Japan’s nuclear power industry is under the spotlight again as the world debates the nuclear proliferation controversy in Iran and North Korea and Tokyo comes under pressure from the US to support its own nuclear cooperation pact with India.

“There is growing tension in the air over a trend that supports nuclear power expansion in Asia that is accompanied by nuclear risk in the region. We are very much opposed to Japan supporting the nuclear power agreement signed in 2005 between India and the US because India is not a member of the Nuclear Non proliferation Treaty (NPT),” said Hideaki Ban, a leading anti-nuclear activist.

Last week, five of Japan’s largest grassroots environment groups led by the Citizens Nuclear Information Network joined hands with 40 other smaller organisations and sent a petition to the Japanese government demanding that Tokyo oppose the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) lifting restrictions on the nuclear trade with India. India has been getting support from several quarters. For example, a joint statement last Wednesday following a trilateral trade meeting in Brasilia, India, Brazil and South Africa (or IBSA) said: “The leaders agreed to explore approaches to cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy under appropriate safeguards.” But Japan’s support is important because all the members of the NSG must agree so that restrictions on sale of nuclear material and technology to India are lifted.

“As Japan has experienced nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War ll in 1945, the Japanese government has an obligation not to bend to US pressure,” said Seiya Oakamoto, representative of the Movement Against US bases in Atsugi, a municipality that hosts US military and air force bases. India’s rival and neighbour, Pakistan, which was denied civilian nuclear cooperation by the US on the grounds that it had proliferated enrichment technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, is now expected to sign an alternate deal with China in November. Like India, Pakistan is a self-declared nuclear power and non-signatory to the NPT. Critics point out that nuclear technology developed for the civilian sector could be readily converted for military purposes, thus posing a security risk for the region.

“History has proved that diplomacy does not work with Pyongyang. Japan must develop a stronger military strategy that could act as a stronger form of pressure,” said Prof Masaru Fukunaga, a South Asian expert at Gifu Women’s University. The looming Iran crisis as Washington turns the heat on that country to give up its uranium enrichment programme is also becoming a difficult issue for Japan that depends on Iran for almost 20 per cent of its oil supplies. “Asia’s energy needs are soaring and nuclear energy is becoming attractive for countries such as Vietnam, China and Malaysia. Japan is not looking into producing nuclear weapons but rather eyeing the Asian market which will boost profits for Japanese energy companies,’’ Ban said. Almost 30 per cent of Japan’s energy needs are supported by nuclear power and the government plans to increase it to 40 per cent by 2014 by adding 10 more reactors. With Iran becoming a major diplomatic crisis, Japan’s nuclear strategy of supporting the NPT has become a position that clashes with its own economic interests. — IPS