI: India is likely to seal a landmark civil nuclear pact with Vietnam this week during the visit of the President of Vietnam’s National Assembly, Ngyun Thi Kim Ngan, the first such partnership with a neighbour of China.

The Indo-Vietnam Inter-Gover nmental Framework Agreement in the field of civil nuclear cooperation will entail capacity building and training of Vietnamese nuclear scientists by India besides assistance to improve safeguard measures of nuclear installations in the Southeast Asian country, according to persons familiar with the development. Sri Lanka is the only other developing country with which India has signed a civil nuclear pact.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Hanoi in early September the two sides also agreed to “expedite the negotiation” for a new Inter-Governmental Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, “which will set a strong foundation for further cooperation in civil nuclear energy”. India has been helping Vietnam’s civil nuclear sector since signing the first agreement in 1986, besides supplying a research reactor and training a few scientists under the International Atomic Energy Agency programme.

Vietnam currently has bilateral civil nuclear pacts with Russia and Japan, a fact that will complement Indo-Vietnamese partnership. While Russia has wide-ranging presence in India’s civil nuclear sector, India and Japan concluded a civil nuclear pact last month.

The visit of Ngyun Thi Kim Ngan, third highest ranking leader of Vietnam, will push comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, coming close on the heels of Vietnam’s defence minister visit to India. The National Assembly President will be accompanied by a big business delegation to push economic and investment ties. The visit will also provide a fillip to parliamentary cooperation through exchanges between leaders of parliaments, committees, parliamentary friendship groups and parliamentarians of two countries.