The proposed Indo-US nuclear deal would elevate India’s strategic profile internationally and in the long-term result in many new nuclear power plants.
NEW DELHI: The proposed Indo-US nuclear deal would elevate India’s strategic profile internationally and in the long-term result in many new nuclear power plants in the country but the immediate gains would only be fuel for the Tarapore nuclear plant.
Dr P K Iyengar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, says, “What would happen when Bush is here is probably is that he may offer fuel for continuing the operations of Tarapore.”
But the real immediate impact of the deal would be on the international profile of India. For all these years India, Pakistan and Israel were at par: clandestine nuclear weapon states not recognised by the international community as such.
“Now the US is saying, ‘We won’t give these benefits to them. The exception is only in your case’,” points out G Balachandran, a leading expert on nuclear issues.
To gain full advantage of the Indo-US nuclear deal, another unprecedented agreement would be signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Though IAEA deal wouldn’t recognise India as a weapons state, it would place the country in a unique place between those using nuclear energy for just peaceful means and nuclear weapons states.
Once the deal comes through, India would get access to civilian nuclear technology including reactors, fuel for them etc. But reactors take years to be built.
So in the long term, India could witness new civilian nuclear plants built by companies like GE, French giant Areva etc.
Market estimates indicate that up to 30 nuclear plants would be built in India, which could make India world’s biggest market for nuclear technology. This could in turn reduce India’s dependence on imported oil for energy.
Dr A Gopalakrishnan, former chairman, Department of Atomic Energy, says the Indian scientific community is in favour of an incremental movement forward on the entire nuclear issue because it should not be detrimental to indigenous research and development and weapons programme.
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