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According to the international trade minister of Canada, the country is poised to sign a deal with India to sell nuclear technology and materials to India.
It will happen for the first time in over three decades that a pact will open up the lucrative Indian market to Canadian nuclear exports.
Trade Minister Stockwell Day did not speak on the exact day when the deal would be signed but said, "We're very close to having an agreement with India related to the civilian use of nuclear energy for the purpose of helping them meet their energy needs."
A senior Indian diplomat told that negotiators are on the verge of finalizing the pact.
Shashishekhar M. Gavai, India's high commissioner to Canada, told the news agency that Canadian and Indian officials have exchanged the draft agreement.
In the month of January, Stockwell Day made an announcement saying that government-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. had signed a memorandum of understanding with India for next-generation nuclear reactors.
In 1974, Canada refused to continue with nuclear co-operation after its government used plutonium from a Canadian reactor to build an atomic bomb. The international community lifted a three-decade ban on nuclear trade with India last September despite the fact that India still refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Some anti-nuclear activists worry India will stockpile domestic uranium for military weapons and use uranium imports for civilian purposes. Canadian negotiators insisted India allow nuclear inspectors into civilian facilities, Day said. He further added that under the deal Canadian nuclear exports cannot be used for military purposes.
Since the moratorium has come to an end, countries are lining up to sell nuclear technology to India, that is aiming to build 25 to 30 new reactors in times to come. According to Day, "The estimation is over the next 20 years, something like anywhere from CA$50 ($44) to CA$150 billion ($133 billion) worth of civil nuclear energy needs are what we're looking at."
A senior executive from AECL told Canada's finance committee that the corporation is eyeing foreign markets for its next-generation ACR 1000 reactors. AECL had signed a deal earlier this year with a leading Indian engineering firm to start costing out the ACR 1000s - the prelude to a possible sale.
Saskatchewan's Cameco Corp., is also poised to sell uranium to India. But Canada and India must finalize a formal deal before any commercial deals are inked. The Times of India
May 28, 2009
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