Nuclear companies from the US, Russia and France, as well as Indian power majors, have unanimously appealed to the Government of India (GoI) for various changes in the rules to facilitate foreign and private sector investment.
Two employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission were injured when the vehicle they were traveling in was targeted with a roadside bomb in the country's troubled northwestern region on Tuesday. The blast occurred in Lakki Marwat district of the North West Frontier Province, officials were quoted as saying by the Geo News channel. A technician and the vehicle's driver were injured in the attack, they said. Both men sustained minor injuries.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Saturday defended India's decision to vote against Iran on the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution, claiming that it had been taken keeping in mind the fact that the Islamic nation was a signatory of the NPT. He was responding to a question on whether India had toed America's line over Iran's nuclear programme.
The government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea also declared its total freedom from the binding force of the safeguards accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has withdrawn the permission given to Delhi University to use any radioactive source in its labs as it failed to submit its final reply on the radiation exposure incident at Mayapuri scrap yard in Delhi within stipulated period, the Board said.
A central team on Monday began a probe into allegations that a radioactive contaminated United States ship has been anchored at the Alang coast in Gujarat, even as non-governmental organisations demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter.The three-member team comprising an official each from the Central Pollution Control Board, the Steel Ministry and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board will submit its report by the end of the week.
A nuclear scientist and a chemical engineer, Dr Sethna was pioneer in establishing India's first reprocessing plant in 1959. India's first nuclear test was possible because of the Plutonium from this plant when the country was under tremendous pressure to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by the United States.
In a missive to Dr Singh dated September 23 on the day of the prime minister's arrival in New York, and made available to rediff.com, Obama said at the outset, "I am very pleased that your visit provides us with the opportunity to strengthen the US-India relationship."
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad ElBaradei has said that he does not expect India to sign the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty, but feels the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty could be more "acceptable".
Brazil and South Africa, key members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, on Tuesday decided to explore ways for cooperation with India in civil nuclear field through "acceptable forward-looking approaches."
The central leadership of the CPI(M) on Monday admitted to a series of mistakes, including the decision to allow the first UPA government to go to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2007.
Official sources said Kakodkar will meet Chief Minister Donkupar Roy and other government officials, besides conveying the Centre's views to the anti-mining groups, including political parties in the ruling coalition like the Hill State People's Democratic Party and Khun Hynnieutrip National Awakening Movement.
On the eve of the Nuclear Suppliers Group's extraordinary plenary meeting to decide on nuclear commerce with India, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon will brief the current chair Germany and two other key members of the 45-nation NSG.
India does not need to carry any more nuclear tests, Atomic Energy commission chief Anil Kakodkar said on Wednesday in the backdrop of the controversy over whether the 1998 Pokhran thermo-nuclear explosion was a fizzle.
The current trend worldwide is to move away from the high yields of thermonuclear devices. These were useful in the Cold War environment and not applicable now. It is feasible to achieve yields of a few hundred kilotons with fission weapons.
Chidambaram, who led the team of scientists during the 1998 nuclear tests, today dismissed as "absurd" suggestions that Pokhran-II explosions did not yield the desired results.
He also complimented the United States for making it possible. The civil nuclear initiative was good for India and good for the world, he said in a statement.
The United States and the European Union on Friday led the international community in promptly welcoming the International Atomic Energy Agency's approval of India-specific safeguards agreement, saying it will boost non-proliferation efforts and hoped that the Nuclear Suppliers' Group will too give a waiver to New Delhi for nuclear commerce.
Following is the reaction of parties on the India-specific safeguards agreement being approved by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Referring to global energy needs, Kakodkar said nuclear power had the pontential to meet these requirements in a sustainable manner and at the same time keep carbon dioxide emissions at the lowest possible levels.
Dr Anil Kakodkar, chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission and his agency was the 600-pound gorilla in the room that vetoed the compromise language on the stalled bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation accord, known as the 123 Agreement.
India has received a positive response from the Non-Aligned Movement countries, which are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group on the Indo-US nuclear deal after it briefed them on the safeguards agreement, which the global nuclear watchdog will consider on Friday.
India had three exploratory meetings with IAEA on the main concepts that would be embedded in an India-Specific Safeguard Agreement
The delegations is expected to discuss the progress of two VVER-1000 (1000 MW each) plants, which will be commissioned soon, with Indian officials led by NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain. They will also discuss the progress made on eight more proposed Russian reactors for India, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited sources said.
The safeguards pact, which is the next step in the operationalisation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, was sent to the 35-nation Board on a day when the Left parties formally withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance government, following a bitter feud over the deal which has remained stalled for several months.
Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran says he is "optimistic" of the nuclear deal being cleared at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting. Saran -- the prime minister's special envoy on climate change and the India-US nuclear civilian agreement -- also confirmed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the G-8 summit in Tokyo later this week.
The government believes that the matter should remain within the jurisdiction of the International Atomic Energy Agency and not be referred to the United Nations Security Council.
"The effort was rewarded with the discovery of a large number of sites, which have indicated their potential for hosting uranium reserves," it said, quoting a latest official document.
The government on Wednesday ruled out giving to the Left the draft of the India-specific Internatonal Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal, but asserted that all their queries on this subject have been "answered." "It is not possible to give them (Left) the (safeguards) text. We have anwsered all their queries," Union Science Minister Kapil Sibal told TV channels.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday advised the United States to leave the issue of Iran's nuclear programme to the International Atomic Energy Agency and not take up the responsibility of deciding Iran's position."Iran should convince the IAEA that their nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. We are advising Iran that being a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, you should satisfy the IAEA."
The Russian government-owned company will be setting up eight to ten plants at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu and Haripur in West Bengal over the next two decades under the Indo-Russian civil nuclear agreement, and the proposed fabrication plant will be supplying fuel to these plants, TVEL executive director for communications and public affairs Ivan Dybov said in Mumbai.
The police is yet to trace the origin of Cobalt-60, the radioactive material that caused serious injuries to six persons and are awaiting the recovery of the owner of the scrap shop from where it was found three days ago to get more clarity.
IAEA director general Muhamad ElBaradei expressed the hope for a long-term comprehensive agreement, which would allow for the development of relations and cooperation with Iran.
The narrative is faithful to the source, American Prometheus, but what makes it absolutely spell-binding is Christopher Nolan's technique, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Key provisions of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The much-debated Nuclear Liability Bill, crucial for operationalising the India-US civil nuclear deal, would be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 15, Minister of State for Atomic Energy Prithviraj Chavan has said.
T P Sreenivasan, India's former Governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency and ex-Indian Ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, has predicted that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal will be honoured regardless of whatever dispensation comes to power following the general election in May. Sreenivasan noted that "two of the three coalitions vying for power in India are committed to amend it, though not to abandon it."
"India is capable of indigenously building the most viable commercial nuclear reactors for producing 220 MW and 540 MW power. Small reactors are the best bet to export," he told media persons at the Koodamkulam Nuclear power plant site near Tirunelveli replying to a question on feasibility of exporting nuclear reactors to countries like Egypt.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected suggestions that the United Progressive Alliance government's capacity to operationalise the deal has weakened after the Congress' debacle in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. "We would not like to proceed with the deal if the Left parties withdraw support from the government," he told Karan Thapar's India Tonight programme on CNBC.
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