New Delhi's Nuclear Gains
by Kingston Reif [contact information]
by Leonor Tomero [contact information]
Letter to the Editor published in Wall Street Journal Asia on July 30, 2008
In "A Civil Nuclear Power" (July 21), M.R. Srinivasan makes a number of arguments about the U.S.-India nuclear deal that do not withstand close scrutiny.
First, on the issue of nuclear testing, there is nothing in either the India-specific safeguards agreement or the 123 agreement that says nuclear trade with India will cease if India conducts a nuclear test. Moreover, both agreements support India's efforts to develop a "strategic reserve" of nuclear fuel to guard against any disruption of supply, even if that disruption is caused by India's resumption of nuclear testing. These provisions fail to uphold key conditions of U.S. law contained in the Hyde Act that Congress passed in 2006.
Second, the claim that the deal would have no impact on India's nuclear weapons production capacity doesn't comport with the statements of key Indian officials. As a former head of India's National Security Advisory Board puts it, "it is to India's advantage to categorize as many power reactors as possible as civilian ones to be refueled by imported uranium and conserve our native uranium fuel for weapons grade plutonium production."
Finally, the deal will not help India meet its burgeoning energy needs. Even with the deal, nuclear power is not expected to exceed 8-9% of India's total electrical capacity through 2032. Instead the United States should encourage and assist India with efforts to burn coal more cleanly, devise better energy efficiency and conservation programs, modernize and expand its grid and develop decentralized renewable energy resource generation.
Kingston Reif and Leonor Tomero
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Washington
Kingston Reif 202-546-0795 x 2114 kreif@armscontrolcenter.org
Kingston Reif is the Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his work focuses on nuclear weapons, nonproliferation, and related national security issues. He previously worked at Medact in London while studying in the U.K. as a British Marshall Scholar. Reif holds degrees from Brown University, the London School of Economics, and the University of St. Andrews.
Leonor Tomero 202-546-0795 ext. 2104 ltomero@armscontrolcenter.org
Leonor Tomero is the Director for Nuclear Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where her work focuses on nonproliferation, nuclear weapons, nuclear reprocessing, North Korea, and nuclear terrorism. Tomero is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Law and Politics at Georgetown University. She has published letters and articles in the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, TomPaine.com, and Hartford Courant and is frequently quoted in national print, TV, and radio media.