India signs landmark civil nuclear deal with Japan

•  Japan and India signed a civilian nuclear accord, opening the door for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with fuel, equipment and technology for nuclear power production, as India looks to atomic energy to sustain its rapid economic growth.
• It was the first time Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has concluded such a pact with a country that is not signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• India has signed a historic civilian nuclear deal with Japan during the annual bilateral summit held recently in Tokyo.

Important highlights

• The accord stipulates nuclear fuel and equipment provided can only be used for peaceful purposes, and a separate document signed alongside the nuclear agreement has a clause allowing Japan to terminate the pact if India conducts a nuclear test
• For Japanese nuclear plant makers such as Toshiba and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, it is crucial to expand their business overseas as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster chilled domestic demand for new nuclear plants.
• The ‘Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy’ pact provides for “the development of nuclear power projects in India and thus strengthening of energy security of the country.”
• The pact enables India to obtain high-quality components for nuclear reactors, especially ones that we are negotiating for with Westinghouse (Electric Co.) and (French) Areva SA.
• Westinghouse Electric Company is a subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba Corp. Areva, too, accesses key reactor components from Japanese firms.

Analysis:

• India signed a landmark nuclear deal with the US in 2008, clearing the path for the country to source nuclear power plants and technology from international markets. But with Japanese companies in possession of critical technologies, such as steel shields covering a nuclear reactor core, an accord with Japan was pivotal for India.
• India currently has 5.7 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power generation capacity. This accounts for 2% of the total power capacity, but this is expected to change with a sharp increase in power generation from atomic plants over the next 16 years as Asia’s third largest economy moves away from fossil fuels for its energy needs.
• India’s Department of Atomic Energy’s target is to have 63GW of nuclear power capacity by 2032.

By: Vishal