'If the US withdraws, where do we stand with all the starved costly reactors? We will be left with only the hazardous waste to deal with. The way the terms of the deal are structured, it is clear that we have only the legal right to test which cannot be implemented due to tremendous consequences,' says nuclear scientist A N Prasad, a known critic of the nuclear deal.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre said on Tuesday the agency is developing a prototype compact high temperature reactor to produce hydrogen as substitute for fossil fuels.
India's strong nuclear programme, with comprehensive capability for the entire nuclear fuel cycle and the strong technical support from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, were highly appreciated, according to Chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board S K Sharma, who led the 17 member high-level Indian delegation. India presented its 206-page report for the first time that included the effective regulatory mechanism for power plants.
A forensic probe of the fire that broke out at a Bhabha Atomic Research Centre lab in which two research students were burnt alive found no evidence of explosives or inflammable residue even as the exact cause was still wrapped in mystery ten days after the blaze.
The Department of Atomic Energy today ruled out the possibility of an external hand in the recent fire at a lab in the premier Bhabha Atomic Research Laboratory that killed two young scientists.
"The fire broke out in the chemical lab on the third floor of the Modular lab at the BARC," director and AEC chairman Sreekumar Banerjee told PTI. The Fire Brigade and police are yet to ascertain the cause of the blaze, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon. Fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused within 45 minutes.
The failure of India's sole H-bomb is the latest in the Department of Atomic Energy and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre's long history of being economical with the truth.
BARC uses sea water for its two research reactors--Dhruva and Cirus--for cooling purposes. "We have asked BARC not to use sea water for any of their facilities as it is polluted with oil spill from vessels after a collision on Saturday," a senior Coast Guard official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei on Tuesday inaugurated Bhabhatron-II, an indigenously developed advanced computerised telecobalt machine for the treatment of cancer. ElBaradei, who is on a three-day trip to India, visited the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai where he inaugurated Bhabhatron-II at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer here.
Former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr. P K Iyengar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Dr A Gopalakrishnan and former director of Bhabha Atomic Research Center Dr.A.N. Prasad say that there is a great deal of disquiet among the scientific community at large about the deal. They also said they met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed about the after-effects of the deal, besides writing to the MPS.
Any future arrangement would be implemented keeping in view the national interest, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director S Banerjee has said.
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has seized over 7 kg of natural uranium worth about Rs 21.30 crore and arrested two persons in this connection, an official said on Thursday.
The fire at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre was not a mere accident and could be 'some one's' way of checking the preparedness of the nuclear centre in the backdrop of intelligence reports of a possible terror attack, said former director of the centre A N Prasad.
Umang Singh, who was burnt alive along with another young research scientist in the blaze at the country's premier atomic research laboratory BARC, was not second time lucky.
This will make Apsara off-limits to the IAEA, once the Indo-US N-deal kicks in.
The much-awaited Advanced Heavy Water Reactor may be the first reactor to come up in populated areas like the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
BARC worked for nearly three years to find the source, origin, route and recharge zone of the spring.
Apsara has played a key role in research in areas as diverse as forensic science and the study of lunar and meteorite fragments.
India must explore uranium aggresively: Atomic energy chief
The mistake the enemies of the deal in India and the US are making is to seek satisfaction over their own wish list.
For future growth, India also required to enhance its growth in accelerator development and on hydrogen economy and all these need development of science of cryogenics, he said.
Ramanna, who died early on Friday, had led a Bhabha Atomic Research Centre team to conduct the country's first nucear test at Pokhran, Rajasthan, in 1974.
"India, with long-standing experience in operating nuclear plants and building human and knowledge resources, can be a guiding force for new entrants seeking to harness atomic technology for producing power."
While the government response remains cautious but unmistakably positive, the critics' earlier opposition to the deal remains unchanged.
A top radiation biologist claimed that the peerless power of Trifala -- a combination of three herbs, Amalaki, Haritaki and Bibhitaki -- held the promise of protecting the body from the attack of dreadful diseases.
The thorium reactor does not require natural or enriched uranium which the country is finding difficult to import.
The registration number of the car used by Riaz has turned out to be fake one, the ATS chief said adding other information like where did the ammunition cache arrive from will be disclosed later.
Inside BARC also, CISF has been deployed from June 1 to assist in the internal security as they are well trained in combating terrorist attacks.
Usually BARC buses bring the employees to the main gate and all the employees get down and walk through metal detector in addition to getting verified electronically their I-cards by the BARC securities.
President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday said people must unite to root out cross-border terrorism, which was a hurdle for economic prosperity and development of the country.
'Citizens for a Just Society' stated that BARC was situated on the earthquake zone. In case of any disaster, NWDE would emit nuclear radiations into the environment, which would have harmful effect on the population.
Dismissing DAE's reply that most of the items were working satisfactorily, CAG said the department should have analysed all the aspects before ordering for the equipment.
BARC suspends 3 in radiation exposure case
The 'Anupam' supercomputer is also about three times faster than the 64-node supercomputer developed in July 2002 by the organisation.
Abhas Mitra of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre was perhaps the first and the only scientist to have questioned Hawking's concept of black holes.
'His emphasis on self-reliance is essentially due to the fact he wanted India to be a nuclear weapons country.' Dr P K Iyengar remembers the father of India's nuclear programme.
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