Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar has said India's role in the global nuclear renaissance is going to be very crucial.
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.
Rocket Boys offer an overwhelming experience to me and many others who saw Homi Bhabha in action at Trombay, observes Dr K S Parthasarathy, former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
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 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.
Dhirendra Singh on Tuesday assumed charge as the new divestment secretary, following Monday's high level bureaucratic reshuffle.
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.
India on Tuesday said cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear technology is an important pillar of the multifaceted cooperation with Russia, which offered help in building small tropical nuclear power stations.
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.
In the midst of the controversy over the success of the 1998 thermonuclear test, nuclear scientist P K Iyengar has said the views of former Defence Research and Development Organisation scientist K Santhanam on the issue are the 'clincher'. There is a "strong reason to believe that the thermonuclear device had not fully burnt and, therefore, further testing was called for," Iyengar, a former Atomic Energy Commission chairman, said.
"We have the technical expertise and capability to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and warships of global standards," Kakodkar said, on the sidelines of a function in Mumbai last night.
Former Atomic Energy Commission chairman and the guiding force behind India's first nuclear test, Homi Nusserwanji Sethna, died at his Malabar Hills residence in Mumbai after a prolonged illness, family members said.
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.
Former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman P K Iyengar on Wednesday raised a red flag over certain provisions of the nuclear liability bill, including keeping civil courts off limits in case of a nuclear accident.
"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.
Former chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission Dr M R Srinivasan said India's nuclear reactors, spread along the country's coastline, are secure against the threat of terrorist strikes.
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.
K Santhanam, a retired Defence Research and Development Organisation scientist, on Monday accused former Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar of 'ignoring facts' about the yield of the nuclear tests done at Pokhran in May 1998, calling him 'a liar' motivated by institutional loyalties.
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.
"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.
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.
"If we remain dependent on foreign technologies, we can never become world leaders and we cannot survive the global competition unless we achieve global leadership at least in some areas where we have strength," Kakodkar said at the convocation of Pt Ravi Shankar Shukla University in Raipur.
The safeguards issue is unlikely to come up at Thursday's meeting of IAEA's Board of Governors and will come up for approval at a special Board meeting later. IAEA Director General Mohamed El-Baradei and Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar initiated the talks.
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.
The Centre is reviewing the security measures at nuclear power plants across the country, in the wake of the recent terror strikes in Mumbai, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said on Thursday."Several security measures have already been put in place. We are reviewing in the context of what happened in Mumbai and certainly whatever additional (security), which are necessary, we will put in place," he said.
... And it's not just fear of job losses, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Without giving the location of the reactor, he said it would cost Rs 5 to 6 crore per MW.
Amid the diplomatic and political storm generated by the disclosures on the India-United States nuclear deal, US Ambassador to India David Mulford met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday and sought to clarify Washington's stand.Although officials were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the meeting, sources said Mulford told the Prime Minister that no new conditions had been introduced.A senior US embassy official sought to play down the meeting.
Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar on Saturday met representatives from various NGOs in Meghalaya, in an attempt to acquire their consent for uranium mining in the state.In view of the opposition to uranium mining by various NGOs and at least two political parties the Hill State People's Democratic Party and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement the state government had earlier constituted two expert committees to study the possible impact of mining.
India currently has a total nuclear power generation capacity of about 3,800 MW and plans to scale it up to 20,000 MW by 2020.
'Chinese are going bang, bang, bang building 30-35 reactors.' 'We should announce a programme of 50 new reactors and show that we mean business on the ground and not just announcements.'
'What did he (Kalam) know about extracting, making explosive grade? He didn't know a thing. By being a President, he appeared to wear the stature. He relied on atomic energy to gain additional stature,' said Sethna about Kalam while talking to CNN-IBN.
Nuke scientists support AEC chief's contention
He was responding to a query on NSG guidelines that restrict the export of reactors by members of the grouping, including the US, France, Russia, Australia and Japan.
New Delhi has made it clear that the issue of reprocessing of spent fuel is 'non-negotiable' and it is committed to retaining the right to do so.
Kakodkar met the prime minister on Wednesday and briefed him about concerns on the nation's security as well as the country's three-stage nuclear power programme following the passage of US Congress bill on December 8.
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