No Nuclear Deal!
- by: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
- recipient: U.S. Congress; Senate Foreign Relations Committee; House International Relations Committee
President Bush has proposed sweeping exemptions from US nuclear trade law, practice, and non-proliferation laws in order to provide nuclear technology and fuel to India, even though India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has conducted nuclear test explosions.
This could a set a dangerous precedent and severely damage the NPT. With the importation of nuclear fuel, India could use its uranium reserves to increase its nuclear weapons output.
The US should not expand nuclear trade with any state if it comes at the expense of efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.
Congress can still make changes to the deal, however. Congress should establish a set of tough, but reasonable conditions that a non-NPT country must meet to become eligible for civilian nuclear trade with the United States. These include halting the production of highly enriched uranium and stopping the separation of plutonium for nuclear weapons, making a binding commitment not to conduct nuclear tests, accepting IAEA full-scope safeguards on all nuclear facilities and materials, and maintaining a strong export control system.
Tell Congress and key decision makers to say "No" to breaking the nonproliferation rules upon which our security depends.
This could a set a dangerous precedent and severely damage the NPT. With the importation of nuclear fuel, India could use its uranium reserves to increase its nuclear weapons output.
The US should not expand nuclear trade with any state if it comes at the expense of efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.
Congress can still make changes to the deal, however. Congress should establish a set of tough, but reasonable conditions that a non-NPT country must meet to become eligible for civilian nuclear trade with the United States. These include halting the production of highly enriched uranium and stopping the separation of plutonium for nuclear weapons, making a binding commitment not to conduct nuclear tests, accepting IAEA full-scope safeguards on all nuclear facilities and materials, and maintaining a strong export control system.
Tell Congress and key decision makers to say "No" to breaking the nonproliferation rules upon which our security depends.
Dear Senators and Representatives,
I am writing to ask you to please oppose nuclear trade with India.
[your comment here]
On July 18, 2005, US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a new deal to allow the resumption of full civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries for the first time since India improperly used US nuclear material for its 1974 bomb test. The US should strengthen ties with India through expanded cooperation in trade and human development, scientific and medical research, energy technology, and humanitarian relief, but the US should not expand nuclear cooperation with any state if it comes at the expense of efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.
If the deal is approved in its current form by Congress and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, it could severely damage the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the nonproliferation regime. India has refused to sign the NPT, has detonated nuclear bombs, and refuses to accept full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards over all of its nuclear facilities. As a result, India does not qualify for full civil nuclear cooperation under existing US laws and global nuclear export regulations. India also refuses to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and stop the production of fissile material for its expanding nuclear arsenal.
Even if India agrees to meaningful safeguards on its "civilian" facilities, US nuclear aid would free up India's existing capacity to produce highly enriched uranium and plutonium for weapons. According to Indian nuclear hawk K. Subrahmanhyan, in order to expand Indias nuclear arsenal, it should "categorize as many reactors as possible as civilian" to facilitate foreign refueling and conserve India's scarce "native uranium fuel for weapons-grade plutonium production."
Weakening existing US nonproliferation laws in order to facilitate the US-Indian nuclear deal will have negative security impacts for the America and undermine global nonproliferation efforts.
Congress should establish a set of tough, but reasonable conditions that a non-NPT country must meet to become eligible for civilian nuclear trade with the United States. These include halting the production of highly enriched uranium and stopping the separation of plutonium for nuclear weapons, making a binding commitment not to conduct nuclear tests, accepting IAEA full-scope safeguards on all of its nuclear facilities and materials, and maintaining a strong export control system.
Please just say "No" to breaking the nonproliferation rules upon which our security depends.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
[your name]
[your address]
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