Japan-US nuclear power deal set to be automatically extended

Tokyo, September 25: The foundation of Japan-U.S. nuclear cooperation bilateral nuclear energy cooperation agreement is set to be extended. The agreement will expire in July 2018. Hence the nations are making arrangements to enable an automatic extension. Both of the nations is till now keen to extend it without any negotiation.

Currently, Japan is a very important ally of US. The nations are jointly trying to counter North Korea issue. Considering this, US does not want any renegotiation as it may affect the bilateral relations.

Japan Prime minister Shinzo Abe also wants the automatic extension and from another side, there are indications of US President Trump’s same wish. The Japanese government has welcomed the indications.

“Allowing the automatic extension has become the basic line of thinking on the U.S. side,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said. “It seems they don’t want to ruffle feathers in Japan-U.S. ties by renegotiating the deal.”

The official name of the agreement is the Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States of America Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. It deals with the storage and supply of nuclear materials. As per the deal, products made under the deal are not allowed to use for any military purpose.