India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

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RoyG
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by RoyG »

India won't sign the CTBT or formally join the NSG anytime soon. As long as we have the dragon to the north and the arab wannabe baboons to the west, the PMO isn't even considering it. On the nuclear front, the Jaitapur deal is dead. Modi conveyed to Putin his interest in acquiring 22 VVER1200 reactors as well as a Indo-Russian pipeline project. We are now at the stage where we are aligning with the Asian powers. The Anglo-Saxon powers including the US are sending their poodle Kerry to sing praise and do damage control. Bloody swine is going to be in for the usual chai biscoot session while Modi holds a mace behind his back.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by member_20317 »

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ind ... 250290.cms
India and Russia hold major consultation to set up 22 nuclear power projects in India
By ET Bureau | 30 Jul, 2014, 01.00AM IST

NEW DELHI: India and Russia held major consultation in the realm of nuclear research away from the public eye ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Brazil in July.

Nuclear energy was a key element at Modi-Putin talks. Both countries are discussing to set up Russian assisted 22 nuclear power projects in India.

Last month a scientific forum was held at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in the Russian city of Dubna with support from both the governments. The aim of the forum were to strengthen the existing co-operation further as well as explore the possibility of stronger ties between scientific research centers of India and JINR in the fields of fundamental theoretical and experimental physics.

JINR is a large multidisciplinary scientific-research institute with unique set of the basic research instruments executing its program on basis of broad international cooperation, including 150 institutes and universities of Russia. JINR could serve as a "bridge" connecting Russian organizations with institutes and universities of India, facilitating mutually beneficial cooperation on Russian and Indian scientists, according to officials of the both governments.

The forum was participated by more than 60 leading reserchers from JINR member states and 20 reputed experts from leading scientific research institutions of India, in particular from TIFR (Mumbai), IMSc (Chennai), IISc (Bangaluru), IOP (Bhubaneswar), IACS (Kolkata), Calcutta University, BARC (Mumbai). Currently there were two Indian scientists who are working at JINR as employees.

The forum was participated by more than 60 leading reserchers from JINR member states and 20 reputed experts from leading scientific research institutions of India, in particular from TIFR (Mumbai), IMSc (Chennai), IISc (Bangaluru), IOP (Bhubaneswar), IACS (Kolkata), Calcutta University, BARC (Mumbai). Currently there were two Indian scientists who are working at JINR as employees.

One very important part of the forum was a series of visits of the Indian scientists to the unique experimental facilities of JINR that included the Nuclotron-M in LHEP, accelerator complex in FLNR, IBR-2 reactor and spectrometer complex in FLNP.

JINR was established through the Convention signed on 26 March 1956 in Moscow by representatives of eleven founding states to unite their scientific and material potential in order to study fundamental properties of matter. It was registered with the United Nations on 1 February 1957. The Institute is situated in Dubna 120 km to the north of Moscow. The main fields of JINR's activity are theoretical and experimental studies in elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics.

JINR comprises seven Laboratories, each being comparable with a large institute in the scale and scope of investigations performed.

JINR has at present 18 Member States: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, D. P. Republic of Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Participation of Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Republic of South Africa and Serbia. This is on based on bilateral agreements signed on the governmental level.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by SaiK »

china is the only nation investing heavy in nuke power.. 28 of 49 are under construction.

we need to up the ante on Th based power!
RoyG
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by RoyG »

The problem is we aren't moving towards lead based fast reactors or MSRs. Sodium is dangerous. We also have this big secret about a substantial chunk of our throrium reserves that have moved abroad. Our nuclear industry is sick and needs some private homegrown investment.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by sum »

X-post:
sum wrote:From Broadsword:
Is India’s nuclear command network ready?

Awards presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to two DRDO project teams on Aug 20th in the category of “Strategic Contribution” suggest rapid evolution in the command and control networks for India’s nuclear arsenal.

(a) A team led by U Jeya Santhi was awarded for “design, development, erection and commissioning of Strategic Command and Control infrastructure comprising a secured, multi-layered, Strategic Communication Network and specialised… hardened structures.”

(b) A team led by K Ravi Sankar, was awarded for developing “Security Solutions for Strategic Communication Networks for securing sensitive data… high-speed point-to-point links which incorporate indigenous high grade encryption algorithms.”
akashganga
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by akashganga »

Very good discussion on the thorium cycle future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmftpFLFNiA
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Shankk »

Rajasthan Nuclear Plant Makes History, Runs Uninterrupted for Over 2 Years

This plant recovered its entire cost in just 4 years and its expected lifespan is 40 years. It burnt 82 tonnes of uranium against equivalent coal plant that would burn 3 million tonnes of coal for same amount of electricity. Shows the benefits of nuclear power really well.
An indigenously made nuclear plant in Rajasthan has created history by running continuously for a period 765 days, or a little over two years. Usually, most nuclear plants globally need to be shut down every year for maintenance; only well-maintained facilities can run for longer periods.
With this achievement, the 220 MW reactor has beaten an American unit which ran for 739 days at a stretch. Unit-5 at Rawatbhata, a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) made at a cost of Rs. 1200 crore in 2010, is run by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and is now ranked number two globally for continuous generation of electricity by a nuclear plant.
In this 765-day period, the reactor produced about 4258 million units of electricity, lighting up nearly 2.5 million homes in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The NPCIL earned Rs. 1225 crore by selling the electricity generated by the Rawatbhata plant. According to estimates, this was more than the cost of installing the plant.
Aditya_V
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Aditya_V »

Wow ROI without interest in 4 years, no wonder NGO's are hired to stop such plants.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by jagga »

Cancer behind 70% deaths in India's atomic energy hubs
MUMBAI: Cancer caused almost 70% of the 3,887 health-related deaths in the atomic energy hubs across the country over the last 20 years, an RTI reply has revealed. In all, 2,600 succumbed to cancer in 19 centres between 1995 and 2014.

The query to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), which, like the others, is under the Department of Atomic Energy, had another shocking revelation: 255 employees took their own lives while in harness in the same period, meaning an average of almost one every month over 20 years. Investigations showed they were mostly over prolonged illness or family problems.
Another oncologist pointed out that the data says the deaths occurred while the people were still in employment. "Cancer is a disease of the old. If it occurred in so many people below 60, it is a matter of concern."
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Prem »

Manmohan sabotaged India’s Nuclear capability’
http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/man ... capability
he then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh followed an unwritten policy of severely downsizing both the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBT) as well as the thorium-based technology programme, thereby making India dependent on foreign countries for advanced nuclear technology, key scientists claim on the condition of anonymity. The scientists say that by 2003, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) — which comes directly under the Prime Minister — was within four years of mastering the 1 Gigawatt nuclear power plant technology now being supplied by China to Pakistan.However, "from 2005 onwards, the PM turned his attention towards signing a nuclear deal, which would make India one of the top three global markets for nuclear power companies in the US and Europe rather than a competitor of companies based in these locations" in the lucrative nuclear power technology market. At the same time, "no serious effort was made to clear the legal and other obstacles to mining extra quantities of uranium in Andhra Pradesh and the Northeast".Instead, the (foreign-funded) NGOs behind the agitation against uranium mining "were given privileged access, including in the Ministry of Environment". According to them, "The attention given to the Fast Breeder Reactor and Thorium programmes were reduced still further by 2008, when discussions began with international companies about supply of reactors to India". If this had not been done, scientists say that by 2013 at the latest, India may have been able to develop the technology for 1 Gigawatt reactors, thereby creating an export market with a potential for sales of $4 billion initially. This advantage was handed over to China "because of the lack of interest and attention given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to indigenous nuclear technology". Incidentally, scientists warn that China is now on the cusp of mastering the technology of 2 Gigawatt reactors, while India is now forced to rely on overseas suppliers for 1 Gigawatt (or 1,000 Megawatt) nuclear power plants.Now that Narendra Modi is Prime Minister, the scientists are hopeful of a return to the level of interest shown by Indira Gandhi towards the indigenous nuclear programme, in place of Manmohan Singh's policy of relying instead on foreign technology and manufacturers for developing such energy sources. A scientist claimed that in case the Indian private sector too partners the DAE, within the next five years, "India can become one of the top three nuclear power plant exporters globally and the top destination for space launches". He and his colleagues repeated that the Manmohan Singh government's "lack of interest in developing Indian resources and technology was clear from each of the small number of interactions which the PM had with the scientific establishment". Rather than "Make in India", the watchword was "Export to India".Alarmingly, the scientists warned that rare earths as well as thorium deposits were being exported out of the country to unknown destinations, and named a clutch of Tamil Nadu-based companies as being the worst offenders. In one such instance, in 2007, a case got registered by the DAE against V.V. Minerals for quarrying and exporting sands rich in precious minerals from Tirunelveli. The company, together with Indian Port Terminals, Kilburn Chemicals and Transworld Garnet (all based in Tamil Nadu), has also been accused of exporting restricted minerals in the guise of sand mining in Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. Although reports of such mining multiplied, "the central authorities took no cognizance". Finally, on 6 August 2013, the collector of Thoothukui district warned in writing that certain companies had illegally quarried as much as 239,712 MT of precious minerals from beaches in the state, only to get transferred for his pains. As a consequence, precious minerals such as garnet, rutile, ilmenite and monazite (which contains thorium) continue to get exported as ordinary sand, without any effort by the authorities to prevent such a denuding of India's indigenous stock of rare earths and precious minerals.

A scientist pointed out that in 2006, the Manmohan Singh government removed rare minerals such as rutile, zircon, garnet and ilmenite from the Atomic Minerals List, thereby giving the precious sand mafias operating in the country carte blanche to take away such minerals for export to unknown destinations. "This decision, which harmed the country's interests significantly, was carried out by the Department of Atomic Energy under pressure from the Prime Minister's Office", a scientist claimed. "Such a decision was in line with others degrading domestic capacities for the benefit of foreign entities", the scientist added.It may be mentioned that a single company, V.V. Minerals, controls over 15 kilometres of beach area in three districts of Tamil Nadu, while also having control (through lease deeds) of several thousand acres of land rich in precious minerals.Monazite is an important feedstock for thorium, cerium and lanthanum, and scientists say that the casual manner in which its (thinly disguised) export was treated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "has no parallel anywhere in the world". An intelligence analyst claimed that key executives of companies involved in illicit mining "frequented Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and met up with ISI officials there". He claimed that the Pakistan nuclear establishment is building up a stock of thorium for its own research, all of which comes from minerals illegally exported from India. He warned that "ports on both the coasts are riddled with officers acting under the influence of the ISI, which has spent decades cultivating such individuals". Scientists say that there has been a "Decade of Neglect" under Manmohan Singh of the Fast Breeder and Thorium programmes, despite the fact that "when Manmohan Singh took charge as PM in 2004, India was the world leader" in both technologies. The scientists say that the country can "change from a dumping ground for foreign equipment into an exporter of even 1 Gigawatt reactors", once Manmohan Singh's legacy of neglect of domestic capacities in favour of foreign imports gets reversed.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by SanjayC »

^^^ MMS was without doubt a CIA mole. The more I read about him, the more I am convinced.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Sanku »

Jhujar wrote:Manmohan sabotaged India’s Nuclear capability’
http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/man ... capability
At least no the cheerleaders of the sell out called the 123 deal should have the honesty to hang their heads in shame. For years these matter were pointed out by many including me as one of the louder voices.

I did get called a number of names and a couple of warnings/bans for the effort, but I am glad, at least the truth is being spoken about more openly now.
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Accelerating 3rd stage of Thorium program

Post by Rien »

There are two technologies of interest for speeding up the 3rd stage. The current plan is to first build sodium reactors, then 30-40 years later finally get around to building thorium reactors. That takes far too long, but was the best plan with the technology available to Bhabha at the time he came up with this plan.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/09/fusion ... -with.html

That means an alternative to waiting for the 2nd stage to be completed, we can start building the third stage now. Breeding U-233 by fusion is a shortcut. :D
RoyG
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by RoyG »

Sanku wrote:
Jhujar wrote:Manmohan sabotaged India’s Nuclear capability’
http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/man ... capability
At least no the cheerleaders of the sell out called the 123 deal should have the honesty to hang their heads in shame. For years these matter were pointed out by many including me as one of the louder voices.

I did get called a number of names and a couple of warnings/bans for the effort, but I am glad, at least the truth is being spoken about more openly now.
Yup, the whole deal was bull*hit. Countries would've eventually had to open up on the nuclear front given the huge economy that we have but instead we chose to beg for it and retard our own development and sell off our precious rare earth minerals and thorium. It is IMPERATIVE that we setup a special cell within the government to take stock of how much of every element on the periodic table and other resources are left in India and we have to plan accordingly. Recycling programs are also a must.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by vishvak »

Pakistan nuclear establishment is building up a stock of thorium for its own research, all of which comes from minerals illegally exported from India.
I think it is time India too plans to stock Thorium from India, else we may have to import it from pakis! Atleast pakis don't mind stocking up on thorium and such minerals from India. Such thinly disguised and unparalleled efforts could have been done in India would have got us some stock of Thorium already.
member_22733
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by member_22733 »

Those 'Indians' who illegally sold thorium to other countries must be hung from the nearest lamp post.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Kamal_raj »

Guys, this stealing thorium is just a conspiracy theory. Thorium is abundantly available across the world. People don't even look for thorium because it is of not much use at the moment. We can buy 10 times the amount that was allegedly exported and it may just cause a blip in the price for thorium.


Regds
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by SSridhar »

India-Australia N-deal: devil is in the detail - Debabrata Das, Business Line
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Neshant »

India supposedly has 50% of the world's thorium reserves.

That might be because other countries have not even bothered to explore for it.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Ramu »

Kamal_raj wrote:Guys, this stealing thorium is just a conspiracy theory. Thorium is abundantly available across the world. People don't even look for thorium because it is of not much use at the moment. We can buy 10 times the amount that was allegedly exported and it may just cause a blip in the price for thorium.


Regds
I hope you are right and its not another aksai chin defence.
Why would anyone put such extraordinary effort to get our beach sand?
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by SSridhar »

Ramu wrote:Why would anyone put such extraordinary effort to get our beach sand?
Just to put a spoke in our 3-stage nuclear power programme, perhaps?
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Pratyush »

Are we sure that the sand was exported. Is it not possible that it was mined by the sand mafia for local construction. Either way we get the same result.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by MN Kumar »

Pratyush wrote:Are we sure that the sand was exported. Is it not possible that it was mined by the sand mafia for local construction. Either way we get the same result.
Illegal beach sand mining is a huge scam. Check these links:
member_28714
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by member_28714 »

There is enough thorium in the world to not have to steal it. But just having thorium is not going to give anyone energy. Understanding a fertile elements fuel/burn cycle is a multi decade process, heck just understanding a fissile elements burn cycle takes several years.

wrt thorium, India's advantage is not the huge reserves but the Intellectual Capital that we have gathered. Hopefully that is not lost to spying or data theft.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by symontk »

I am not sure about this controversy. Majority of the Thorium sands in the World are in India and particularly in Andhra. As a beach sand, it will not magically come, it has to come from rivers. Rivers get it from mountains. I believe the sands are part of both eastern ghats and western ghats

Also it was reported that Thorium sands in the tune thousands of Million tonnes were exported, as of now India's entire thorium resources are only less than a million tonne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occurrence_of_thorium
MN Kumar
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by MN Kumar »

The mining scam in AP isnt restricted to Thorium but also Titanium. Close aid of YSR was indicted by the FBI.

Six indicted in United States over Andhra mining scam

Most of the licenses for beach sand mining were apparently given flouting every norm and rule. DAE wasnt even consulted. Some licenses were given without any expiry dates. Read this in a local telugu daily and surprisingly no main stream media has covered this news.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by vishvak »

If thorium sands are in abundance -and also unexplored at the same time which puts question mark on estimates - then, why are we not importing thorium sands as well? No one export sands rich in thorium, titanium etc - is the only accurate estimate right now. By the way, YSR and his party seems to have got away with what is a resource of huge importance considering that no one can complain of pollution from thorium reactors.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Theo_Fidel »

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/lZevs7 ... utput.html

UCIL’s Jaduguda mine closure to impact nuclear power output
The mine was closed following a Jharkhand government order after the Centre’s 18 July directive asking states to clamp down on mines operating under second or third deemed renewals. Achrya said the mine lease had expired long back. “We have appraised the government of the situation and hope the problem will be resolved,” he said. Following the Centre’s directive 12 out of the state’s 17 operational iron ore mines in Jharkhand had been closed impacting companies, including SAIL and Tata Steel.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Philip »

Sanku,yes.I was also warned off on several occasions when I spoke out against Quisling Singh's betrayal of the nation's national Nuclear interests.In fact the quisling should be put on trial for his many misdemeanours ,anti-national acts,gargantuan corruption scams,which have had no parallel in modern Indian history.

Even as the second reactor is getting ready to go on stream,he fifth columnists are now gearing up to sabotage the planned future reactors at KKNPP with the scoundrel Udayakumar threatening further anti-nuclear/national activities.There was an earlier report that perhaps Russian pres.Putin would visit the plant during his visit to India in Dec. With announcements of further reactors to be built.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/ ... 419445.ece
Koodankulam N-plant Second Unit to Start Fission in November
By IANS

Published: 07th September 2014
CHENNAI: The second 1,000 MW unit at the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) is expected to start fission process in November while the first unit is yet to restart power generation, according to the project operators.

According to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), which manages the project, the second unit whose physical progress is 97.49 percent complete is expected to go critical (start nuclear fission for the first time) in November this year.

The NPCIL, instead of its usual practice of specifying the unit's expected date of commercial operation, has this time given the expected date of the plant attaining criticality.

Prior to that, the operator has to do a series of tests like hot run of the nuclear steam supply systems, removal of the dummy fuel (fuel assemblies that are exact replica of actual nuclear fuel assemblies, both in dimension and weight but without uranium) loading of the actual fuel and others, according to the NPCIL website.

During the hot run process, the nominal parameters of the plant are achieved and tests are conducted for design evaluation of the plant. After this, the nuclear fuel is loaded and the reactor is made critical - the time when the fission process starts.

Curiously, the time gap between these operations was a couple of months when the first unit started the fission process.

Meanwhile, the first unit, that was shut down for maintenance works in mid-July, is expected to start power generation Sep 10, according to Power System Operation Corporation Ltd.

Recently, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) gave its permission to restart the unit.

India's atomic power plant operator NPCIL is setting up two 1,000 MW Russian reactors at Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district, 650 km from here. The total outlay for the project is over Rs.17,000 crore.

The KKNPP is India's first pressurised water reactor belonging to the light water reactor category. The first unit attained criticality July 2013.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Ramu »

SSridhar wrote:
Ramu wrote:Why would anyone put such extraordinary effort to get our beach sand?
Just to put a spoke in our 3-stage nuclear power programme, perhaps?
Precisely. The point being we have been robbed with our eyes wide open.
No matter how abundant it is, once you lost what you had NOBODY will sell it to you back. Not even your chacha. They will make you beg in front of united nations and ask you to sign another nuclear deal.

So guys please don't use this aksai chin logic. These culprits need shaming and punishing.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Philip »

Arch Quisling Udayakumar tried to sneak out to Nepal (the hotbed of ISI and other anti-Indian intel outfits) on a flight to attend a "conference",but was prevented from doing so by alert airport officials.Udayakumar faces numerous serious charges including "sedition" framed by the TN police.His arrest was expected soon after the general elections.Was he trying to slip away before arrest on the pretext of attending a conference? Since his passport was impounded,he tried to use an identity card to fly to Nepal,which is accepted. From there he could've flown the coop using a fake passport provided for him by his handlers!
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by vsunder »

deleted
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Austin »

Russia’s Rosatom to build irradiation centers in India
26/09/2014 Itar-Tass
Rusatom Overseas, a unit of Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom, will receive a 49% stake in India’s Gamma Tech to jointly build irradiation sterilization centers in the country, Rusatom Overseas said late Thursday.

The companies plan to open first two pilot irradiation centers in the Tamil-Nadu state. Further centers will be opened in the Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra states.

The centers will carry out sterilization of food and medical purpose products via ionizing radiation.

Now Rusatom Overseas is finishing building two irradiation sterilization centers in Russia.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Tanaji »

With the recent parting of ways between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, expect to say goodbye to the Jaitapur site for nuclear power plants from Areva. The Sena is on record opposing the plants and now that they dont have an electoral tie-up, they will oppose anything from BJP tooth and nail just to spite their face.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Austin »

India’s nuclear power

While the performance of India’s nuclear power reactors offers plenty of reasons to cheer, there are many hurdles ahead. By T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
THE mood in Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) now is upbeat. The fifth unit of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS-5) at Rawatbhatta achieved a record continuous operation for 765 days at its full capacity of 220 MWe on September 6. Vinod Kumar, Station Director, RAPS 5 and 6, is proud of this, the second best achievement for a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) after the 540 MWe seventh unit at Pickering Nuclear Generation Station in Canada achieved a world record in 1994 by running continuously for 894 days. Both RAPS-5 and Pickering-7 are PHWRs, which use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as coolant and moderator. RAPS-5 is an indigenous reactor built by NPCIL, a public-sector undertaking (PSU) under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

Power from Kudankulam


There are other reasons, too, for the buoyant mood in NPCIL. The 1,000 MWe first unit at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station in Tamil Nadu will begin commercial generation of power in September. The second 1,000 MWe unit there is racing towards criticality. The Kudankulam units are Light Water Reactors (LWRs) imported from Russia but assembled by NPCIL in civil works completed by it. They use enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant.

Three-stage programme


India has envisaged an inter-linked three-stage nuclear electricity generation programme. In the first stage, India already has 18 PHWRs which use natural uranium as fuel. The spent uranium from these reactors is reprocessed to obtain Plutonium-239. The second stage aims at building breeder reactors using this Plutonium-239 and uranium as fuel.

By March 2015, India will enter the commercial domain of breeder reactors when its 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, reaches criticality. Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), another PSU of the DAE, which is tasked with building breeder reactors, will build four more breeders, including another two at Kalpakkam.

In the third stage, Uranium-233 and thorium will drive the advanced thorium reactors. The DAE plans to build a 300 MWe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), which will use thorium as fuel.

India right now has 21 reactors with a total installed capacity of 5,780 MWe. This is a mix of 18 PHWRs and three LWRs (two at Tarapur and one at Kudankulam).

Target and challenges

The DAE’s target is to generate 20,000 MWe by 2020. It can reach 10,080 MWe by 2017 by building four PHWRs of 700 MWe each (two each at Rawatbhatta and Kakrapara in Gujarat), the second unit at Kudankulam, and the PFBR. If the construction of Kudankulam 3 and 4 begins in 2015, it is possible for the installed nuclear power capacity to reach 12,080 MWe by 2020. This will be far short of the target of 20,000 MWe.

There is uncertainty about the construction of 18 imported reactors of more than 1,000 MWe each, with six units each at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh, Mithi Virdi in Gujarat and Haripur in West Bengal, because land has to be acquired from farmers. The Mamata Banerjee government has firmly shut the door on the Haripur project.

Excavation of natural uranium from Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya will have to be stepped up to drive the 700 MWe indigenous PHWRs under construction and those in the pipeline. Whether it can be done, given the strong opposition to uranium mining projects from the Lambadi tribal people, naxalites and the local people in Andhra Pradesh, and the Khasi Students’ Union in Meghalaya, is a moot question.
chetak
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by chetak »

Black lentils onlee

Something is just not sitting right


Experts call for thorium deal between India, US


Robinder Sachdeva Washington | 27th Sep 2014


As Prime Minister Narendra Modi engages the United States and the global community, and as India celebrates the success of the Mars mission, experts in both New Delhi and Washington say it is time for India under Modi to cross another historic barrier and take global leadership — in harnessing thorium for energy.

The energy needs of not only India, but the global community will get a revolutionary boost if the Prime Minister sets his mind to achieve this goal, they claim. While India is already a world-leader in thorium technology, yet despite the hard work of its scientists there is no clear road-map as to when India will turn on the tap of thorium energy. Without partnership with the US, this may take decades which India and the world can ill-afford, in a context where fossil fuels are expensive both in price as well as in climate damage.

They want Prime Minister Modi in his 29 September dinner meeting with President Obama to strike a grand partnership with the United States on the development of thorium energy. This partnership is not needed due to any lack of technology skills on India's part, but rather is needed to leverage the mutual capabilities, according to top scientists eager for nuclear cooperation between the US and India.

While India under Modi is expected to continue strongly on its R&D path to develop thorium energy, in order to fast track the development, India needs large scale research labs set in remote areas since the radioactivity levels in such labs are high. At present India does not have any such facilities — whereas the United States has infrastructure where such experiments can be carried out. Incidentally, the US has a huge problem of nuclear waste at its hands, which is ticking like a time bomb. Enhanced nuclear partnership brings a solution to this dilemma also, since thorium-based power plants use nuclear waste to generate power.

India has a substantial technical lead in the development of thorium based nuclear power and has the only operating power plant based on thorium in the world. However, by itself and given financial limitations, it is expected to take another 15-20 years for India to reach mass implementation for power generation based on this technology. A thorium-specific partnership with US entities could cut this time to technology maturation in half or less and thus the benefits to global economic development will be immense. Scientists say that both countries can be leaders in this 21st century technology that has the capability of meeting energy needs safely and cheaply.

Thorium technology will bring immense and unique strategic value for India. Firstly, India has over 30% of world reserves of thorium. With indigenous technology ready by, say 2024 to exploit thorium, India can aim to be significantly independent of fossil fuels by 2047.

Secondly, with thorium technology developed by India, and with its own fuel, India will be able to export a bundled package of "technology + fuel" to other developing countries. This export will help the global energy situation, contribute uniquely to India's deeper geo-political relations with countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and bring earnings to India.

Thorium has significant advantage over uranium as a fuel, since it reduces the risk of nuclear waste management and dangers of proliferation — both problems associated with uranium. Also, in the long term, world supplies of uranium are expected to last no more than 80-100 years by various estimates, and thereafter thorium fuel shall be the only route to generate nuclear energy.

The problem of thorium based waste management will be initially about the same as it is at present. However, when recycling and closed fuel cycle is implemented in terms of their full potential, the thorium based waste will make the problem virtually disappear. This will bring a huge relief to the global community.

A thorium partnership with India will also give the United States access to the resulting industrial grade technology, and assured supply of thorium fuel for its own domestic needs for next hundreds of years from a stable, democratic partner.

Upon industrial grade readiness of thorium based reactors, the two countries can jointly export and market a complete bundled technology and fuel solution to other third countries thereby reducing threats of nuclear proliferation, weaning global communities away from fossil fuel dependency, aiding rapid scaling of energy capacities, and alleviating dangers to climate change, and thus rendering a historic shift in global energy, geopolitics, and food security.

Thus, the partnership is not about money or scientific assistance to either party, but is primarily born out of recognition of core competencies, assets, and needs of each party. With an aggressive can-do attitude this partnership shall bring a true revolution for the energy, food, and geopolitical security needs of this century.

Various details of the partnership — the mechanism, the policy, the physics, the engineering, the IPR, and several such matters, and protection of sovereign interest will of course be fiercely negotiated and addressed by each country. Hence the call from experts on both sides that a "Thorium Partnership" ought to be a key area of cooperation between India and the US, and that the two world leaders need to factor in this requirement in their discussions on 29-30 September. Thorium can become the key that will unlock prosperity for hundreds of millions across the globe, a goal dear to both leaders.
svinayak
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by svinayak »

Other powers want to know and catch up on Thorium research.

India is the world leader in this domain and need to have IP protection in the rest of the world in this field.
SaiK
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by SaiK »

^^we have to be very careful in the details of the devil.. -> liabilities law.. we are poor in drafting details.
Vipul
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Vipul »

India set to enter global nuclear club.

India has completed all the requirements for membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the US told the Indian side during the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.

This brings India much closer to becoming part of the global nuclear system, and essential if India has to access nuclear and dual-use technologies in fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals and space. India has been negotiating for membership to NSG, MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group for the past few years.

Meanwhile, the contact group on civil nuclear issues will have its first meeting within weeks, said sources. On the Indian side, it will have key officials from MEA, DAE and NPCIL, while on the US side, it will involve officials from their department of energy (DoE), and lawyers and technical experts.

Modi has reportedly let it be known that he wants an early resolution to the outstanding issues, which can speed up the growth of nuclear power. India has believed for a while that the quest for clean energy, a big part of Modi's agenda, is not possible without nuclear power.

The two sides will wrestle through a couple of big issues. On the US side, the administrative arrangements on the civil nuclear deal with India involves the thorny aspect of their insistence that they have the right to track nuclear fuel through the entire nuclear process. India will not agree. But a resolution on this is imperative because on this hinges the fate of two other nuclear agreements - with Japan and Australia.

On the Indian side, the effort will be to convince the US that the liability law is not a constraint. The Indian government is in the process of drawing up a detailed list of components, specifying the amount of liability and its timespan. Its supposed to define precisely the scope of the liability law, but so far even Indian companies are not impressed.
chetak
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by chetak »

SaiK wrote:^^we have to be very careful in the details of the devil.. -> liabilities law.. we are poor in drafting details.
Vested interests will ensure that loopholes are silently and deeply pre configured into the agreement. This is the role of the middlemen who dance to the financial tunes of their principals thereby putting the country at risk. Indians working to undermine their own system. The brits have trained us well.
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