"The recent talks between India and the United States on civilian nuclear energy failed to yield a result because New Delhi took a position that it would not place its fast breeder under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards," said senior analyst A.B. Mahapatra.

Mahapatra said the Indian department of atomic energy's argument failed to impress U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns during his talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

He said the department of atomic energy would have to reconsider its position or the July 18 nuclear agreement would be difficult to implement during U.S. President George W Bush's India visit in early March.

Burns visited India last week and held detailed discussions with Saran on the civilian nuclear deal.

"The two sides discussed India's plan to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities," said Indian Foreign Office spokesman Navtej Sarna.

During the talks, the U.S. delegation was not impressed with the Indian nuclear separation plan, which foreign secretary Saran had presented to Burns in Washington last year.

An unidentified government source said the U.S. delegation wanted India to include its fast-breeder program under international safeguards.

The Indian officials expressed their inability to do so, arguing the fast-breeder programs are in the research and development stage and could not be placed under any global safeguards.

"At this point, the two sides decided to continue dialogue," said a senior foreign ministry official.

At the beginning of his India tour, Burns said it was an enormous task for India to separate its civilian nuclear facilities. "And that is at the heart of these negotiations, and I will be getting into details of that with my friend Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran," said Burns.

The Indian department of atomic energy is opposed to including the fast-breeder program at southern Kalapakkam in the nuclear separation list.

"Since the breeder program -- the 40MWth Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalapakkam and the 500Mwe upcoming prototype Fast Breeder Reactor -- is still in the R&D phase, there is no need to bring it under safeguard," said Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Indian atomic energy commission.

"When the technology becomes mature, it is a different story," Kakodkar said.

India has an estimated total inventory of un-safeguarded plutonium stockpile of about 10 tons from reprocessing of the spent fuel from the pressurized heavy water reactors.

Atomic energy experts say if the PFBR is brought under international safeguards, this un-safeguarded plutonium will be released for weapon purposes because India will be able to buy plutonium anywhere.

The department of atomic energy has found it difficult to come up with a separation plan that would end India's energy quest.

"The department of atomic energy should be held responsible for failure of the latest round of Indo-U.S. dialogue on nuclear energy cooperation," said Mahapatra.

He said Indians do have a right to know about the nature of the country's fast-breeder program, whether it is civilian or military.

New Delhi's refusal to put the fast breeder under the international scanner shows it wants a peaceful facility with future military options.

"Separating civilian and military programs and making them both efficient has been a long-neglected national need," said an expert.

He said after taking the lion's share of the research and development allocations for nearly six decades, the department of atomic energy produces barely 3000MW of power.

Mahapatra said the atomic energy department has a bad habit of using its civilian program for military purposes.

India and the United States signed a civilian nuclear energy pact on July 18, 2005, under which Washington agreed to supply nuclear energy to India on the condition it would separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and put them under an international safeguard.

India agreed to, but has yet to come up with a complete and credible plan. Burns' second visit to India was also in connection with the nuclear separation plan.

"India is set to poke itself in the eye. If there is no progress in the negotiations before President Bush arrives here, India might as well forget about the nuclear deal," said C. Rajamohan, a strategic and nuclear expert of the Indian Express newspaper. He said the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal has entered a crisis phase.

"If the negotiations continue to go badly, the nuclear accord could become a mere historic footnote," Rajamohan said.

The Indian atomic energy department has come under sharp criticism by the domestic media that describes the department as a "big obstacle" in getting the nuclear deal through.

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