US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI1263

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001263 
 
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 MEA JOINT 
SECRETARY, US AND CANADA, DR. S. JAISHANKAR 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
REF: (A) NEW DELHI 1261 
 
Classified By: DCM ROBERT BLAKE, REASON 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  In this February 11 meeting, NRC 
Commissioner Merrifield complimented Jaishankar about the 
accomplishments and maturity of the Indian nuclear power 
industry.  "With regard to nuclear power," Merrifield said, 
"India can no longer be treated as a junior partner." 
Merrifield also highlighted the importance NRC assigns to 
activities of the World Association of Nuclear Operators 
(WANO).  Jaishankar asked for forward thinkers in the U.S. to 
address the baggage and cobwebs that continue to burden the 
U.S.-Indian nuclear relationship and find common interests to 
bring back a natural relationship on nuclear issues.  End 
summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Accomplishments and Maturity of the Indian Nuclear Power 
Industry 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
2.  (C) Commissioner Merrifield expressed satisfaction about 
the progress of the nuclear safety cooperation program with 
India and told Jaishankar that NRC would welcome AERB members 
to come to work "shoulder to shoulder" with NRC personnel on 
nuclear power regulatory matters and that NRC would make 
efforts to place AERB technical personnel in U.S. 
institutions.  He expressed admiration for the facilities in 
Hall 7 at BARC as well as the maturity and accomplishments of 
the Indian nuclear power program.  (Comment: Hall 7 is a 
high-bay facility that can accommodate large experimental 
set-ups which are as tall as a multi-story building and 
require substantial amounts of electrical power and water 
cooling to simulate the conditions that nuclear fuel rods 
encounter during operation in a Pressurized Heavy Water 
nuclear reactor.  End comment.) 
 
3.  (C) Merrifield highlighted that Indian participation in 
WANO has given the worldwide nuclear industry an opportunity 
to understand the strengths of India's nuclear power program. 
 
 
4.  (C) With regard to nuclear power, Merrifield said, India 
can no longer be treated as a junior partner.  As a regulator 
who has seen over 200 nuclear power plants, he knows about 
the comparative strengths of worldwide nuclear power 
programs.  Upon returning to the U.S., Merrifield said he 
could articulate what he has seen in India. 
 
5.  (C) Merrifield told Jaishankar that he intends to go back 
to promote the usefulness in making progress with NSSP. 
Merrifield said that NRC considers collaborations in 
benchmarking of safety codes important and that the ability 
to move in this area is somewhat wrapped up with dialogue and 
progress on export control.  Merrifield said that by 
returning to the U.S. better informed, he will be able to 
promote progress in NSSP so that U.S.-India collaborations in 
nuclear safety can move forward. 
 
6.  (C) The Commissioner told Jaishankar that given NRC views 
on the value of WANO, NRC will encourage WANO to issue timely 
invitations and that NRC will endeavor to assist Indian 
visitors seeking to obtain visas to attend WANO events in the 
United States.  Through his interactions in India, 
Commissioner Merrifield said that he understands the visa 
issue much better and it is easier for NRC to facilitate the 
process when it has timely information it can act upon. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
A More Nuanced Approach to NSSP Would Be Helpful 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
7.  (C) Jaishankar, expressing gratitude for NRC's attitude, 
said that while Commissioner Merrifield realizes the 
centrality of NSSP, the U.S. requires some forward thinkers 
to address the baggage and cobwebs that continue to burden 
the U.S.-India nuclear relationship.  It is reasonable to 
expect, that given the current price of hydrocarbons, heavy 
investments in nuclear power in India are likely to continue. 
 In addition, investments in nuclear power in the United 
States could once again grow.  The U.S. and India, thus, have 
common interests and some decisions to make on how to bring 
back to life a natural relationship.  It is India's hope that 
the U.S. and India will be able to look at the nuclear 
relationship in a broader context. 
 
8.  (C) India is very cognizant of shared concerns of 
proliferation.  In implementing export controls, India is not 
doing this for the U.S., as exports of sensitive materials 
and technologies are just as detrimental to India's interests 
as they are detrimental to U.S. interests. 
 
9.  (C) The U.S. and India need to take steps that 
demonstrate a shared purpose and India requests that the U.S. 
take a more nuanced approach.  The Indians resent that the 
U.S. continues to express proliferation concerns with India, 
which has an "impeccable record," and that the U.S. continues 
to put India in the same light as countries whose records are 
poorer.  In particular, grouping India with serial 
proliferators is incorrect and greatly unfair, Jaishankar 
concluded. 
10.  (C) Jaishankar indicated that improving the relationship 
takes parallel efforts in India as well as in the U.S. 
However, progress in NSSP requires support within the Indian 
nuclear establishment.  Jaishankar remarked that in 1982 the 
challenges posed by supplies of fuel for the Tarapur nuclear 
power station seemed intractable.  The lesson learned at that 
time was that when there is a desire to find a creative 
solution, a solution can indeed be found. 
 
11.  (C) In the context of the broader dialogue of the 
U.S.-India relationship, progress in NSSP requires that the 
constituencies in the technical community remain supportive. 
In this regard, India's space program has found much benefit 
from the NSSP.  The Indian nuclear technical establishment is 
far more skeptical.  For NSSP to succeed, it must be 
implemented in letter as well as in spirit.  A generous 
approach is important and the human element is important. 
Barriers vitiate the atmosphere in which NSSP could blossom. 
When Indian scientists who want to attend international 
conferences are denied visas, implementation of NSSP suffers. 
 
 
------------------------ 
Getting on With the NSSP 
------------------------ 
 
12.  (C) Merrifield told Jaishankar that, in his view, there 
are two kinds of attorneys.  One kind of attorney reads a 
contract line-by-line and word-by-word.  Another kind tries 
to look at an agreement beyond the individual words and 
individual lines to develop a vision of the total 
significance of an agreement.  Merrifield said that he, just 
as Jaishankar, wants dialogue and progress and wants to get 
beyond the baggage so the relationship can move forward. 
 
13.  (C) Merrifield told Jaishankar that with regard to NSSP, 
NRC's inputs are only in those matters that deal with nuclear 
safety.  Through his interactions in India, Commissioner 
Merrifield said that he understands the visa issue much 
better and it is easier for NRC to facilitate the process 
when it has timely information it can act upon. 
 
-------------------- 
Meeting Participants 
-------------------- 
 
14.  (C) NRC Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrifield 
NRC Deputy Director Margaret Doane 
DCM Robert Blake 
SciCouns Marco Di Capua 
Dr. S. Jaishankar, Joint, US and Canada, MEA 
Santosh Jha, Deputy Secretary, US and Canada, MEA 
K. Raghuraman, Head, International Studies, Department of 
Atomic Energy 
 
15.  (C) NRC Commissioner Merrifield cleared this cable. 
 
16.  (C) NRC Commissioner Merrifield also met Foreign 
Secretary Shyam Saran (Ref. A) and MEA Additional Secretary 
 
SIPDIS 
Meera Shankar (septel). 
MULFORD