India and IAEA agreed to cooperate on extending nuclear technology applications in the Global South.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and India agreed to explore cooperation on extending civil nuclear technology applications in the Global South. The IAEA’s Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Grossi acknowledged India’s global leadership role in civil nuclear applications for societal benefits.
The IAEA and India agreed to explore avenues for:
- Expanding the role of nuclear energy to meet India’s net zero commitment
- Extending nuclear technology applications in areas like food, health, water treatment, and countering plastic pollution
India has 19 nuclear reactors producing about 3 per cent of its electricity. With an additional eight reactors under construction and more planned, India is currently the world’s second-largest domestic builder of nuclear power plants. India’s three-stage nuclear power programme builds towards using the country’s abundant thorium reserves. India’s approach comes with a potentially global increase in the abundance of energy resource and is being closely watched, so is India’s transition to a greener economy.
A Member State since 1957, India collaborates with the IAEA through various means, such as contributing to key programmes like the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative to advance the harmonization and standardization of small modular reactor (SMR) design, construction, regulatory and industrial approaches. The Director General aims to strengthen this and other collaborations with the country to draw benefit from India’s scientific and institutional capacities.
About The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- IAEA is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.
- India has been a founding member of the IAEA since 1957.
- To verify that nuclear materials are used solely for peaceful purposes, the IAEA has developed a system of ‘Safeguards Agreements’.
- India and the IAEA signed an Agreement for Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear facilities in India in 2009.