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.
In a significant message to the business lobby in Washington, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill.The move will encourage the nuclear power plant manufacturing companies, which have been eyeing the Rs 60,000-crore plus market in India, for the next 5-10 years. According to sources, the government will fix the civil liability at approximately Rs 2,400 crore for the manufacturers.
Fresh power capacity addition has fallen short of target by nearly a third in the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal, owing to delays in the supply of critical components in thermal projects, delayed forest clearances and non-availability of fuel for a nuclear power project.
The deal would allow Japan to export nuclear technology to India, making it the first non-NPT signatory to have such a deal with Tokyo. It would also cement the bilateral economic and security ties as the two countries warm up to counter an assertive China.
'All the government needs to do is to identify clear political and strategic objectives and to give the military planners a free hand,' asserts Ajai Shukla.
China, one of the five recognised nuclear powers, on Tuesday said it has never engaged in proliferation, days after Pakistan's disgraced scientist A Q Khan claimed his country had helped it in enrichment technology in return for atomic bomb blue-prints.
Former Defence Research and Development Organisation scientist K Santhanam, who had questioned the success of the thermonuclear device during the Pokhran-II tests, has favoured an inquiry to determine the results of the 1998 experiments, saying creation of nuclear power could not be based on myths.
A leading Chinese scholar has demanded that India should make its atomic programme"transparent" and questioned its status as a legitimate nuclear weapon state, in a commentary that comes in the midst of intense media focus on reports of Chinese incursions along the border.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
The Telangana agitation over the Centre's decision to create a new state in the region has forced several companies, including Bharat Forge, the Lakshmi Mittal Group and the NTPC-BHEL joint venture, to either put their expansion plans on hold or explore other states.
'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'
The Karnataka police has filed a first information report into the case of radiation contamination of a drinking water cooler at the nuclear power plant here, but the document does not name any accused.
Pakistan on Monday termed the induction of an indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine by India as a 'destabilising step' and said it was capable of defending itself in the face of all such regional challenges. "The government of Pakistan is fully aware of this issue and is prepared to counter it at all levels. Pakistan's defence is fully prepared to face this challenge," Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told reporters.
'If the BJP comes back to power, Sterlite will open in one week.' 'If the Congress comes to power, it will open in one month.'
Westinghouse Electric Co, owned by Toshiba Corp, and the joint venture GE-Hitachi, are likely to win the US contracts.
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
India Inc honchos Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and others are likely to explore measures to boost bilateral business ties during their brainstorming session over breakfast with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on Saturday.
A framework agreement on Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) is expected to be signed between the two sides during the visit.
Baldev Raj, scientist and director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, said the current installed nuclear power generation capacity is likely to increase five-fold to 25,000 Mwe by 2050 from the current 3,900 Mwe. The proposed expansion would require over Rs 125,000 crore. Nuclear power accounts for 3 per cent of India's total electricity generation and is estimated to go up to 25 per cent in 2050.
Recommending an end to all cesses and surcharges on taxes, and free pricing of fertiliser and fuel ahead of the Union Budget for 2009-10, the Economic Survey on Thursday suggested aggressive divestment and financial sector reforms to bring the economy back to high growth track.
Lokanath Mahalingam, an employee at Kaiga Atomic Power Station, who has been missing for the past four days, was not in possession of any classified information, said Nageshwar Rao, director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, Operations.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said Pakistan will offer the Indian leadership an "olive branch" to resume the bilateral Composite Dialogue as both countries cannot afford war.
India and the US may clinch the much-awaited "arrangements and procedures" agreement on reprocessing the spent nuclear fuel of American origin when they meet in Vienna soon. The talks between officials of the nuclear establishments of the two countries are expected to take place within the next fortnight and will be observed very closely by US companies which are keen to set up nuclear power plants in India.
The Obama administration has said that North Korea should give up its ambition of becoming a nuclear power before returning to the denuclearisation talks.
NPCIL executive director (corporate planning) S Thakur said fuel supply to its plants is now much better compared to the situation 2-3 years ago.
The Lashkar has kept Indian terrorists out of such operations as planners at the terror outfit feel Indians lack maritime expertise. Preference is being given to youth from the Maldives.
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.
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.
Arihant, the first submarine under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) programme, was launched for sea trials on July 26 this year at a naval yard in Visakhapatnam by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gurcharan Kaur.
'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 Indian Navy is all set to join the global elite club on Sunday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formally launches the indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant at the naval dockyard of the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.Prime Minister will arrive at the ENC's airbase INS Dega in Visakhapatnam by a special Indian Air Force plane along with his wife at 11 am and drive straight to the naval dockyard to commission INS Arihant into the sea.
The government must justify why we need to buy foreign reactors when we have developed up to 700 MWe unit-size pressurised heavy water reactors, a design which can be easily extended to 900 to 1000 MWe unit size. Why can't the 'Make in India' philosophy apply to indigenous nuclear reactors, more than 18 of which have been designed, built, and being operated by Indian engineers, asks Dr A Gopalakrishnan.
Manufacturers view the agreement - when it is signed - as a defence against the slowdown in the car market.
Seeking to down play the Indian Army chief's remarks that all options were open for dealing with Pakistan, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani today said there was "tremendous" public pressure on Indian government after the Mumbai attacks and insisted that there was "no threat of war".
Pakistan on Wednesday put its air force on red alert and warplanes conducted 'emergency scrambles' from four key airbases amidst escalating tensions with India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.Soon after the Pakistan Air Force went on red alert, emergency scrambles were conducted at the Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Mianwali airbases, sources were quoted as saying by the private NNI news agency.
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.
"We believe that India is a very important market for us. There is need for electricity in India, and with the opening up of nuclear trade between the United States and India, we can really help India strengthen its nuclear infrastructure with our technology," Meena Mutyala, the newly appointed vice president and business leader for India at Westinghouse, told rediff.com ahead of her trip to India in January.
The JV will provide thorium fuel technology for light water reactors to come up in India, which predominantly generates nuclear power using LWRs. Thorium Power specialises in harnessing nuclear energy by using thorium, which is less radioactive than the conventional nuclear fuel -- uranium.
India is planning a 15-fold increase in its civilian nuclear power programme in the next two decades, the UN's nuclear watchdog said on Thursday. In its latest report titled 'Year in Review 2008', the International Atomic Energy Agency said while no new reactors came online anywhere last year.
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