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Russia Delivers Nuclear Fuel to India
Russia has delivered fuel for two Indian nuclear reactors, despite a request from the United States to delay the transaction, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, March 20). The United States had asked that the delivery be delayed until Nuclear Suppliers Group rules were changed to unambiguously allow the sale. Some experts said the deal violates international law. The delivery came as U.S. Congress is considering whether to approve a deal that would allow the United States to share nuclear technology with India. The Nuclear Suppliers Group must also approve the deal. A senior U.S. official said that the fuel “has been delivered but it has not yet been used. It's in a storage facility.” “This kind of activity should not take place, in our view, until the NSG has acted. It's not good precedent,” the official said. He added that while the fuel transfer is an “irritant … (it) has not been a major issue.” “Russia has clearly violated NSG rules,” said Arms Control Association Director Daryl Kimball. “This is a further step towards the erosion of the NSG guidelines and the United States must speak out more strongly against Russia and India pursuing this.” India and Russia announced the uranium fuel transfer agreement last month. Moscow invoked the suppliers group’s “safety exemption clause” which allows for a fuel transfer to reactors that pose a potential hazard by running out of fuel. However, nonproliferation experts reject this claim, saying the reactors would be shut down, not refueled, if there was a danger. The United States argued that “there is no immediate safety concern ... but you could make a case in the next year or two that there could be safety problem,” the official said (Carol Giacomo, Reuters I, April 25). Meanwhile, Indian Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that New Delhi’s self-imposed nuclear testing moratorium should reduce concerns that U.S. lawmakers have about approving the nuclear agreement, Reuters reported. “I'm quite confident of this because ... India has accepted these principles,” he said. The testing issue has emerged as a major obstacle in completion of the deal, according to Reuters. U.S. officials and experts have said that the deal does not require India to commit to stop testing, but gives the United States the right to stop cooperation if a test occurs. “If the Indians mean what they say (about not testing), they should have no quibble with this provision,” Kimball said. He added that if the administration backs away from this provision, “it would be giving India more favorable treatment.” Shinde said that the world supported the deal. “I think that in the course of time even the American senators, regardless of party, will [back the deal],” he said (Reuters II, New York Times, April 25). Elsewhere, the first senior-level nonproliferation talks between India and Japan are scheduled to begin Monday, Kyodo News reported. Such talks are expected to be conducted annually. The U.S.-Indian nuclear agreement is likely to be discussed, along with the status of India’s missile development and reductions of chemical and biological weapons. Japan is expected to ask India to step up its disarmament efforts, a Japanese official said (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, April 26).
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