UK offers nuclear know-how to India

Published on Wednesday 28 July 2010 15:46

BRITAIN is to attempt to tap into the multi-billion pound Indian nuclear power industry by exporting expertise and technology to the country for the first time.

•David Cameron offers a traditional Indian greeting from his car as he leaves a meeting in Bangalore with Britain's High Commissioner Sir Richard Stagg yesterday. Picture: Getty

In a move campaigners called "a complete disaster" that undermined the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Business Secretary Vince Cable said Britain would in future approve export licences for the technology in a bid to boost jobs and forge stronger trade links with the burgeoning Indian economy.

Previous UK administrations have resisted sharing the expertise with India, because it has not signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) that restricts the development of new nuclear weapons.

In reversing the policy, the UK government followed Russia and the US, which have already signed deals to develop nuclear power in India - in contravention of guidelines set down for the world's nuclear states.

The 46-strong Nuclear Suppliers' Group of countries - which includes the UK, the US and France - agreed in 1975 that commercial deals for civil nuclear power should not be struck with non-signatories amid concerns the technology might be used to develop weapons.

Those guidelines were altered in 2008 when the US - backed by Russia, France and Britain - lobbied for India to be exempted from the agreement so it could sign a major supply deal and benefit from the estimated 100bn expansion in the country's nuclear generation market.

Yesterday's announcement, which was made by Mr Cable as he joined Prime Minister David Cameron on a trade delegation to the sub-continent, paved the way for British firms such as Rolls Royce and Serco to help Indian industry develop its nuclear power capability.

Mr Cable said: "There are obvious security sensitivities. We are conscious of those, as are the Indians. But within those constraints we really want to push ahead with civil nuclear co-operation. That would be quite a big sector within which we could really make progress."

The announcement was greeted with dismay by anti-nuclear groups, who claimed that it undermined the NPT, which first came into force in 1970, and has since been ratified by 189 countries.

Kate Hudson, chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said: "This is a complete disaster for non- proliferation and disarmament efforts. India has refused to sign the nuclear NPT which governs practically all other states and doesn't even separate its civil and military nuclear programmes.

"Undermining international treaties and decades of British security policy to get access to contracts is low politics of the most grubby kind."

Doug Parr of Greenpeace said: "It is certainly undermining the move towards non-proliferation.It is essentially saying if you don't co-operate with the non-proliferation agreement, you can still get all the dubious benefits of being able to trade in nuclear materials and technology."

The SNP's energy spokesman, Mike Weir echoed their concerns, claiming the decision to share the expertise was "highly irregular".

"Not only does the decision undermine the integrity of the treaty, but it raises concerns about the separation of India's military and civil nuclear programmes," he said.

But the Foreign Office insisted the UK government had not given up hope of persuading India to sign the NPT and an agreement had been signed by India to ensure safeguards were placed on the use of the technology that would be monitored on a case-by-case basis.

Just hours after Mr Cable made the historic announcement, Mr Cameron stepped up his diplomatic charm offensive, calling for a new era of co-operation between the two countries and adding his voice to pressure for India to be granted a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The Prime Minister praised Indian involvement in UK motoring and steel industries and called on India to drop trade barriers in banking, insurance, defence manufacturing and legal services.