EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: INSTITUTE FOR

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 002743 SIPDIS SIPDIS USDOC FOR 532/HPC/L. HINES/L. LAUCIUS/JAY HATFIELD USDOC FOR 3131/USFCS/OIO/ANESA/KREISSL USDOC FOR 4530/MAC/ANESA/OSA ICE HQ FOR STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS STATE FOR EB/ESP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC ETRD BEXP IN SUBJECT: EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: INSTITUTE FOR PLASMA RESEARCH, GANDHINAGAR, GUJARAT, LICENSE NO. D366374 REF: USDOC 03245 ¶1. Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12(c) of the Export Administration Act. ¶2. Export Control Officer (ECO) Paul Cushman and BIS FSN Prem Narayan conducted a Post-shipment Verification (PSV) at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR),Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on June 8, 2007. ¶3. BIS requested a PSV at IPR, an autonomous physics research institute under GOI's Ministry of Science and Technology; Website: www.ipr.res.in. IPR was listed as the Ultimate Consignee for one model 722A absolute pressure transducer, 5000 torr range controlled under ECCN 2B230. The license applicant was MKS Instruments Inc. (MKS),Andover, MA. ¶4. ECO and FSN Narayan met with S.B. Bhatt (Bhatt),Scientist-SF, K.G.V. Nair, Project Purchase Officer, and D. Ramesh, Purchasing Officer. Prashant Agrawal (Agrawal),Under Secretary (AMS), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) facilitated the meeting. Agrawal was also present at the meeting. ¶5. IPR officials were aware of certain BIS export regulations. BIS New Delhi Team conducted a favorable PSV on February 2, 2007 for a different export license (D345371). MKS provided BIS export license conditions in writing to IPR prior to the shipment. The BIS Team received copies of the IPR Purchase Order, MKS Invoice, IPR End-Use Certificate, Form BIS-711, Air Waybill, Air Cargo Arrival Notice cum Invoice, Bill of Entry for Home Consumption, a receipt for Customs duties paid at the Indian port and delivery note of the shipping, clearing & forwarding agent. ¶6. Bhatt confirmed the stated end-use of the transducer. He stated that the transducer is installed in IPR's Aditya Tokamak Centre (Aditya). The transducer is used to measure pressure in a hydrogen reservoir that is used for basic research in plasma physics. Aditya is the first indigenously designed and built tokamak in India. It is a medium-sized tokamak and was commissioned in 1989. A tokamak is a type of experimental fusion reactor in which a spiral magnetic field inside a doughnut-shaped tube is used to confine the high temperature plasma produced during fusion. The objectives include studying the physics of the plasma processes in tokamak under steady state conditions and learning technology related to the steady state operation of the tokamak. The studies contribute to the tokamak physics database for very long pulse operations. Recently, IPR has upgraded the Aditya Tokamak. In the upgrading process, IPR replaced the MKS transducer of 1,000 kilotore with a MKS transducer of 5,000 kilotore. ¶7. ECO and Narayan were given a tour of the Aditya where the transducer on check is connected to the hydrogen reservoir. The BIS Team noted three different serial numbers of the transducer and its accessories as 74796772, 021488292, and CB2000S-2-M1. Oddly, the serial number on the main unit (021488292) appeared to have been hand-written. ECO questioned the scientists about the condition serial number. They stated that they had not altered or relabeled the serial number. They asserted that the serial number is in the same condition as it was when they received it. ¶8. Established in 1982, IPR is an autonomous physics research institute under the GOI's Ministry of Science and Technology. It is involved in the research of various aspects of plasma science including basic plasma physics, magnetically confined hot plasmas and plasma technologies for industrial applications. IPR is now internationally recognized for its contributions to fundamental and applied research in plasma physics and associated technologies. It has a scientific and engineering manpower of approximately 200 personnel with core competence in theoretical plasma physics, computer modeling, superconducting magnets, cryogenics, ultra-high vacuum, pulsed power, microwave and RF, computer-based control and data acquisition, and industrial, environmental and strategic plasma applications. ¶9. Recommendation: Post recommends Institute for Plasma Research as a reliable recipient of the controlled U.S.-origin commodity. All indications are that the listed commodity is being used in accordance with U.S. Export Administration Regulations. However, post recommends that agents from BIS's Boston Field Office follow-up with MKS regarding the condition of the serial number mentioned in paragraph 7. (PSCUSHMAN/PNARAYAN) Mulford