WASHINGTON - An influential American newspaper Thursday published a report that questioned the adequacy and implementation of India's export control and nuclear classification procedures, saying that sensitive nuclear blueprints were leaked by an Indian government agency in 2006. Sensitive drawings depicting the inner workings of a centrifuge, used to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs, were made available to bidders for a government project for as little as $10 (about Rs 450) in 2006, the Washington Post said. The report titled "'06 Blueprint Leak Intensifies Concerns Over US-India Deal" came a day ahead of the meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, to review the implementing Indo-US nuclear deal and put it on fast track for approval. In most Western countries, such drawings would be considered secret, but the Indian diagrams were available for a nominal bidding fee, the Post quoted David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector, as saying. He said he acquired the drawings to prove a point. "We got them for about $10," Albright told the Post. He called the incident a "serious leak of sensitive nuclear information." "India has since tightened its bidding procedures, but the incident has fuelled concerns among opponents of a US-Indian civilian nuclear deal that Congress is expected to consider in the coming weeks," the daily said. A draft report by Albright and his Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) that monitors the spread of weapons technology, also cites recent incidents in which it says India engaged in "illicit nuclear trade." In one instance, ISIS said India used an array of trading companies to secretly acquire tons of tributyl phosphate (TBP), a chemical used to separate plutonium from spent nuclear fuel. China, a longtime supplier of TBP to India, halted shipments of the chemical in 2003 after US criticism. India turned to independent trading firms that acquired TBP from German and Russian companies without revealing the true destination, the report said. The ISIS report, due for release Friday, included photocopies of some of the centrifuge drawings obtained by Albright, although the group removed key specifications, the Post said. Albright told the Post he shared his findings with State Department officials but was turned away. "It didn't fit with their talking points," Albright said. "At the highest level, they were dismissive of our concerns." The Post said a State Department spokesman declined to comment on Albright's report, saying it had not been reviewed, and said the agreement was in the US interest. The report also said India's illicit procurement of dual-use nuclear-related items for its unsafeguarded nuclear programme belies its commitment to the NSG.