The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response of the Centre and the Department of Atomic Energy for allegedly exempting the Russian company involved in setting up of Kudankulam nuclear power plant from paying damages in case of an accident.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant suffers from lack of safety measures and is plagued by several other "serious issues". It must not be commissioned till they are resolved, anti-nuclear activists told the Supreme Court on Thursday. Appearing before a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra, they submitted that the safety measures recommended by the Atomic Energy Regulation Board have not been put in place.
Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar has said India's role in the global nuclear renaissance is going to be very crucial.
Rediff.com takes a look at the revamped Cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:
Search giant Google has released satellite images of facilities at two Iranian cities that the United Nations claims may be used to develop nuclear weapons.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told rediff.com that Israel's recent threats to Iran over the country's plan to build nuclear arms doesn't scare Pakistan, who, some reports suggested, were moving their nuclear arms in an unsafe way, fearing Americans would take them away.
The final decision will depend on the confidence of the Israeli military and intelligence leadership that it can destroy Iran's retaliatory capability through a pre-emptive strike, says B Raman
"Iran is an important neighbouring country on the other side of Pakistan. Iran is a major source of energy. It is the only route to have access to Central Asia and Afghanistan. It is a very important Gulf nation. We cannot undermine our ties with it"
In the first high level contact since New Delhi voted against Tehran at the February 4 International Atomic Energy Agency meeting
India has offered to place 14 of the 22 thermal power reactors under IAEA safeguards in a phased manner between 2006-14, Dr Kakodkar told a media conference, adding the agreement would not affect the country's strategic programme in any respect.
The first unit of the Koodankulam nuclear power project is expected to start generating electricity in the next 40 days, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said on Monday. He said the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board officials were at the Koodankulam project site and inspecting the plant.
IAEA chief ElBaradei said participating countries would be required to pledge not to develop dual-use facilities.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday set up a four-member expert panel, which includes former atomic energy commission chief M R Srinivasan, to submit a report on the fears and concerns of local people over the Koodankulam nuclear power project.
The scientists, who met the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, also said that India has been asked to participate in the international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation, with a policy that is congruent to that of the US.
"China's cooperation with Pakistan in nuclear power is for peaceful means and is supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA). The US always questions Pakistan's nuclear activities, but how about its latest nuclear deal with India," Chinese newspaper Global Times quoted He Maochun, director of the Research Centre for Economic Diplomacy Studies of Tsinghua University, as probing.
A contract labourer at the Madras Atomic Power station at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu has been arrested after some pen drives and a mobile phone that had over 400 photos of the BHAVINI Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor were seized from him, police said on Thursday.
'There has definitely been a breakthrough in the nuclear logjam. It is good to see nuclear energy back on the rails,' says Dr Anil Kakodkar, former chairman, Atomic Energy Commission.
If any factor regarding the lander module appears unfavourable, then the landing will be shifted to August 27, said the Space Applications Centre-ISRO about Chandrayaan-3 on Monday.
In yet another step towards full implementation of the United States-India civilian nuclear deal -- which the Obama administration has been accused in some quarters of not being fully committed to -- US President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a memorandum certifying the agreement between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency of the Safeguards Agreement on India's civilian nuclear facilities.
Unruffled by global concerns, Beijing and Islamabad are in talks to build a new nuclear reactor in Pakistan of 1 gigawatt capacity, three times more powerful than existing ones, apparently without the approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency or the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
In this exclusive interview, Dr Srinivasan talks to Shobha Warrier about nuclear energy in general, the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in particular and India's energy needs.
The much-delayed Kudankulam project is set to be commissioned within the next two weeks as nuclear scientists have entered the final lap of a series of tests on its safety and efficacy.
Iran has accelerated its nuclear programme and currently possesses sufficient supply of uranium to make three nuclear devices, a United Nations nuclear watchdog report claimed.
Dismissing a top nuclear scientist's contention that Pokharan II was not a complete success, Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar on Friday said the tests in 1998 achieved '100 per cent desired results'.Speaking at a function organised by the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology in Indore, Kakodkar said, "Pokhran II tests were a complete success and they achieved 100 per cent desired results."
The inputs collected from the victims by an Atomic Energy Regulatory Board scientist gave vital clues which helped to identify the source of Delhi's radioactive leak, points out Dr K S Parthasarathy, former secretary with the Board.
China on Tuesday inked an agreement worth a whopping USD 4.8 billion with cash-strapped Pakistan to set up a 1,200-megawatt nuclear power plant as a sign of increasing strategic cooperation between the two all-weather allies.
The Rs 500 crore cap in the event of an accident, proposed in the controversial nuclear liability bill, could be raised as part of government's efforts to address concerns of the opposition over the issue. Indications to this effect were given by government officials at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology and Environment on Tuesady.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry denied having imposed any blanket ban on the import of food products from Japan even as it has imposed some strict measures.
India has placed ten of its nuclear reactors for review by the International Atomic Energy Agency as per the safeguard agreement reached with the United Nations monitoring body. "In accordance with the Separation Plan, so far, ten nuclear power reactors have been placed for review under the agreement between the government and the IAEA, for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities signed in February 2009," a minister said.
Amid a major row between Iran and the West over its nuclear programme, foreign ministers from NAM members states are set to discuss issues like peaceful use of atomic energy at their crucial meet that began in Tehran on Tuesday.
US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke's robust meetings in Mumbai, includes a bilateral with the Governor of the RBIndia Dr D Subbarao and senior officials at the Department of Atomic Energy and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, in addition to speeches to the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the National Association of Software and Service Companies, will also be punctuated with an interaction with the dabbawallahs or tiffin caterers.
With the fight now having been taken to the seizure of nuclear plants, it is one more warning to Europe that this prolonged war could end up with disastrous consequences, observes Rashme Sehgal
Proponent of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, a top Israeli leader has warned the West that no country was immune to Tehran's missiles and that the range of these rockets covers most of Europe.
Iran has the right to enjoy the peaceful use of nuclear technology and it will never divert to military purposes, a senior official said.
Scientists are puzzled by what caused the mysterious nuclear leak at the Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant in Gujarat last year, reveals Pallava Bagla.
In a major catch for the Navi Mumbai Police, three persons have been arrested on charges of illegal possession of five kilograms of 'depleted uranium' even as Atomic Energy Regulatory Board said that the seized material did not pose any radiological hazard or security threat.
T P Sreenivasan interacts with rediff.com readers on the significance and scope of US President Barack Obama's visit to India
In a significant step which will enable it to engage in international nuclear commerce, India signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) on Wednesday, which sets parameters on a nuclear operator's financial liability, at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said work on India's nuclear programmes will continue despite media reports of the country's nuclear power plants being placed on alert and being made more secure to prevent a terror strike.
Pakistan Friday said it plans to generate 8,800 MW of nuclear power by 2030 and maintained that its nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes.
