NSA spells it out: Fast breeder reactors not to be used for military purpose

Responding to a question at the Manama Dialogue,a regional security summit held annually by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies,on how India planned to build on its FBR programme when it had not been placed under IAEA safeguards in the Separation Plan,Narayanan said:

“The 2006 separation plan between India and the US,which has since been embedded in the IAEA safeguards agreement,refers to those items that are to be kept in the safeguarded category and a few in the non-safeguarded category. We had a long debate about our position on the fast-breeder reactor,and the Indian and US negotiators reached the point that the fast-breeder reactor was still in a very experimental stage. Therefore,it was not yet time to decide whether it should or should not go under safeguards. I want to underline the point that the fast-breeder reactor is not meant for military purposes. I think there was a reference to that. We have no intention for the fast-breeder reactor to be put into the military realm.”

It may be recalled that the FBR programme was the subject of intense negotiations between India and US during the n-deal talks. The Department of Atomic Energy had insisted that the programme be not brought under safeguards. This was among the biggest sticking points before US President George W Bush’s arrival in India in March 2006.

Washington,finally,did agree to keep the FBR programme out of the civilian list.

However,the Separation Plan does state that in case of future reactors,civilian fast breeder reactors will be placed under safeguards. At the same time,the document emphasizes that India “retains the sole right to determine such reactors as civilian”.

This ambiguity was intentionally put into the document given that India did not want the research facilities — Fast Breeder Test Reactor and Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor — located at Kalpakkam to come under safeguards. But it was believed that the decision for future FBRs should be left open until the reactors start rolling out,which is still a considerable time away.

Speaking at a session on Nuclear Power,Energy and Security,Narayanan brought up the FBRs in the context of addressing India’s power needs. He claimed that Indian nuclear scientists have calculated that the energy deficit of more than 400,000 MW by 2050 could be narrowed significantly.

“We have already passed many milestones on the way to this target. We have identified many of them and achieved several benchmarks. Our 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor is today in an advanced stage of construction…India’s experiment with fast breeder reactors and the use of the thorium cycle could prove extremely useful to ensure energy security in the future,” said Narayanan.

The NSA went on to elaborate on India’s plans in the Q&A session,making it clear that FBRs will not be used for making nuclear weapons. “We see the three-stage,close-fuel cycle of the pressurised heavy water reactor,the fast breeder and the thorium fuel as the hope of the future. Anybody who has some understanding of nuclear weapons would realise that you do not require the fast breeder to produce nuclear weapons.”

With US President Barack Obama looking to achieve an understanding on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty,India’s statement does provide confidence to the US ahead of the nuclear security summit at Washington in April. More so,India is still to conclude the reprocessing agreement with the US,which is vital for the Indian programme in the long term.