Warning that India-specific safeguards talks with International Atomic Energy Agency was very complex and tricky, a top nuclear specialist on Monday said the United States will be invoking provisions of their national laws as per the Hyde Act and the 123 agreement for inclusion through the nuclear watchdog.
The US will no doubt, during the negotiations, will be invoking through the IAEA the provisions of their national laws as per the Hyde Act and the 123 text for inclusion, former BARC director and senior consultant in the IAEA Dr A N Prasad told PTI from Bangalore.
Asked to amplify the complex and tricky nature of the negotiations, Prasad said: "IAEA has not approved standard safeguards model applicable to a non-NPT, NNWS (non-nuclear weapon state) with recognized nuclear weapons. IAEA will be breaking new ground for the first time and it will also be a challenge for India to arrive at an acceptable agreement protecting its long term interests, truly India-specific."
He said extreme caution and vigilance were needed at every step of negotiations.
"It will not only be complex but also tricky in view of its unique nature; extreme caution and vigilance need to be exercised at every step of the negotiations to evaluate every provision in the agreement, how they are worded and study their implication," Prasad said.
In this connection, Prasad recalled that in the past even less complex safeguards agreements have taken quite some time to finalize preceded by a number of drafts and series of meetings.
"It is, therefore, imperative that it is not at all wise to rush through a complex negotiation such as this to suit a particular time table in haste and miss out on some crucial points to suffer in the long run," he cautioned.
Asked about the key issues to be addressed in the safeguards agreement, Prasad said the exact parameters of the assurances of supply of nuclear fuel, matters relating to spent fuel reprocessing, supplier's right to ask for return of supplied materials and equipment as well as specific corrective measures in the context of perpetuity commitments need to be clearly spelt out as there is a lot of ambiguity in the 123 text on these issues.
Regarding the additional protocol, Prasad said since India will be implementing it for the first time without any previous experience and since it is bound to be intrusive, the agreed text should draw the line unambiguously as to so far and no further, which in itself will be quite challenging.
Agreeing with Prasad, former IAEA safeguard inspector Dr M R Iyer said: "The ball is in the IAEA court and India has to get maximum out of the negotiations and also be firm on certain things."
The onus is on the DAE team and other Indian negotiators to ensure that a blind endorsement of the present terms of the 123 agreement should not be allowed so that one set of shackles is not be replaced by another, Iyer added.
Meanwhile, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said India has to work out lots of details on the India-specific safeguards to enable international civilian nuclear cooperation and efforts are on to complete it as fast as possible.
"Lots of details have to be worked with the agency and will have to be done in a step by step fashion,"Kakodkar said.Kakodkar maintained that the India-specific safeguards are a very complex issue and the negotiators will not do anything that is not in the interest of the country.
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