””””NEW DELHI, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- India and the United States have agreed to renew
cooperation in nuclear safety and to continuethe resumed nuclear dialogue, a
senior American official said here on Thursday.
””””"We have agreed to renew the relationship with India on nuclearsafety
cooperation and have resumed dialogue with our Indian counterpart," Richard A
Meserve, chairman of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) told the media.
””””Meserve, who arrived in India on Monday for a six-day visit, held talks
with his Indian counterpart S. P. Sukhatime, chairman of Indian Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB), and top officialsof Indian Atomic Energy Commission in
Mumbai, 1400 kilometers southwest of here.
””””Meserve described as "very productive" his visit to India and the talks he
held with Indian officials, which he said, "laid a foundation for a strong
program of nuclear safety."
””””The two sides, which have already been cooperating of fire-safety,
symptom-based emergency procedures and plant design modifications, agreed to
expand their cooperation on safety issuesby including two major aspects of
licence renewal and risk-informed regulation.
””””Nuclear cooperation between the two countries had been suspended following
India's nuclear tests in May 1998, which triggered the United States to impose
economic sanctions against the country.
””””New Delhi and Washington decided to resume cooperation in nuclear safety in
November 2001.
””””Meserve said that his trip to the country was part of the overall
structural dialogue on nuclear issues between the two countries.
””””He said that the issue of export control, part of the US sanctions against
India, did not come up during his talks with Indian officials, but "largely in a
passing manner." "The focus ofour activities was in nuclear safety," he added.
””””Meserve's trip followed the visits here by US Assistance Secretary of State
for Nuclear Proliferation, John Wolf, and Assistant Secretary for South Asia,
Christina Rocca, late last year.
””””New Delhi said the visit of Meserve and his 10-member delegation had set
the state once again for further talks on nuclear safety, regulation and mutual
exchange of information between the two countries.
””””In April 1998, just a month before India's nuclear tests, the then NRC
chairperson Shirley Jackson visited AERB, Bhabha Atomic Research Center and few
nuclear power plants in the country. Enditem
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