India, Australia finalize nuclear deal
FORUM Staff
India’s nuclear program received a boost in legitimacy and international acceptance with the recent solidification of a deal to procure uranium from Australia.
Procedures for the acquisition — known officially as the India Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement — were set in motion more than a year ago between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
“We signed a nuclear cooperation agreement because Australia trusts India to do the right thing in this area, as it has been doing in other areas,” Abbott said in September 2014, after he and Modi signed a pact with safeguards to sell uranium for the purpose of generating power peacefully, according to Reuters. “That is why we are happy to trust India with our uranium in months, years and decades.”
Modi and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015 to complete the arrangement, which Modi described as “a milestone and source of trust and confidence.”
India now operates fewer than two-dozen small reactors at six locations but plans to add nearly 30 reactors by 2032, at a cost of U.S. $85 billion, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. In addition to pending procurements from Australia, India imports uranium from France, Russia and Kazakhstan, the paper reported.
Estimates suggest that Australia has about 40 percent of the world’s uranium, making it the No. 3 producer of nuclear fuel. Kazakhastan holds the top position, followed by Canada at No. 2.
Australia stands to gain economically from the India deal, which is estimated to boost Australian exports by U.S. $1.27 billion and create in excess of 4,000 jobs.
