Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday told a delegation that a high-level committee would address their concerns on safety of the Kudankulam nuclear power project.
Since $4-5 billion (Rs 18,670-23,340 crore) will be needed to set up each nuclear reactor, capital costs alone add up to $200-250 billion (Rs 9,33,600-11,67,000 crore). Then there are fuel costs, nuclear waste disposal, reprocessing, consultants & advisors and, of course, the financial market aspects of raising all that money.
With the Trinamul government and NGOs stalling the Haripur nuclear plant, will the DAE allot the Russians another site elsewhere in India?
Areva, the French nuclear group, agreed on Wednesday to supply India with up to six nuclear reactors in one of the first deals since the subcontinent's nuclear programme was brought into the international fold last year after decades of isolation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is hopeful that progress will be made on the India-United States nuclear agreement, despite domestic political opposition. "Our domestic politics has prevented us from going ahead. I will still continue to hope that we will make progress in the months that lie ahead," Dr Singh said in New Delhi on Wednesday."This agreement, if it materialises, if it sees light of the day, will open new possibilities of cooperation," he said.
'Once the military starts to draw up plans for using nuclear weapons, then nuclear weapons could be used earlier in a crisis than otherwise.'
Civil nuclear projects in the country would be subject to Indian laws including on issues of civil liability, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said on Friday dismissing reports of attempts to dilute the liability clause in contracts proposed with United States firms.
John Kerry, US Secretary of State, who is here for the 2nd Indo-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, said his country would want its civil nuclear cooperation with India to take shape in setting up of reactors.
Scientists are puzzled by what caused the mysterious nuclear leak at the Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant in Gujarat last year, reveals Pallava Bagla.
While the cap on liability is lower than in several other countries, few producers, including those in India, will supply nuclear power equipment without such a bill -- raising the caps is an obvious solution.
NPC is facing protests from farmers who are refusing to make way for the Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) project, the first major initiative after the civilian nuclear agreement between India and the US.
Union Environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday ruled out any "re-think" on the proposed mega nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Maharashtra but pressed for a separate safety system for each of its six atomic reactors in the light of the tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis in Japan.
French power equipment supplier Alstom said on Thursday it will expand its manufacturing facilities in India to meet the growing demand in thermal and hydro projects and is eyeing emerging opportunities in the nuclear power sector.
"India's defence and strategic affairs have to be decided on the basis of continuity and national consensus with due deliberations. These are issues best kept above partisan politics," the PM said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said the text of the nuclear agreement with the United States has confirmed its fears that India's right to nuclear testing will be impacted.
This would make India the world's second-biggest nuclear energy market after China
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and French company Areva signed an agreement RPT signed an agreement for building two European Pressure Reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Trump and Kim had their historic first meeting in Singapore last June, wherein they agreed on denuclearisation of North Korea.
'1998-1999 was the only year in the last quarter century that India had net-negative foreign investment.' 'Foreign money ran away from India that year because capital is a coward and does not like uncertainty of the sort produced by such casual treatment of a destructive technology,' says Aakar Patel.
The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, leading the protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, on Saturday threatened to sue the Prime Minister's Office for linking the stir to foreign funding.
United States firm Westinghouse Electric and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd on Wednesday signed a preliminary pact for an Early Works Agreement for installation of the first 1,000 MW American nuclear reactor in India under the historic 2008 Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
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.
Amid concerns over the Koodankulam nuclear power project, the National Disaster Management Authority has said safety measures at all atomic plants in the country were in place but admitted earthquakes at these sites cannot be completely ruled out.
Amid concerns over waste management at the proposed nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said it was not an immediate problem for India and lamented a lack of balanced environmental approach towards nuclear energy.
Dismissing the perception that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi have backtracked on the India-United States nuclear agreement, the Congress on Friday said that it has not changed its stand and everyone is adhering to the coalition dharma. "The Congress' stand is the same. However, at the same time, we have to abide by the consensus among our allies and coalition partners," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
The list of international and national companies in queue to tap the business opportunities arising out of the Indo-US nuclear deal is pretty impressive.
Within days of India approaching International Atomic Energy Agency for country-specific safeguards for nuclear power plants, the ministry issued advertisements in newspapers explaining what the uranium extracted energy can do to the nation's energy security. Energy-hungry India has a huge unmet power demand and the heavily subsidised diesel is being used as fuel to generate electricity.
Sri Lanka on Saturday said it had no plans to build a nuclear power station with Pakistan assistance. The Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka said Sri Lanka had already entered into a joint venture with India's National Thermal Power Corporation to build a coal power plant in Sampur.
Obama seeks reduction of nuclear arsenal in India and Pakistan while Pakistan seeks NSG membership
India's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine is a considerable achievement -- and should have an impact on security strategy
US President George Bush said the expansion of the nuclear power industry in the country was one way of staying competetive in the 21st\ncentury
The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear power, the White House asserted, as the Pentagon took steps along with its regional allies to thwart off any misadventure from Pyongyang. "The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state, nor will we stand by while it seeks to develop a nuclear-armed missile that can target the United States," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Monday.
Vajpayee had always felt that India must act with conviction and panache. He decided that, irrespective of the attendant risks, he would undertake what many felt was a precarious course. A fascinating excerpt from N K Singh's Portraits Of Power: Half A Century Of Being At Ringside on Atalji's 96th birthday, December 25.
Two 1000 MW power plants each are coming up at Jagadapur in Maharashtra, two more plants of 700 MW capacity are proposed to be set up in Gujarat.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
