India & Nuclear Materials Security Index

In the 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Index , India has been ranked 23rd out of 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials. India received 41 out of 100 points, which is improvement by one point from the 2012 score.  The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) said this improvement reflects India’s first contribution to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund , international legal commitments, having signed and ratified the Conventional on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and its 2005 Amendment, as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. And for implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution. “Overall, however, India’s score remains low”. For comparison, China received 64 points and has been ranked at 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22nd place.

v Weak Regulations that are written as guidance rather than as requirements;

v Increasing Quantities of Weapons-Usable Uuclear Materials for both civilian and military use

v Gaps in its Regulatory Structure such as a lack of an independent regulatory agency.

v High levels of Corruption which undermine confidence in implementation or enforcement of security measures and also increase the risk that officials may contribute to the theft of nuclear material are also among the factors.

India’s existing regulations could be strengthened by taking a more prescriptive approach to security measures rather than simply recommending security measures. India’s nuclear materials security conditions could be improved by strengthening its laws and regulations for mitigating the insider threat, for the control and accounting of nuclear materials, and for the physical security of materials during transport.

Because the potential for theft increases with higher quantities of materials, the NTI Index report recommends that states commit to no net increases of weapons-usable materials and to using existing materials before producing new materials. India’s continuing production of weapons-usable nuclear materials means that it is increasing, not decreasing, its stocks.