No caps on nuclear deterrence: PM

We decide which are civilian reactors, says Manmohan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured Parliament that there will be no capping of future strategic capability under the civilian nuclear deal with the US but all future civilian fast breeder and heavy water reactors will be placed under safeguards, meaning, they will be open to IAEA scrutiny .

The prime minister, taking the House into confidence about the plan to separate military and civilian nuclear facilities, said 14 thermal power reactors out of 22 would be put under safeguards between 2006 and 2014, up from 19 per cent at present to 65 per cent by 2014.

"The choice of specific nuclear reactors and the phases in which they will be placed under safeguards is an Indian decision", he said.

According to the plan, India will not accept safeguards on the prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) and the fast breeder test reactor (FBTR), both located at Kalpakkam. The fast breeder programme is at the R&D stage.

"We do not wish to place any encumbrances on our fast breeder programme," Singh said. However, all future civilian thermal power reactors and civilian breeder reactors will be put under safeguards.

"The government of India retains the sole right to determine such reactors as civilian. This means India will not be constrained in any way in building future nuclear facilities, whether civilian or military, as per its national requirements", he said.

Singh said the CIRUS reactor would be permanently shut down in 2010 and as Apsara had a fuel core that was purchased from France, it would be moved out of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai.

"We have decided to take these steps rather than allow intrusive inspections in a nuclear facility of high national security importance", Singh said, indicating that Apsara would become a military facility.

Referring to one of the biggest concerns of the scientific community that reprocessing and enrichment capabilities and other facilities associated with the fuel cycle for the strategic programme must be protected, the prime minister said these had been kept out of the plan.

The plan addresses another important concern - that there should be perpetuity of fuel supplies, given India's dependence on imported fuel. According to the prime minister, the US has promised to sign a bilateral treaty for supply of nuclear fuel and has promised to get the Nuclear Suppliers' Group to adjust its policies, especially as India has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In addition, there would be India-specific safeguards against withdrawal of safeguarded nuclear material from civilian use at any time.

They would also permit India to take corrective measures to ensure uninterrupted operation of its civilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies, the prime minister said.

He said the separation would not result in capping of strategic programme as it took into account stocks of fissile material based on our assessment of threat scenarios.

"No constraint has been placed on our right to construct new facilities for strategic purposes", he said, adding the deal did not place any restriction on the future use of thorium reserves.

He urged the MPs to look beyond strategic concerns and view the pact in the perspective of India's current and future energy requirements. He said nuclear energy was currently just three per cent of India's energy resource and given mounting prices of oil and fossil fuel and increase in emission levels, a bigger role for nuclear energy was needed. He lauded the launch of the knowledge initiative in agriculture to link Indian universities, technical institutions and businesses for agricultural education.

"We are hopeful that the initiative will become the harbinger of a second Green Revolution in our country", Singh said.

The agreement will be discussed in Parliament before it breaks up for recess on March 22.