Australian Uranium for India

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

RAMESH THAKUR reports that while in India, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was expected to sign a deal to sell Australian uranium that will be the single most significant advance in bilateral relations in decades. The journey to get to this point has been tortuous and the controversy is unlikely to fade anytime soon. The main impetus for the change in Australian policy came from geopolitical changes, i.e., the re-emergence of China and India as major players and the relative decline of the United States, and the increased importance of the bilateral relationship with India rather than commercial calculations. Nuclear energy is used by about 30 countries to generate 11 percent of the world electricity, with almost zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently there are 437 operating reactors and around 70 under construction. Nuclear energy is expected to grow between 23 and 100 percent by 2030, although the long-term impact of the March 2011 Fukushima disaster remains impossible to predict with certainty. Most of the growth in nuclear energy will be in Asia from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam. The world current total requirement for uranium is 66,000 tons. The biggest users are the U.S., i.e., 19,000 tons, and France, i.e., 10,000 tons. India uranium requirement is 1,000 tons, compared to 6,000 for China and 5,500 tons consumed by Russia.

Original URL redirected: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/09/01/commentary/world-commentary/aussie-uranium-for-india/#.XCfCsFxKgWd