Top space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Kasturirangan Tuesday asserted that the country was capable of dealing with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear installations, and that nobody could harm India's sovereign national interest.
Describing the signing of the civilian nuclear energy deal with the United States as a courageous move by the government, Dr Kasturirangan, in an exclusive interview with UNI, said to leverage full benefits of the deal, India would have to instal more nuclear reactors.
He said India entered into this landmark agreement with the US as an able partner and there should be no apprehensions over its impact on the country's nuclear programme.
"India signed the deal as a capable nation and not as a technologically backward country," Dr Kasturirangan, who is also a member of the Rajya Sabha, said.
He said the nuclear deal was reached because it was in the mutual interest of the two countries and that India should accept the challenge of getting maximum benefit out of it.
In view of the agreement and the government's plan to separate military and civilian nuclear installations, Dr Kasturirangan said he was confident that India's three-tier nuclear programme was completely safe.
He claimed within a span of 20 years, India would start using thorium as fuel in its advanced heavy water reactors.
"India is among the founding members of the IAEA and it is well aware of its operations, inspections and responsibilities," he said adding, "we know how to deal with IAEA."
The former ISRO chief regretted that so far no long-term energy policy was formulated, taking into account the country's needs for the next 50 years. "We have to decide what combination of energy resources would best serve our interest and needs," he said.
Stressing the need for installation of more reactors, Dr Kasturirangan, who is also the director of National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, said till now nuclear energy was not considered as a main source, but "it is time that we must consider it specially in view of environmental hazards posed by the use of conventional energy sources".
The deal was a step forward in this direction, he pointed out. "No selfish interest was involved in the deal, as the US is an open society and on the lookout for political, economic and scientific partners," he said in reply to a query.
The US always forged strategic partnerships with democratic, stable and techologically developed countries and India conformed to its requirements, the scientist observed.
The two countries share a "transparent" bilateral relationship and even the issues on which they differ are well known.
The US entered into this partnership with India in view of the immense possibilites that it offers and the technological prowess it holds.
The renowned space scientist pointed out that in view of the pace of development India would soon reach at par with China in the emission of greenhouse gases and thus it became vital to consider the nuclear option for addressing the growing energy needs.
"China emits 17 per cent greenhouse gases, while India's share is four per cent," he said.
Dr Kasturirangan said India has achieved two levels in its three-tier nuclear programme and has reached the stage of fast breeder reactors. He said within 20 years, the country would reach the stage where it would be able to use thorium as the main fuel in its reactors, which was available in abundance.
"Once we achieve this stage, we would be able to satisfy the energy needs for the next about 300 years," he said.
Talking about the role of the IAEA inspectors, the space scientist pointed out they would ensure that the used nuclear fuel should not be reprocessed into weapon grade plutonium.
The exhausted fuel from the reactors contain about 20 per cent plutonium, which could be reprocessed into weapon grade plutonium.
The IAEA would prohibit such reprocessing, the renowned scientist explained.
The agency would also ensure proper disposal of nuclear waste as it was highly radioactive and causes various cancers.
"India's track record on both these counts is excellent and thus we should not worry about such inspections," Dr Kasturirangan pointed out.
