Nuclear Deal

Buddha smiled and so did the 7th largest Nation of the world on May 18, 1974. It was on this momentous day that the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council was conducted by India. The reaction of the world to India’s nuclear test was the formation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group also known as the London Club. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries which seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear related exports. The NSG Guidelines are implemented by each Participating Government in accordance with its national laws and practices. Decisions on export applications are taken at the national level in accordance with national export licensing.

In 1992, the NSG decided to establish Guidelines for transfers of nuclear-related dual-use equipment, material and technology (items which have both nuclear and non-nuclear applications) which could make a significant contribution to an unsafeguarded nuclear fuel cycle or nuclear explosive activity. The 439 nuclear reactors operating in 30 countries provide 15 % of the world’s total electricity. Nuclear expansion is centred in Asia where 18 of the 32 reactors now being built are located. It is in this context that the state of India which is already fighting against the energy deficit wanted to wrap up the nuclear deal with USA.Most of the Nuclear Plants in India are operating at around 54 % efficiency.

India doesn’t have large stocks of Uranium which it can use as nuclear fuel. It was in order to satisfy this primary need of electrification that the government decided to go in for Nuclear deal with USA. The Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement is the bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and India under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work towards full civil nuclear cooperation with India. The most important aspect of this deal is that India doesn’t need to sign the NPT and can still get the nuclear fuel and technology for Civilian purpose. This deal is also known as 123 Agreement. The 123 Agreement between the US and India was operationalized on Oct 10, 2008.

The implementation of this waiver makes India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world. The Hyde Act is the domestic US law which is binding on the United States. The Hyde Act cannot be binding on India's sovereign decisions although it can be construed as a guideline for future U.S. reactions. No domestic law can supersede any international agreement as per the guidelines of Vienna convention. This should actually silence the critics of the nuclear deal.The fact that India has announced the nuclear moratorium should not matter much as it has been India’s adopted line of approach since long ago. It doesn’t take away India’s right to test though it does not stop any NSG country from reacting.

After the waiver from the NSG, the next step is getting into bilateral agreements with different NSG countries for fuel supply and Reactor technology. India has done so with the US. Similarly India has clinched the bilateral agreements with France and Russia as of now.

In my opinion, nuclear deal is the demand of time and we should try to utilize this opportunity to address our energy concerns apart from the strategic closeness with US. Being home to 25% of world reserves of thorium, the government should invest more in R&D and try to gain the technology to process thorium as a nuclear fuel. The govt should also look at our alternate opportunities like Helium 3 as fuel which is readily available on moon. The govt. has to come up with Liability Act so that the companies know what to expect in case of any mistakes or wrongdoings. For all its strategic, economic, environmental and energy considerations, it is a deal in India’s favour where India stands to gain a lot. Indian Govt. stands to gain in recognition as Nuclear Power ,Business stands to gain in terms of building new Nuclear Plants along with foreign companies involving technology transfer and society benefits to gain by number of jobs and electricity for masses and industries.