The next step to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal will probably be taken in Vienna in September when Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar raises issues related to India-specific safeguards with the officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Kakodkar will be in Vienna between September 17 and 21 to participate in the 51st general conference of the IAEA.

Sources said that the government had given him the “green signal” to discuss these safeguards with IAEA officials on the sidelines of the conference.

Though the IAEA general conferences are regular affairs and many top Indian nuclear scientists, including Kakodkar, have attended it in the past, this time the meeting assumes special significance in the backdrop of the Indo-USA civilian nuclear deal. Scientists in the Department of Atomic Energy and IAEA have been in constant touch over the last two years and there are chances of finalising the safeguards during the September conference or just after it.

The chances are strong because India-specific safeguards have to be in place before moving on to the next step of obtaining the approval from the NSG, which is likely to meet in October.

Originally scheduled to take place in September, NSG has now postponed its autumn meeting by a month, presumably, to provide breathing space to India. In the autumn meeting South Africa will hand over the NSG chairmanship to Germany.