Speaker
Mr
K.L. Ramakumar
(Retiree from Department of Atomic Energy)
Description
India concluded a fresh safeguards agreement (INFCIRC/754) with IAEA in 2009. The safeguards agreement was the result of India’s reciprocal commitments in the India-US Joint statement of July 18, 2005. India’s commitments include, among others, “identifying and separating civilian and military nuclear facilities and programs in a phased manner and filing a declaration regarding its civilians facilities with the IAEA, taking a decision to place voluntarily its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, signing and adhering to an Additional Protocol with respect to civilian nuclear facilities.” It may be noted that there is no reference to “India-specific” safeguards agreement (ISSA) in the joint statement. India’s separation plan tabled in the Indian Parliament in 2006 had, for the first time, referred to the India-specific safeguards agreement (ISSA). Subsequently the phrase was included in the text of the India-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
As of 2018, 24 nuclear facilities are under IAEA safeguards including 6 fabrication facilities, one AFR, one SNM storage facility and 16 Thermal nuclear power plants. More than 70% of nuclear power generation is expected to be under IAEA safeguards as compared to 65% in 2014 demonstrating India’s non-proliferation credentials but also its commitment to meet its energy requirements through enhanced green energy production and reduction in carbon footprint. Another interesting point is nuclear power plants outside IAEA safeguards did not increase where as those under safeguards increased by 15%.
Prior to the 2009 agreement, India had a number of “item-specific” safeguards agreements with the IAEA, based on the model Docuent published as IAEA document INFCIRC/66. The safeguards agreement INFCIRC/754 is also INFCIRC/66 type agreement but with many additional features. Some of them are result of IAEA’s efforts to bring uniformity to subsidiary arrangements and structure and format for reporting requirements. Other features reflect India’s readiness to extend the provisions of INFCIRC/754 to previous safeguarded facilities. Further, India is the only INFCIRC/66 country with an additional protocol in force. This paper dwells on some of the important features of INFCIRC/754.
| Topics | CHA1 |
|---|---|
| Which "Key Question" does your Abstract address? | CHA1.3 |
| Which alternative "Key Question" does your Abstract address? (if any) | CHA1.2 |
Primary author
Mr
K.L. Ramakumar
(Retiree from Department of Atomic Energy)
