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India, U.S. close to finalizing nuclear cooperation deal

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India and the United States said they had made significant progress on a major agreement in the sphere of civilian nuclear cooperation after four days of intensive negotiations that ended Friday in Washington.
NEW DELHI, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - India and the United States said they had made significant progress on a major agreement in the sphere of civilian nuclear cooperation after four days of intensive negotiations that ended Friday in Washington.

"We had a constructive and positive discussion," both sides said in a statement. "We will now refer the issue to our governments for final review."

Last year, Congress approved the Hyde Act, which allows the U.S. to supply civilian nuclear fuel to India, but talks to coordinate technical details on an overall cooperation plan have been dragging for months without a breakthrough.

The statement provided no details of the latest deal, but some media reports suggested that the U.S. promised uninterrupted supplies of fuel to 14 civilian nuclear plants in India and accepted New Delhi's initiative to build a special storage for spent nuclear fuel in the country.

The U.S. has been previously reluctant to allow India, which is not officially recognized as a nuclear power and has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, reprocess spent fuel with U.S. components in concern over its possible use for military purposes.

Meanwhile, New Delhi believes that Washington's position violates its sovereign right to develop nuclear energy and threatens India's energy security.

The deal, if it goes through, would give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and reactors, but the two countries still have to obtain an approval by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a conglomerate of countries that export nuclear material.

India also must reach a non-proliferation safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN nuclear watchdog.

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