NRC COMMISSIONER MERRIFIELD MEETS INDIAN FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001261

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS TO NRC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015
TAGS: CVIS ENRG ETTC IN KNNP KSCA PREL TRGY TSPL NSSP
SUBJECT: NRC COMMISSIONER MERRIFIELD MEETS INDIAN FOREIGN
SECRETARY SHYAM SARAN


SIPDIS

Classified By: DCM ROBERT BLAKE, REASON 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: NRC Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield and
Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran discussed India's energy
future at a meeting in the Secretary's office in New Delhi on
February 11, 2005. Saran told Merrifield that energy is a
key strategic interest of India and nuclear power would be an
important part of the energy mix that would fuel India's
development. India would like more collaborations in the
nuclear field, but a one-size-fits-all policy does not appear
to accommodate realities on the ground. Merrifield
underscored the importance of the World Association of
Nuclear Operators (WANO) peer review process to improve the
safety and operation of nuclear power plants. Merrifield
promised he would articulate in Washington the quality and
progress of nuclear power generation efforts in India and the
role nuclear power is expected to play in the energy future
of India. End summary.

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Saran: Energy at the Top of Indian Agenda
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2. (C) Saran told Merrifield that he was in Washington in
November and had very useful discussions with now Secretary
of State Condoleeza Rice. He discussed with Rice the need to
look at India's energy situation and the necessity to take a
comprehensive look at the U.S.-India nuclear relationship.
India has had a similar dialogue with the European Union, the
relation of India with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),and
a call to greater openness to look at India's aspirations in
the nuclear energy field.


3. (C) Saran told Merrifield that the U.S and India need to
move the nuclear agenda forward. There is a long history of
US-India cooperation on nuclear matters and now India has
developed significant capabilities. Saran said India is
looking forward to economic growth of 8-10% per annum, which
will place significant demands on the energy sector.


4. (C) Saran said that given the fact that energy security
is at the top of the agenda of the current government, India
hopes to continue dialogue on energy related matters.
Ambassador Mulford has met with Petroleum Minister Mani
Shankar Aiyar, there is a new Secretary of Energy who is
familiar with India, a sustainable development summit just
took place in India, and the Prime Minister has said that he
hoped to raise India's energy agenda to the Joint Summit.
The PM has invited India, China and South Africa to join
hands in looking at future energy needs.


5. (C) Saran said China is now a major energy consumer and
China and India, in a short period, will be putting
significant pressure on world energy markets. Thus, it is
doubtful that the country will be able to sustain growth
relying only on fossil fuels. Nuclear power is a definite
option for India but there are issues related to fuel
supplies. In this regard, India's task of sustaining
economic growth will be simpler if it has cooperation from
the U.S.

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Saran: One-Size-Fits-All Policies are a Big Challenge
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6. (C) Saran remarked that, in his view, there is
insufficient appreciation in the U.S. on how far India has
come. India would like to encourage more interaction but has
come against some barriers. One of the challenges is dealing
with a one-size-fits-all U.S. policy that does not appear to
accommodate realities on the ground.


7. (C) India has no record, Saran said, of being involved in
any untoward behavior. This is not because of U.S.
pressures, but because such behavior is not in India's
national interest. India is developing new export controls
and looking at export control methodologies as India could
profit from U.S. experience in these matters. India wants
very badly to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of
implementing the NSSP. India would very much like
Commissioner Merrifield to tell U.S. policymakers about what
he saw in India and would value Commissioner Merrifield's
advice on how to move forward.

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Commissioner Merrifield: India is a Senior Partner in Nuclear
Power Generation
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8. (C) Merrifield told Saran that for this visit, NRC
personnel split into two teams. One team carried out
detailed technical discussions in Mumbai, while the
Commissioner and Deputy Director Doane traveled on to
Rajasthan to visit the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station
facilities.


9. (C) Merrifield told Saran that the visit was very good
and very positive and that he was delighted about
participation of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India
Limited (NPCIL) in the WANO where Americans and others come
together to benchmark safety practices and operations of
nuclear power plants among peers.


10. (C) Merrifield said that since becoming a Commissioner,
he has learned that the worldwide nuclear industry is a very
small fraternity. In his view, direct interactions through
WANO, for example, have resulted in significant improvements
in the safety and operations of the nuclear power sector.
Thus, putting nuclear power generation in the hands of an
enterprise like NPCIL, which interacts with the nuclear power
industry elsewhere, bodes well for the future of nuclear
power in India.


11. (C) In addition, the manner in which India is achieving
milestones in bringing nuclear power plants on-line, on time,
and within budget, provides great credibility to the Indian
program. Thus, NRC looks forward to enhanced, new levels of
interactions.


12. (C) The Commissioner told Saran that NRC and AERB want
to identify AERB personnel who can come to NRC and work
shoulder-to-shoulder on technical issues related to nuclear
power plant safety. NRC will also encourage the visit of
AERB scientists to national labs. NRC is aware of India's
nuclear reactor design capabilities and India's wish to
participate in design of a new generation of reactors. He
understands India's desire to engage in benchmarking NRC
codes against AERB codes, a process from which NRC and AERB
could benefit.


13. (C) With regard to NSSP, NRC participates as a
regulatory agency. NRC is clearly pleased with the progress
of an NRC-AERB dialogue and the mutual benefit that it brings
to both agencies. Merrifield told Saran that even within
NSSP and within NSG guidelines, nuclear safety knows no
boundaries. Progress in the NRC-AERB relationship should
remain focused on enhancing civilian nuclear reactor safety.


14. (C) Now, as it relates to nuclear energy, India is a
senior partner at the table, Merrifield said. Unfortunately,
many of those who make rules for U.S.-India interactions have
little understanding of nuclear safety and what it takes to
operate a nuclear power station in an efficient,
cost-effective and yet safe, manner that protects the public
as well as the environment from undesirable effects.
Merrifield told Saran that a backward looking legislative
framework needs to be brought up to date as this framework
prescribed a nuclear relationship between the U.S. and India
at the time when India did not have any significant nuclear
capability.


15. (C) Merrifield said that, speaking for his own agency,
he views NSSP as an interactive process. Thus, in order to
move the NSSP inter-agency process forward it would be ideal
to have some bilateral progress. Merrifield told Saran that
he would be meeting with DOE officials and that he would make
sure that the new DOE Secretary is aware of India's energy
concerns. NRC, as a regulator, oversees various nuclear
activities, including safeguarding of nuclear materials, so
there are further items of mutual interest that NRC could
share.


16. (C) This being said, NRC is a unique agency where the
Presidential appointees have an extraordinary level of
independence. As NRC must recoup 90 percent of its operating
costs from the industry it regulates, it is always
challenging for NRC to find funds to carry out bilateral
cooperation. Notwithstanding this challenge, the NRC is
committed to collaboration with India, Merrifield told Saran.


17. (C) Saran commented that he is very encouraged that
India also will "put its money where its mouth is", that
India is encouraged by the Commissioner's words, but still
there are mental and psychological barriers to be broken.

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Meeting Participants
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18. (C) NRC Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield
NRC Deputy Director Margaret Doane
DCM Robert Blake
SciCouns Marco Di Capua
PolCouns Geoffrey Pyatt
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran
Dr. S. Jaishankar, Joint Secretary, US and Canada, MEA
Santosh Jha, Deputy Secretary, US and Canada, MEA


19. (C) NRC Commissioner Merrifield cleared this cable.

MULFORD