India, US sign pact to reprocess N-fuel
India and the US have signed an agreement on reprocessing of American nuclear spent fuel by India, marking the final steps in terms of implementation of the landmark civil nuclear deal between the two countries.
Upon entry into force, the arrangements and procedures will enable reprocessing by India of the US obligated nuclear material at a new national reprocessing facility to be established by India, dedicated to the reprocessing of safeguarded nuclear material under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
The agreement in this regard was signed Friday by US undersecretary of state for political affairs Bill Burns and Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the state department.
“This arrangement, negotiated and concluded under US President Obama, reflects the administration’s strong commitment to building successfully on the landmark US-India civil nuclear cooperation initiative and is a prerequisite for US nuclear fuel suppliers to conduct business with India,” the state department said in a statement.
The Indian embassy said signing of the agreement is a significant step which highlights the strong relationship and growing cooperation between the two countries. It enables reprocessing by India of US-obligated nuclear material under IAEA safeguards.
“With this we have taken another significant step forward in the implementation of our bilateral agreement for cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy,” Ms Shankar said in her remarks on the occasion. —PTI
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