Canada and India finalized a nuclear cooperation agreement last week, opening Canada's sizeable uranium industry to one of the world's fastest-growing markets for nuclear power.
Canada has not shared nuclear technology with the subcontinent since the mid-1970s, when India detonated a nuclear weapon with plutonium produced using a research reactor provided by Canada with heavy water from the United States. A Nuclear Suppliers Group agreement in 2008 created a framework to end an international ban on nuclear exports to India. Negotiations in subsequent years resulted in multiple agreements between Canada and India paving the way for nuclear trade, including the so-called Appropriate Arrangement signed in April.
In a release Friday, Canada's ministers of state and natural resources announced those agreements had come into force. They cover trade in uranium, nuclear technology, services and equipment. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will oversee the agreement and ensure nuclear exports are conducted under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
The export potential for Canadian nuclear businesses is substantial. According to the World Nuclear Association, India has 20 reactors in operation, seven under construction and another 40 proposed.