India strengthens its nuclear export norms.

New Delhi: India has strengthened its nuclear export norms by updating a list of dual-use technologies to align it with globally acceptable standards as the country seeks to boost its chances to gain entry into four international export control regimes for weapons and nuclear technology.

India had also placed 12 nuclear plants and seven other installations under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards according to a commitment made by the country to separate its civil and military units, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai said on Wednesday. India has put the nuclear plants under international watch in return for the removal of a 34-year-old embargo against international nuclear commerce.

Mathai spoke at a press conference with visiting IAEA chief Yukiya Amano in New Delhi where he stressed India’s commitment “to continuous improvement and innovation in nuclear safety standards and practices to maintain public confidence in nuclear power as a clean and safe energy source”.

“As a major nuclear industry country with the capability to produce all items for a complete nuclear fuel cycle, India is committed to maintaining the highest export control standards.

I am happy to announce that the national SCOMET (special chemicals, organisms, materials, equipment and technologies) list has been updated to be on par with the current Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) lists.

In some respects, our controls are more stringent than those practised by the NSG and MTCR,” Mathai said. The list would be notified soon, he said.

India has been seeking full membership to the NSG, MTCR, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement. Membership of these groups will allow the country entry into the mainstream of decision making rather than being kept on the margins of global rule making on such issues as export controls and non-proliferation.

The NSG is a group of countries that controls global nuclear commerce. MTCR is an informal and voluntary association of countries that share the goals of non-proliferation of unmanned delivery systems for weapons of mass destruction.
 
The Wassenaar Arrangement aims to promote transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies while the Australia Group is a forum of countries that aims to harmonize export controls to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.


Amano, on his part, said India had briefed him on steps to improve safety of nuclear power plants in India.

Safety of nuclear power plants was brought to the fore by the March 2011 accident in Japan’s Fukushima atomic plant in which a reactor crippled by a tsunami resulted in partial meltdowns in several units and spilling radioactive particles into the air and sea nearby.

On Iran’s talks with the IAEA on its clandestine nuclear programme, Amano said his agency could assure the international community that “everything is for peaceful purposes”.

“I firmly believe that the solution should be through diplomatic means and dialogue...Unfortunately, we have not yet reached agreement and as a consequence no concrete result has been achieved. This is not a good situation,” he said, adding that he would “continue the dialogue with Iran and hope that we can report positive results through our next meeting in June”.

Source : livemint.com