Nod to Indo-Australian civil nuclear deal

The Indo-Australian civil nuclear cooperation agreement, which came into force last month, has received the stamp of approval of the Cabinet. The civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia was brought into force on November 13 along with the administrative arrangement for implementing the accord.

"The fuel supply arrangements with Australia will bolster energy security by supporting the expansion of nuclear power in India," said an official statement.

Signed last year, the deal follows similar agreements with the US and France. It is a step toward India achieving international acceptability for its nuclear programme despite not ratifying the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

India, which has nuclear energy contributing only three per cent of its electricity generation, will be the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. India and Australia began talks on the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in 2012 after Australia lifted a long-standing ban on selling uranium to energy-starved India. New Delhi faced Western sanctions after testing nuclear weapons in 1998, but the restrictions eroded after a deal with the US in 2008 that recognised India's growing economic prominence as well as safeguards against diversion of civilian fuel for military purposes.

India has around two dozen small reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 megawatt (Mw), or two per cent of the country's total power capacity. It plans to increase its nuclear capacity to 63,000 Mw by 2032 by adding nearly 30 reactors at an estimated cost of $85 billion.

It currently has nuclear energy agreements with 11 countries and imports uranium from France, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Australia has about 40 per cent of the world's uranium reserves and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of yellow cake annually. India and Australia had commenced negotiations for the sale of uranium in early 2012.