"Whatever treaty or agreement we do, if it helps... well and good, but the thrust should be to be self-reliance in thorium fuel-based reactors," Kalam told PTI in an interview in London.
The much-awaited Advanced Heavy Water Reactor may be the first reactor to come up in populated areas like the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
The prime minister said given the circumstances, India needed a strategic nuclear weapons programme.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to the setting up of a nuclear power project in Jaitapur and the environment clearance given to it, saying the crisis in nuclear reactors in Japan following the tsunami warranted a re-examination of the project.
Weeks after 'breakthrough', substantial work is yet to be done
China's official media on Tuesday went public over India's Nuclear Suppliers Group bid for the first time, saying New Delhi's membership of the elite club will not only touch a "raw nerve" in Pakistan and increase a nuclear arms race in the region but also "jeopardise" China's national interests.
Workers attempting to salvage Japan's tsunami hit Fukushima nuclear reactor had to be evacuated after smoke was seen billowing in a latest in a series of troubles to hit the moves to stabilise the radiation leaking plant.
Dr Bhabha and Dr Sarabhai didn't feel guilty for their ambitions; it was for those 'mad scientists' that India is a powerhouse -- both at the atomic level and in the vastness of space, observes Kumar Abishek.
With China pressing ahead on its controversial decision to supply two additional nuclear reactors to Pakistan, the US on Friday indicated that the deal may not get the approval of the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) given Islamabad's track record.
The two countries also signed three other agreements -- to enhance aviation links, to jointly work in the area of energy efficiency and promotion of parliamentary cooperation.
China will prioritise the development of a floating nuclear power platform in the coming five years.
These reactors would bring clean energy to India and generate thousands of jobs in the US
India will commission its first 500-Mw fast breeder reactor (FBR) for generating commercial nuclear energy by the end of next year. The reactor, when commissioned, will mark the country's entry into the second phase of its three-stage nuclear energy programme.
Putin also told his French counterpart that Kyiv does not comply with the agreements reached with Moscow on the evacuation of civilians from combat areas, the Kremlin said.
Without the lifting of the technology denial and India acquiring the ability to interact freely with all major nations economically and technologically India will not be able to have a real independent foreign policy which will make it an effective balancer of power. That was the real purpose of Pokhran II.
To avoid the kind of nuclear disaster that has happened in Japan, Professor Dirk Matten of the Schulich School of Business, York University, suggests that India should rely more on coal-fired energy generating plants and energy efficiency, instead of going for nuclear reactors in a big way.
Dimona, an Israeli town described as a 'mini-India' by many for its 7,500-strong Indian Jewish community and home to a nuclear reactor, came under rocket attack from Palestinian militant group Hamas on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day working visit to the US from February 12 during which he will meet President Donald Trump, the external affairs ministry announced. The visit will give further impetus and direction to India-US bilateral relationship. Prior to his US visit, Modi will be in France from February 10-12 to co-chair the AI Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron. He will also visit Cadarache, the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor of which India is a partner. During his visit to France from February 10-12, Modi and Macron will also address the India-France CEOs forum. The prime minister and Macron will travel to Marseille where they will inaugurate the Consulate General of India. The leaders will also visit the war cemetery and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers in World War 1. Modi and Macron will visit Cadarache, the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). There has been a very close rapport between Trump and Modi, dating back to the US leader's first term. There is a clear convergence of interests between the two countries in several areas, including trade, investment, technology, defense cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and people-to-people relations.
Women and men would stand in the sea waters for two hours in turns, Pushparayan, leader of the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy, spearheading the year-long agitation, told media persons in Kudankulam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that India and the United States have set a $500 billion target for bilateral trade by 2030 and added that the teams of two nations will work together to finalise a mutually beneficial trade agreement.
This will make Apsara off-limits to the IAEA, once the Indo-US N-deal kicks in.
India's nuclear regulator has found no defects in the reactor pressure vessel of the Kudankulam atomic power plant, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
An obviously chagrined United States-India Business Council, which has lobbied feverishly for the passage of the US-India civilian nuclear deal in the US Congress, on Monday issued a guarded reaction to the passage of the nuclear liability bill in the Parliament that had 'compromised on the indemnity clause demanded by American companies to protect it from liability in case of a nuclear accident.'
What this means is that India's choices will be limited to some French and Russian companies, when it comes to seeking nuclear power reactors, because even major American companies like GE and Westinghouse, which manufacture atomic reactors and have expertise in this area, have tie-ups with Japanese companies like Toshiba, which will not sell such equipment to India. Without Japan's nod, India's choices remain almost as limited as they were before the Indo-US civil deal.
'Decisions on nuclear power have so far been taken by a small select group, primarily interested in profiteering from their actions, stating 'secrecy' as necessary from the national security point.' 'This argument is false, because we are dealing with the 'civilian' nuclear power sector, which is open even to the IAEA,' says Dr A Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
The Tarapur Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant is among the 14 nuclear facilities to be opened by India for international safeguards under the deal with the US.
Some experts in North America are concerned that the Canada-India Civilian Nuclear deal could have history repeating itself: Canada could unwittingly become part of the increasing nuclear tension between India and Pakistan.
India plans to produce about 20,000 mega watt of nuclear power keeping safety features in mind, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Friday said as he certified the Kudankulam atomic plant as safe.
Ron Somers, president, US-India Business Council, which lobbied to get the US-India nuclear technology deal approved, like the rest of the American business fraternity, is upset by India's recent purchase of nuclear reactors and sophisticated technology and weaponry from Russia.
Japanese engineers on Saturday inched closer to connecting power at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plants, north of the Japanese capital, so as to restore the damaged cooling system to the dangerously overheated nuclear fuel.
Defence deal, other key trade and investment pacts also likely.
After decades of research, China has made a breakthrough in extracting uranium and plutonium from spent fuel, state-run CCTV announced on Monday.
The US position is that cooperation on the construction of two new reactors, Chasma III and IV, would be inconsistent with the commitments China made at the time of its adherence to Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines in 2004.
India will now develop its own stockpile of nuclear fuel to fulfil its energy needs, taking advantage of the guarantees given in the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said on Thursday.
The US has sought more information from China on its agreement to supply two nuclear reactors to Pakistan, saying the deal would need an agreement of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. "We as a first step are looking for more information from China as to what it is potentially proposing," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told media-persons at his daily press briefing.
The United States has asked China to clarify details of its agreement with Pakistan to supply two nuclear power plants to the latter.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his remarks after discussions with US President George W Bush, said "For 34 years, India has suffered from a nuclear apartheid. We have not been able to trade in nuclear material, nuclear reactors, nuclear raw materials. And when this restrictive regime ends, I think a great deal of credit will go to President Bush."
Bogged down by the over month-long agitation by local people led by anti-nuclear activists, commissioning of the first reactor of the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project has been delayed by three months.
