The Hindu : National : Uranium need not be enriched beyond what is necessary, says IAEA

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 03, 2006

National

National

Uranium need not be enriched beyond what is necessary, says IAEA

India to negotiate to take care of supply disruption eventuality

MUMBAI: Even as the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar, is set to visit Vienna this week for talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on a safeguards accord proposed under the India-U.S. nuclear deal, there is concern in the IAEA is that Uranium not be enriched beyond what is necessary for commercial civil plants, and that plutonium which is produced by nuclear reactors not be refined into a form that would be suitable for bomb production.

There are different types of safeguards.

Each of the nuclear weapons state has concluded separate safeguards agreements with the IAEA, listing specific facilities offered for safeguards. Under the proposed agreement with the IAEA, India too would include a list of facilities offered for IAEA safeguards.

It is expected to contain protection against withdrawal of safeguarded nuclear material for civilian use at any time.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear that this agreement will be negotiated so that India will be permitted to take corrective measures to ensure uninterrupted operations of civilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruption of foreign nuclear supplies.

Additional Protocol

In 1993, a programme was initiated to strengthen and extend the classical safeguards system (created mainly for countries like Iraq), and a model protocol was agreed upon by the IAEA Board of Governors in 1997, called the Additional Protocol.

The measures boosted the IAEA's ability to detect undeclared nuclear activities, including those with no connection to the civil fuel cycle.

Currently, 107 states have signed the protocol which is in force in 75 states, according to a latest IAEA publication.

According to the model Additional Protocol, the IAEA is to be given considerably more information on nuclear and nuclear-related activities, including R & D, production of uranium and regardless of whether it is traded, and nuclear-related imports and exports.

IAEA inspectors will have greater rights of access. This will include any suspect location and it can be at short notice. The IAEA can also deploy environmental sampling and remote monitoring techniques to detect illicit activities.

States must streamline administrative procedures so that IAEA inspectors get automatic visa renewal and can communicate more readily with IAEA headquarters.

Further evolution of safeguards is towards evaluation of each state, taking account of its particular situation and the kind of nuclear materials it has. This will involve greater judgment on the part of the IAEA.

Nuclear scientists have expressed concerns over the implementation of Additional Protocol as IAEA inspectors could come anytime, anywhere and even to the research institutions which are placed under safeguards. — PTI

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