Indian and Sri Lankan officials have denied that the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday envisages India’s setting up nuclear power plants in Sri Lanka.

Officials explained that the deal will enable India to train Lankan personnel in peaceful uses of nuclear energy in fields such as, medicine and agriculture, a report by The New Indian Express said. Training will also cover measures to ensure nuclear safety. Indian experts will tell their Lankan counterparts about the safety features incorporated in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant and how Lanka can tackle a nuclear fallout in the unlikely event of that happening.

Officials described as fanciful an agency report that Lanka is looking to produce 600 MW through nuclear plants.

Even without a formal agreement, India has for some time been helping Lanka use nuclear science in medicine in a small way in medicine. The New Delhi agreement is a “breakthrough” to the extent that this is the first time that Lanka has signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation with any country, and India has signed with any of its neighbors, the officials explained.

Sri Lanka is very conscious about the impact of nuclear power plants on its environment, and has made a major fuss about a possible mishap at Kudankulam and even Kalpakkam. However, Sri Lanka is far from producing nuclear power, which is evident from the 2013 projections about power generation by the Ceylon Electricity Board.
(with inputs from The New Indian Express)