Sections 2.2 (e), 4.1, 5.6, 14.5, and 14.8 deal with various dimensions of fuel supply guarantees. They fully commit the US to help India develop a “strategic reserve” of nuclear fuel for the entire lifetime of the reactors. The US also promises to “create conditions” for India’s “assured and full access” to the international fuel market.

Unlike the non-binding provisions of the Hyde Act, which urges Washington to limit India’s access to fuel supplies from other countries in the event of a termination of the bilateral agreement, the 123 Agreement places no such restrictions.

It also ensures that the US commitment to facilitate fuel supplies is absolute and is not defined by the circumstances of the termination of the bilateral agreement.

Section 5.6 (b) (iv) of the 123 Agreement states: “If despite these arrangements, a disruption of fuel supplies to India occurs, the United States and India would jointly convene a group of friendly supplier countries to include countries such as Russia, France and the United Kingdom to pursue such measures as would restore fuel supply to India.”

No bilateral agreement in recent memory has so many layers of redundancy written into it. If all fails, an extreme contingency, India will also have the right for “corrective measures” under Article 5.6 (c).

3

Right to reprocess spent fuel: Is India permitted to reprocess the waste material from imported reactors and convert it into fuel for fast breeder reactors?

Yes. Section 6 (iii) of the Agreement concedes New Delhi’s unambiguous right to reprocess spent fuel — a key element of India’s three-stage civilian nuclear programme.

... contd.