Nuke Cooperation: Biden Lifts Restrictions On Bhabha Atomic Center, Two Others

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC- In a significant development for US-India relations, the United States has taken steps to enhance civil nuclear cooperation by removing three major Indian entities from its restricted list. The decision was announced on January 15, and it aims to promote joint research, development, and technological collaboration between Indian and American nuclear institutions.

The entities removed from the list include Indian Rare Earths, the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre (IGCAR), and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security stated that this move is designed to “support US foreign policy objectives by reducing barriers to advanced energy cooperation,” facilitating stronger collaboration between the two nations in the fields of clean energy and nuclear research.

This announcement follows earlier comments by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during his visit to India last week. Sullivan highlighted that the US and India are working towards fulfilling the vision of civil nuclear cooperation set out nearly 20 years ago by former President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He emphasized that the Biden administration has decided that it is now time to take the next major step in strengthening this partnership.

Progress had been slow due to regulatory hurdles, particularly India’s nuclear liability laws which holds plant operators responsible for accidents, being a significant obstacle for foreign nuclear vendors, delaying projects like the construction of reactors at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh, initially planned in 2016.