THE TRIP TO HEAVEN

Adrija Bhattacharyya

 

A long time ago, there lived a lovely family. In the family, there were three members - mom, dad, and  Varsha, 7 years old, who was in 3rd grade. She loved her grandmother a lot. After 3 years, Varsha turned 10 and she suddenly lost her grandmother due to her old age. Whenever she tucked herself into bed, she used to miss her grandmother, who used to keep her close to herself and share lots of interesting stories. To ease her pain, she decided to write her thoughts in a diary. One day while she was writing, she felt as if she was entering a black-hole and she was extremely scared to dive in but gravity pulled her inside it. When she reached inside the black-hole there was no sign of any pain inside her. It felt like she was surrounded by clouds as fluffy and misty as cotton candy. She heard a familiar voice coming closer as it grew louder and louder. Her heart wanted to follow the path told by the voice because she could now discern that this voice was no one else but her grandmother. Awestruck, she gasped, "Grandma, grandma, where am I?". Grandmother replied, "You are in heaven, my child". The girl was confused. Are you dead or am I back on planet Earth? Grandmother replied, "Darling, you are not dead, you are in heaven, you are in your dreams and I wanted to connect with you! You were in pain, as I could see. Please, don't be upset as I am always there with you in your thoughts and I will always watch over you. Even though I am not physically there with you. "

At last, I felt like I was falling out of the black-hole but guess what? I fell down from my bed. She was late for lunch and while she was rushing she slipped and reached for the treasure that her grandmother left for her. She found so many letters, she couldn't believe her eyes. After this day, she was no longer unhappy rather she spread joy everywhere. She enjoyed sharing stories about her beloved grandmother with everyone around her. Eventually, this girl published her grandmother's stories as well.

Nuclear deal and India

"The 40-year civilian nuclear agreement will put severe constraints on our independent foreign policy given the approach of the United States as reflected in the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement. India is sought to be bound to the United States strategic designs through the nuclear deal. ", - CPIM press release; This is a very harsh comment about Nuclear deal by communists in India and you will probably understand why this is a harsh comment after going through this article.
One fact ---- China is also member of IAEA and have 123 agreement with USA. Fact is that our 123 agreement is far better than CHINA 123 agreement.( refer .. details of this article, refer P1.11)

Salient points of nuclear deal :
1. Inda is part of the deal without signing NPT (no other country has done this) (refer details below, P1.10 )
2. Promise of continues nuclear fuel supply.
3. Reprocessing of fuel.( only Japan and European Atomic Energy Community have this right)
4. Theoretically, this deal has nothing to do with our military nuclear program.
5. India can build a strategic fuel reserve to tide over the disruption.
6. We will get cutting edge technology (refer details below).
7. Hyde act is overridden ( controversial issue - refer details below, P1.12 ).
8. India can do this types of deal with other nuclear supplier group/countries also.

Please read technical details of the article below.

I completed engineering in 2002 didn’t get any job because of economy slowdown. First time actually felt that unemployment is the curse for society. Nuclear deal may solve the power problem and it also enriches us with related technology. India is already IT hub; such deals are a step to become technology hub. Today globalization is inevitable. If we divide the world then there are three types of countries. They are capitalist, socialist and Muslim world. I think no Indian wants to be a part of Muslim world. Socialist world consist of few countries like China, North Korea, Cuba etc. But China is the active part of the capitalist world and N.Korea, Cuba are isolated countries. So we have only one choice to become the part of capitalistic world. Capitalistic world is defined by USA, European union, Japan, China etc. They are all the members of IAEA and 123 agreement. Yes, I agree that this deal may control some of the policies, but 21st century will be century of global economy. We will be the part of that economy and it is obvious and we have no other way to choose. This deal dosen’t restrict us upto nuclear energy; we are free to explore other source of energies. We can take number of measures to ensure the development of defense nuclear program. Our country is not like Pakistan, Iran or Afganistan. Our main aim is development and not to build nuclear bombs.

Enriched technology and employed youth will be our asset and growth story of India.

- - - - - - - INSIDE NUCLEAR DEAL => - - - - - - -

Nuclear deal has two main components -
1. safeguard agreement of IAEA
2. 123 agreement with USA.

1. Safeguard agreement of IAEA
Lets first try to analyze what is Safeguard agreement of IAEA. IAEA is the organization of nuclear supplier and consumer group. If any country wants to be a consumer or supplier of nuclear reactor, they must be the member of IAEA. IAEA supports only civilian nuclear Program. If a country wants to be member of IAEA, it must differentiate between defense & civil nuclear nuclear program. So basic assumption of IAEA is
IAEA Agreement – (from IAEA India specific clauses)
1. India undertakes that none of the items subject to this Agreement, as defined in paragraph 11, shall be used for the manufacture of any nuclear weapon or to further any other military purpose and that such items shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not be used for the manufacture of any nuclear explosive device.

2. The Agency undertakes to apply safeguards, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, to the items subject to this Agreement, as defined in paragraph 11, so as to ensure, as far as it is able, that no such item is used for the manufacture of any nuclear weapon or to further any other military purpose and that such items are used exclusively for peaceful purposes and not for the manufacture of any nuclear explosive device."

After being the member of IAEA India can choose any supplier country (like German, Russia etc.) as well as can supply reactor to any other country. (P1.10) India’s topmost achievement about this deal is that India didn’t sign NPT and CTBT. NPT and CTBT are the deals which directly control defense nuclear programe. Almost all IAEA members have signed NPT and CTBT. So theoretically India can build own civilian nuclear plant without compromising military nuclear program. IAEA has given the right to India to define which nuclear reactors should be open for inspection. India has announced its nuclear facilities separation plan in March 2008 where eight plants were declared out of safeguards (may be used for R&D and other military purposes) and 14 were clubbed as civilian which stand for IAEA inspection. IAEA gives us India specific deal. China is also member of IAEA and have 123 agreement with USA. Fact is that our 123 agreement is far better than CHINA 123 agreement.

123 Agreement (P1.11)
India has chosen USA as nuclear supplier group. In addition, we can make a deal with another countries for nuclear trade.
The nuclear agreement between USA and India is called as 123 agreement.
Let us look as some features of 123 agreements -----------

• 123 agreement dosen't violate anything of IAEA safeguard agreement.


• First, and most contentious, was the right of India to reprocess spent fuel. (only Japan and European Atomic Energy Community has this right. China can reprocess this fuel but it requires approval from USA. )


• In case of China, US has agreed to supply only as much fuel as is necessary "for the efficient and continuous operation of the reactors" (Article 4.3, US- China deal text). In India's case, the US has gone far beyond such an arrangement and agreed to help India build a strategic fuel reserve to tide over the disruption,


• In case of disruption/emergency despite these measures, the US will assist India to obtain nuclear fuel from friendly countries (Article 5.6 b. Indo –US deal). Apparently India insisted on this provision because of its bad experience with the disruption of supplies for the Tarapore reactor when the US imposed sanctions on India in accordance with its domestic laws after India conducted its nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998. This concession goes well beyond the Hyde Act (interal US Government foreign policy rule) that had stipulated that the supply of fuel should be consistent with the requirement.


• Even on the issue of the right to terminate the agreement, the 123 accord with India stands out as an agreement between co-equals while the 123 with China smacks of US dominance. Though consultations are mentioned, in the case of China the agreement states that if either party violates its terms, the other party shall have the right to cease further cooperation (Article 7.1). Such termination could be immediate. In the case of the 123 with India, besides mandatory consultations about violations, termination requires one year's written notice and the reasons for seeking such termination are to be spelt out (Article 14.1). Also, either party will consider whether expedient factors, particularly national security concerns, led to violation of the terms of the agreement (Article 14.2).
  
• Hyde act:(P1.12)
  Hyde act is the key concern of India. Hyde Act is the legal framework for a bilateral pact between the United States and India under which the US will provide access to civilian nuclear technology and access to nuclear fuel in exchange for IAEA safeguards on civilian Indian reactors. This act provides the legal basis for a 123 Agreement with India. The 123 Agreement requires approval from US Congress as well as Indian Cabinet. It will define the exact terms and conditions for bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation. Signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are granted access to civilian nuclear technology from each other as well as nuclear fuel via the Nuclear Suppliers Group in exchange for International Atomic Energy Agency-verified compliance of the NPT tenets. India, Israel, and Pakistan, however, have not signed the NPT, arguing that instead of addressing the central objective of universal and comprehensive non-proliferation, the treaty creates a club of "nuclear haves" and a larger group of "nuclear have-nots" by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967. This Act provides the legal basis for the 123 Agreement with India, even though the provisions of both the acts are not entirely similar. It was necessary to pen down this Act because under the US Atomic Energy Act, it cannot have nuclear cooperation with a country that is not a signatory of the Non Proliferation Treaty. The Hyde Act enables US to sign a pact with India, which hasn't signed the NPT. The contentious point in the Act is that it calls for India to work with the US to contain Iran's nuclear programme. While the government claims this is not binding, further clarifications are sought.
  
  However this act has potential to control India’s foreign policies. Though USA has already given assurance that it will take into account the circumstances in which India conducts a nuclear test. These include a ''changed security environment'' or action, which could impact national security. Essentially what it boils down to is that the right of return may not be invoked if Pakistan or China conduct nuclear tests and India responds to that by conducting a test of its own. In a way, this is the first international agreement, which would justify the circumstances in which a nuclear test is conducted. India’s ruler party demand that 123 agreements override hyde act however it is a matter of debate.
  What we gain from this deal:
• Continuous reactor supply to nuclear power plant.
• And Technology----------- Information concerning the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes may be transferred between the Parties.
• Transfer of information may be accomplished through reports, data banks and computer programs and any other means mutually agreed to by the parties. Fields that may be covered include, but shall not be limited to, the following -
• Research, development, design, construction, operation, maintenance and use of reactors, reactor experiments, and decommissioning;
• The use of nuclear material in physical, chemical, radiological and biological research, medicine, agriculture and industry.
• Fuel cycle activities to meet future world-wide civil nuclear energy needs, including multilateral approaches to which they are parties for ensuring nuclear fuel supply and appropriate techniques for management of nuclear wastes.
• Advanced research and development in nuclear science and technology.
• Health, safety, and environmental considerations related to the . foregoing.
• Assessments of the role nuclear power may play in national energy plans.
• Codes, regulations and standards for the nuclear industry.
• Research on controlled thermonuclear fusion including bilateral activities and contributions toward multilateral projects such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER);
• Any other field mutually agreed to by the Parties.
  

- - - - - - - - - - - - - Thats all about the deal ! ! ! - - - - - - - - - -