As France moves closer to sealing contracts for new reactors with India, the US nuclear industry is being held back by a long dormant but newly important demand: that India be grant- ed the explicit right to reprocess US-origin nuclear fuel. The issue was punted during negotiations over the 123 nuclear cooperation agreement, but it was never far from the table, and now, while it dangles the promise of lucrative export contracts before the US industry, India's atomic energy establishment is determined to secure the same kind of privileges the US gov- ernment accords Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) members states such as Japan.
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