4. As regards the right to reprocess spent fuel, India's standpoint has been accepted and incorporated into the 123 agreement, with the proviso that India will establish a separate re-processing facility and that re-processing will be carried out under IAEA safeguards. However, a similar concession for China is tied up in so much red tape that it is unlikely to ever work out. The US has only "agreed to consider favorably" a Chinese request to be allowed to reprocess spent fuel. The agreement clearly states that the US retains the right to approve or disapprove such a request. Given the cumbersome procedures in the Department of State and the Department of Energy, the consideration of a Chinese request could take several years and the final decision may still not be favorable.
5. On fuel supply assurances as well there are glaring disparities between what has been agreed upon by the US with China and with India. In the case of China, the US has agreed to supply only as much fuel as is necessary "for the efficient and continuous operation of the reactors" (Article 4.3). 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, if any, of fuel supplies over the life cycle of the reactors (Article 2.2 e).
