U.S., India agree on nuclear-fuel reprocessing

NEW DELHI — India and the United States announced Monday the successful conclusion of negotiations granting rights to India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, a key step to opening nuclear commerce between the two countries potentially worth billions of dollars.

The reprocessing accord is part of the historic civilian nuclear-energy agreement that ended more than three decades of nuclear isolation for India by facilitating its access to nuclear fuel and technology, even though it has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The agreement, negotiated over more than nine months, lays out conditions to safeguard against the diversion of U.S. nuclear fuel into India's weapons program.

The U.S. State Department and India's Department of Atomic Energy released a short statement announcing the deal. U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer said it was "part of the great, win-win narrative of the U.S.-India global partnership."

Although the nuclear deal was signed in 2008 and two sites have been identified by India for U.S. reactors, no American company has signed contracts. India has yet to pass a controversial nuclear-liability law and give a letter of assurance on nonproliferation, a licensing requirement that governs all commercial nuclear exports. Meanwhile India has signed deals with state-owned French and Russian nuclear companies.

Monday's announcement comes just two weeks before the Obama administration is to host an international summit on nuclear security.

An important element of the deal is that the reprocessing will not be monitored by the United States directly, but by the nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, according to a source in the U.S. nuclear industry.

"Indians did not want direct American oversight with an American flag on them. It is a symbolic, sovereignty issue for Indians," said an industry source, who is familiar with the negotiations.

Many nonproliferation advocates have expressed concern that India may reprocess the imported fuel to extract plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs.

"At a time when nuclear terrorism and proliferation concerns are only increasing, the United States should be doing everything it can to stop existing reprocessing, not facilitate more," said Edward Lyman, an expert on nuclear proliferation at the Union of Concerned Scientists.