Russian nuclear exports: a new approach

The latest move by Russia to expand civilian atomic energy cooperation with India reflects a significant new approach in Moscow towards use of nuclear power and overcoming the associated risks of nuclear weapon proliferation. 

The Indo-Russian agreement on atomic energy cooperation signed during the recent visit of the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, is bound to face strong criticism from some of its Western partners, in particular the United States, in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. But the Russian decision appears to be part of a carefully-crafted nuclear initiative that was unveiled by Mr. Putin last month at the millennium summit of the United Nations. 

Two broad themes were highlighted by Mr. Putin. One is the importance of nuclear technology in the context of expanding global energy requirements and the concerns about ecological degradation arising from the excessive use of coal and some other carbon-based fuels. Russia is convinced that one of the best ways of dealing with global warming and the demand for cleaner environment is through increased use of nuclear power. 

Mr. Putin's second proposition challenges the orthodox view in the American arms control community that greater use of atomic energy will result in the spread of nuclear weapons. This belief has led to a spate of American domestic and international regulations that have inhibited the promotion of nuclear power and transfer of related technologies. 

The Russian President hit the nail upon the head, when he told the millennium summit that the ``policy of restrictions on nuclear technology transfers to other countries and enhanced international control proved to be insufficient to bar nuclear proliferation''. It is this important political recognition as well as the imperatives of commercialising its domestic civilian nuclear programme which have encouraged Russia to decide on an expansion of its nuclear exports. 

Mr. Putin's new approach to nuclear non-proliferation has been driven by the dynamic Russian Minister for Atomic Energy, Mr. Evgeni Adamov, who has come up with very interesting ideas that are in tune with India's own approach to nuclear issues. 

Mr. Adamov understands the public acceptance of nuclear power has gone down considerably over the years. Therefore, he is urging international cooperation to develop innovative designs of nuclear power plants that are safer than the present generation and deal more effectively with the problem of nuclear waste management. 

Besides addressing the safety and environmental aspects of nuclear power. Mr. Adamov is also taking head-on the non- proliferation concerns arising out of the perceived link between civilian nuclear power programmes and the manufacture of atomic weapons. 

At the recent annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mr. Adamov pointed to the new technologies that allow the creation of an ``inherently safe'' and ``proliferation- resistant'' civilian nuclear power programmes. 

Many countries, cutting across the North-South and East West barriers, are interested in collaborative international efforts to develop and promote such technologies. The IAEA itself is considering a proposal to set up a task force on the ``Role of Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles for Sustainable Development.'' 

But there is no question that the Russian proposals will run into rough weather with the arms control and environmental groups in the U.S. The essential difference between the Russian ideas backed by a number of countries and the dominant nuclear thinking in the U.S. is centered around one question: How best to dispose of plutonium? 

As part of their bilateral arms control initiatives, Russia and the U.S. have agreed to release what they call ``excess'' plutonium from their dismantled nuclear weapons. Plutonium is also being generated by many countries by reprocessing spent fuel from civilian nuclear reactors. 

The American preference is for ``immobilising'' the plutonium from the excess stocks and bury it as waste. They would also like to see an end to reprocessing of spent fuel to produce new plutonium that can be used in weapons. 

The Russians are taking an entirely different view. They believe the best way to deal with plutonium is to burn it in civilian nuclear reactors. Russia is also for reprocessing the waste from civilian reactors and recycle the extracted plutonium as fuel for the reactors. 

Such an approach, Moscow argues, will put the energy embedded in plutonium to productive use. Russia also suggests that the extraction and recycling of plutonium will make the reactor waste less useful for weapons and less-threatening environmentally. 

Russian scientists argue that storing plutonium as waste now always leaves the temptation to reclaim it for weapons purposes in future. But recycling it, they insist, will reduce the risks of proliferation and make the waste disposal more manageable. 

The principal argument against selling nuclear reactors to nations like India has been that the plutonium generated from them can be put to making nuclear weapons. Russia is now offering a serious and credible way to get around the problem and facilitate greater international cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy. 

India which has strongly backed this new Russian approach needs to debate the merits of recycling plutonium in a non- confrontational manner with the skeptics in the U.S. and parts of northern Europe. 

It is possible for India to generate considerable support from the nuclear industry worldwide, including in the U.S. An Indian campaign on this issue could also be the first step towards rethinking the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and making it more credible. By K. K. Katyal