"We estimate that Pakistan now has a nuclear weapons stockpile of approximately 170 warheads. The US Defense Intelligence Agency projected in 1999 that Pakistan would have 60 to 80 warheads by 2020, but several new weapon systems have been fielded and developed since then, which leads us to a higher estimate," the Nuclear Notebook column published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on September 11 said.
Dialogue and diplomacy is the only way forward for peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said at a conference in Jeddah on the crisis while underlining the need for upholding sovereignty and territorial integrity by all states without 'exception'.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday directed upgradation of safety measures at the country's nuclear facilities to match the global standards as he reviewed the disaster preparedness in the wake of recent radiation scare in Japan.
India on Sunday said it was committed to harness nuclear power and ensure highest levels of safety even as some countries have put their atomic energy plans under review after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday said he will sign an agreement with India to sell uranium for non-weapon use. "Prime Minister Modi and I will today sign a nuclear cooperation agreement that will finally allow Australian uranium to India," he said while addressing a meeting, organised by industry chambers including CII and Ficci.
India's nuclear regulator the Atomic Energy Regulator Board is carrying out a thorough review of the first unit of the much-delayed Kudankulam atomic power plant as directed by the Supreme Court last month. "We are reviewing the safety aspects of Unit 1 at Kudankulam as directed by the Supreme Court," an AERB official said
Pushing ahead with the controversial Jaitapur atomic power plant, government on Wednesda said it has decided to have a stand-alone safety system in the designs of each reactors, two of which are expected to be operational by 2019 and announced a bill would be brought to create an autonomous nuclear regulatory body.
Pakistan on Thursday said its nuclear assets are completely safe and dismissed the world's suspicions as "baseless" at a meeting of the National Command Authority chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Belarus, Ukraine and Russia marked the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst civil nuclear accident, on Thursday.
'In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card,' said the report.
He was speaking at the 101st anniversary event of Lokmanya Seva Sangh, a Mumbai-based organisation set up to build a 'socially vigilant, disciplined, cultured and progressive society'.
"Bad actors" cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons at the cost of those trying to maintain peace and safety, United States envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley has said.
More than 1,000 people were feared dead in the massive tsunami triggered by Japan's most powerful earthquake which wrought devastation in northeast coastal Japan forcing the government to declare emergency at two nuclear plants after their cooling systems failed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday held talks at Hyderabad House
A 200-tonne safety vessel was successfully lowered into the reactor vault of the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor(FBR) in Kalpakkam in a "historic moment" for the country's indigenous nuclear programme.
While nuclear engineers cheer KNPP's first full operation, on nine other sites which house atomic reactors, scientists spend sleepless nights.
The government on Sunday maintained that it will ensure all safety aspects of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project are fully taken care of before it is commissioned.
In the backdrop of nuclear radiation fears in Japan after a tsunami, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednessay discussed the need for reviewing safety mechanisms of atomic reactors of the two countries besides pushing for safety reviews of such facilities at international level.
India's first report on safety of civilian nuclear power plants was presented on Thursday at the Convention of Nuclear Safety at Vienna by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman S K Sharma. India's complete compliance with obligations under all the relevant articles of the convention in a 206-page report was presented by Sharma at the International Atomic Energy Agency, AERB Secretary Om Pal Singh told PTI in Mumbai.
The environment ministry was ready to take a re-look into the "safety" aspects of the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu if such a need arises, Union Minister Jayanti Natarajan said on Friday. The environment minister's statement came a day after the Supreme Court made it clear that it can stop commissioning of the controversial Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant if it finds that the mandatory safety requirements for it have not been put in place.
For the world and India, one of the most enduring challenges of the times is for Pakistan's nukes to be neutralised, before they are ever used by the State, their sponsored non-State actors or any rogue elements from the many terror tanzeems dotting Pakistan's unstable landscape, says Lieutenant General Kamal Davar (retd).
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board on implementation of safety guidelines issued by it for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu.
Reviving their anti-nuclear stir, leaders of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy on Friday began an indefinite fast at Idinthakarai to press for implementation of some of their demands including scrapping plans to set up units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
China will prioritise the development of a floating nuclear power platform in the coming five years.
High radiation has seeped into groundwater under the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, authorities said on Friday, as Japanese and United States troops launched an intensive air and sea search for thousands of people who remained unaccounted for after the March 11 quake and tsunami.
The spread of the Taliban in Pakistan has senior American officials concerned about the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, including the potential for terrorists to get their hands on a weapon in transport or to infiltrate laboratories and nuclear fuel-production facilities.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea seeking a stay on the commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.
Hours after a US study warned of a "very real possibility" that deadly warheads could be stolen by extremists singling out Pakistan as a likely source, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday that his country's "nuclear weapons are safe and well-guarded".
The statements raised eyebrows in the Obama administration and is seen as "irresponsible" behaviour by top Pakistani leadership.
The Nuclear Power Corporation has said it would revisit safety standards at all atomic power plants in the country in the wake of the nuclear crisis in tsunami-struck Japan."We will sincerely revisit (all the nuclear power plants) and decide whether there was any need for augmentation," NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain told reporters. Indian reactors have 'successfully' withstood the Bhuj earthquake and the tsunami in south India, he said.
Dhanteras, the prime minister said, has become even more special.
''A story in the New York Times gave a distorted and exaggerated picture of our efforts to learn from best practices of other countries with regard to their nuclear safety and export controls,'' foreign ministry spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said
Making a statement in Parliament on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Dr Singh said Indian nuclear plants have in the past met the safety standards during the major natural calamities like January 26, 2002 Gujarat earthquake and the December 2004 Tsunami.
He said Pakistan was working with the international community to ensure the security of its nuclear installations, which were always in safe hands.
Activists, experts and scientists across the country have come together to challenge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dream project to double the nuclear energy-based power generation in the country, reports Sheela Bhatt.
"The recent developments have resulted in an atmosphere which is not conducive for a happy friendly tie between the two teams which have immense respect for each other," AITA General Secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee wrote to the ITF in an email seen by Reuters.
Clearing the decks for early commissioning of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Madras high court on Friday held that its two units did not suffer from any infirmity for want of approvals and rejected safety fears as 'unfounded'.
Strongly favouring nuclear power, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said there would be no compromise on safety of atomic plants and it would be harmful to close the additional source of energy.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea seeking a stay on commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear plant till all safety measures are put in place.
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