India, US sign n-reprocessing agreement

India and the United States have concluded a nuclear fuel reprocessing agreement, the Obama administration announced in Washington on Monday.

The agreement, a key step in full realization of the US-India nuclear deal, will enable Indian reprocessing of US-obligated nuclear material under IAEA safeguards, the administration said in a statement.

Disclosing that the two sides have "taken an important step toward implementing civil nuclear cooperation by completing negotiations on 'arrangements and procedures' for reprocessing US-origin spent nuclear fuel, the statement by the US State Department and the Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said, "completion of these arrangements will facilitate participation by US firms in India’s rapidly expanding civil nuclear energy sector."

Safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will now govern Indian reprocessing of “U.S.-obligated nuclear material.” The reprocessing arrangements were negotiated pursuant to Article 6(iii) of the U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation agreement, also known as the “123 agreement”.

The statement by the DAE added that negotiations on reprocessing arrangements and procedures had commenced in July 2009, and were concluded with the last round of negotiations held in New Delhi during March 2-4, 2010.

- Asian Tribune -