123 Agreement preserves India’s right to reprocess spent fuel (nukes for mangoes update)

[jpak]

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/206705.html

The finalisation of the 123 Agreement between India and the United States marks the culmination of a two year intense effort to structurally transform the relationship between the two countries. Though the finer details of the agreement are still not clear, it appears that most of the outstanding issues have been resolved. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush have shown extraordinary courage of conviction in going ahead with the historic accord in spite of innumerable obstacles in their domestic constituencies. This entire process was made possible because of the initiative taken by the former prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who in a joint statement with President Bush in 2001 expressed the intention to cooperate in areas of energy and space.

Since the joint statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Bush on June 18, 2005, the progress on the deal has had its share of ups and downs. With different constituencies in both countries working hard to sabotage the deal, there was always the real possibility that it would fall by the wayside. Nuclear power has civilian, strategic and geo-political elements built into it. The two-line statement by Vajpayee and Bush in 2001 had to be converted into a full-fledged technically, politically, and legally binding 123 Agreement. This has taken place largely due to efforts made over the last two years.

From the available news reports, India’s right to test nuclear weapons, guarantees of lifetime fuel supply and India’s right to reprocess the spent fuel have all been covered in the finalised agreement. This should set at rest any concerns raised by the political and scientific communities in India. It should also allay public fears about US intentions with respect to the Indian nuclear programme. Given the constraints of international non-proliferation regimes, the finalisation of the 123 Agreement provides concrete evidence of US resolve to deliver on the promises it made in the joint statement.

India has been one of the pioneering countries in applications of nuclear technology for power production. However, in spite of nearly five decades of effort in this area, the share of nuclear power in the energy mix of the country is less than 3 per cent. Amongst the 30 countries in the world that use nuclear power, India’s rank at 27 is one of the lowest. The circumstances that have led to this state of affairs are a matter of historical record.

<more>

edit: in other words, ChimpCo will provide nuclear technology to India with no non-proliferation strings attached.