The Hindu : Front Page : "Hidden traps" in nuclear deal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 28, 2006
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"Hidden traps" in nuclear deal

Staff Reporter

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CHENNAI: India must consider whether the benefits of the India-United States nuclear pact are worth the cost, said N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu . To "open the tap" of the nuclear suppliers group "looks like a very liberal offer, an attractive offer, except that there are hidden traps," including a foreign policy trap, he said.

In a critical evaluation of the deal at a meeting organised by the Indian School of Social Sciences on Wednesday, Mr. Ram and physicist T. Jayaraman spelt out the problem areas.

One issue of concern is that the Hyde Act, which has laid the legal framework for the deal in the U.S., fails to incorporate the guarantee of an uninterrupted fuel supply that was offered as part of the March 2006 Separation Plan in return for accepting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on Indian civilian nuclear facilities in perpetuity.

Mr. Ram said the Act seemed to provide a possible role for intrusive U.S. inspectors, which ran counter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assertion that India would not accept verification measures beyond those contained in an India-specific IAEA safeguards agreement.

The deal does not allow India the freedom to reprocess spent fuel and pursue enrichment technologies. The speakers pointed out that this would leave India with a stockpile of spent fuel that would be hard to get rid of.

Apart from these technical issues, the Hyde Act insisted on Indian collusion with U.S. policy on Iran, said Mr. Ram. This manipulation of Indian foreign policy raised further questions. "What are the strings attached? What is the quid pro quo? Will there be an unwritten understanding that you will favour U.S. firms?" Mr. Ram asked.

"We must look to the future," said Mr. Jayaraman. If India's nuclear energy programme moved ahead in directions not envisaged by the Act, due to new technology, what options would be left, he asked. "It will be counterproductive to shut off the possibilities," he warned.

Both speakers urged a broad public debate on the consequences of the Act. "It is up to a larger movement, not just the scientists" to ensure that the Hyde Act was not accepted in its current form, said Mr. Jayaraman.

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