Japan wants review of N-deal with India

India’s civil nuclear cooperation with Japan is likely to be delayed because of Fukushima. Indian government officials have confirmed that the Japanese want to carry out a review of safety standards in the light of the explosions in Fukushima reactors and that this will delay the process of finalizing the agreement before the visit of Japanese PM Naoto Kan by the end of this year. The Japanese have said that they are not driven only by commercial reasons in executing civil nuclear cooperation with India. “Japan wants to do a safety review after what has happened in Fukushima and that can take some time. They are clear that they don’t want to rush into the deal,’’ said an official. Both the countries, however, have agreed that there is no alternative to nuclear energy and that Fukushima will not have any negative impact on the proposed civil nuclear cooperation in the longer run.