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Amending domestic law will not have bearing on US: scientist

New Delhi (PTI): As the government said it was open to the idea ofamending the domestic law to counter the impact of the US Hyde Acton the country's energy security, a top former nuclear scientist onSunday said it would have no influence on American actions in caseIndia conducted another nuclear test.

Maintaining that the Atomic Energy Act could certainly be amendedto ensure private participation in the nuclear power sector, formerAtomic Energy Commission Chairman P K Iyengar said in a statement"if we pass a law saying that we will retain the right to test, itwill have no influence on the actions of the US.

"If and when we test, they can simply quote the 123 Agreement andthe Hyde Act and pull out all their nuclear materials, leaving usdevastated."

Observing that many people including parliamentarians weresupporting the Indo-US nuclear deal due to certain"misconceptions", he said just as the Hyde Act was "not binding onus, our laws are not binding on the US".

"The only option here is to re-negotiate the 123 Agreement and havethe clause inserted there. However, the Americans are unlikely toagree to this, since it goes against their non-proliferationpolicy," Iyengar said, adding that India was not a signatory to theNon Proliferation Treaty. Top Stories