Accord will serve as framework for importing nuclear reactors and fuel
– By Linton Levy –
India and the International Atomic Energy Agency this week signed a safeguards agreement which, when fully implemented, will serve as the framework for the importing of both nuclear reactors and the fuel to power them over their lifetime. The agreement will enter into force on the date the IAEA receives written notification from India that its domestic statutory requirements for entry into force have been met.
The safeguards text was finalised last February after negotiations between the Agency’s safeguards division led by Vilmos Cserveny and an empowered Indian delegation headed by Ravi Grover of the Department of Atomic Energy. Approved unanimously by the IAEA Board of Governors on August 1, the India-specific safeguards agreement was signed finally in Vienna on Monday by IAEA Director-General Mohammed el-Baradei and Indian Ambassador Saurabh Kumar.
At present, six reactors at three sites at Tarapur, Rawatbhata and Kudankulam are under IAEA inspections and fuel may be imported for them under existing safeguards agreements now that the Nuclear Suppliers Group has waived its export restrictions for India. Under the Indian separation plan negotiated pursuant to the July 2005 civil nuclear agreement with the U.S., 14 indigenous reactors (including the pre-existing six) will come under safeguards by or shortly after 2014, provided suitable lifetime fuel supply arrangements are concluded to India’s satisfaction.