The Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, formally titled the Agreement for Cooperation Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of India Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, is a bilateral treaty that enables full civil nuclear energy cooperation between the two nations. It is commonly known as the 123 Agreement because it is mandated by Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
The agreement's origin lies in the July 18, 2005, joint statement by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush, which sought to end India's three-decade-long isolation from the international nuclear market following its 1974 nuclear test. The problem it solved was India's exclusion from global nuclear commerce, which was necessary to meet its growing energy deficit.
The mechanism required India to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and place the civilian ones under permanent safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In return, the U.S. agreed to work to adjust its laws and international regimes to allow nuclear trade with India. Key provisions of the 123 Agreement include cooperation in nuclear reactors and the associated nuclear fuel cycle, the transfer of nuclear material and technology, and the development of a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel for India's reactors. The agreement, which runs for 40 years and is extendable by 10 years, also grants India prior consent to reprocess U.S.-origin spent fuel in a dedicated national facility under IAEA safeguards. Crucially, the agreement was implemented after the U.S. Congress passed the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 (Hyde Act), which exempted the requirement of full-scope safeguards for India.
The agreement connects to the IAEA (through the India-specific safeguards agreement signed on February 2, 2009) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which granted India a waiver on September 6, 2008, allowing it to access global nuclear commerce despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
While the 123 Agreement itself has not been replaced, its commercial promise was initially stalled by India's Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010. Recently, India's new Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act (as of December 2025) has been introduced to reform the liability regime and open the nuclear power market to private players, which is seen as a significant step to fulfill the agreement's potential.