The following news report from Forbes outlines plans by U.S.-based Thorium Power Ltd. to set up a joint venture in India to promote thorium-based nuclear power there and to facilitate other companies entering the country’s nuclear sector. The JV will set up a fund and a consultancy, but in the longer term aims to get involved more hands-on, creating an operator to run new nuclear plants “in countries that have never had them before.” (Whatever that means. IAEA take note.)

Though reserves aren’t confirmed, India is believed to have the 2nd largest amount of unmined thorium in the world after Australia. Thorium is a proposed alternative technology that promoters say would cut in half the amount of dangerous waste produced by more traditional uranium reactors of today. Existing nuclear plants could be re-tooled to take advantage of the still unproven new approach at reasonable cost (the reality is that these would become “hybrids” mixing thorium and uranium fuel rods). For more details, have a look at this backgrounder from MIT’s Technology Review.

Nuclear power in India is becoming a hot competition arena in general, with capacity construction set to take off. As a sign of the intensive angling, Moscow and New Delhi just signed a long-awaited agreement on nuclear cooperation. For a more fleshed-out look at the sector, have a look at the following background article from The Wall Street Journal, which reports that capacity is expect to ramp up to 40,000 MWby 2020, from just 3,900 last year. The chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission was quoted this week as saying construction may in fact “well exceed” that 2020 target.

Many environmentalists criticize nuclear power for not being truly sustainable or renewable, and they’re right, strictly speaking. However, my own view is that it will be mandatory for countries like China and India, whose economic development in the next few decades demands faster growth of energy supplies than all known sources will be able to provide. Given the urgency of fighting climate change and reducing the burning of fossil fuel, it will be almost impossible for Beijing and New Delhi to leave the greenhouse gas-free nuclear option out of the generation mix on principle. Thus, while nuclear won’t be a technology for the 22nd century power, it will be for 21st century power — as a transition tool.

(Thorium rod image courtesy of Technology Review.)