New Delhi: India and the European Union today
signed an agreement in the civil nuclear field to give boost
to collaborative research.
The agreement in fusion research was signed here by
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar from the
Indian side and European Commissioner for External Relations
Benita Ferrero-Waldner from the EU side.
The crucial pact was signed after the India-EU Summit
talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Swedish
counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt along with European Commission
President Jose Manuel Borosso.
Describing the agreement as an "important outcome" of the
10th Summit, Singh said at a joint press conference later that
it "underscores the growing importance of energy security and
clean energy in our cooperation".
The agreement aims at intensifying cooperation to develop
scientific understanding and technological capability
underlying the fusion system in the long term.
It will develop a specific agenda for fusion research
cooperation that goes beyond the ambitious multi-nation
International Thermonuclear Experimental Research (ITER)
project.
India is already a part of ITER, which is to be based in
Cadarache in France at an estimated cost of about 4.6 billion
Euro (USD 5.4 billion or Rs 25,000 crore). The project
involves the US, EU, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 06, 2009, 18:33