India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

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shiv
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India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by shiv »

Please start afresh
GuruPrabhu
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by GuruPrabhu »

Afresh with what?

Finding fresh gaalis for scientists?

Finding fresh brains?

I suspect this dhagaa will be anything but fresh. But we can make like Ms Nirupama Rao and declare that Packees are looking at terror "afresh".
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

GP,

There will always be people with unconscious loathing towards fellow Indians and their abilities. These folks will indulge in verbal diarrhea. Just ignore them or when you have time have fun with them, which is something I do from time to time. :-)

However, in between I must say I've learnt a lot from posters such as yourself, Amber, Somnath and host of others. And I hope I've contributed a bit as well.

Right now this puking about ENR is just a continuation of the wails we saw during the great debates we had during the run up the Nuke deal. First it was a wail of CRE then this and then that and now ENR. Sure the NSG decision on ENR was unexpected and in a way a shifting of goalposts. But the way it's being marketed here, it appears that some folks here think that was the central point of the whole deal rather than a one of the many issues involved in the deal, and not even among the most important ones. And from Day One the US and Indian interpretations were different.

As Srikumar Banerjee has said India is not really hankering for ENR but would be good if we get it but it's not the end of the world if we don't.

AK has said, as have others, that this will have to be the deal maker in bilateral negotiations and I think that's the way it will be. I offered a wager to Sanku Maharaj about whether the French would part with ENR tech. However, despite hectoring about "slavery" he refused to take up the wager.

Actually I find it incredible that even folks like BK write what he did, saying that US will have to power to force France and Russia to deny uranium (which I think was the most important reason behind the deal) in 2050, if and when India tests. That shows a total ignoring about where the world in headed IMO - the stuff you indulge in when you want to make a rhetorical statement instead of presenting something serious and thought provoking.

If thought leaders like BK write that then why blame folks for jumping up and down here?
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by negi »

So is this the thread where one can increase his/her post counts and at the same time sound intelligent ? :mrgreen:
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

^^^^

Negi saab you missed another option.

This thread is also a place where folks can parachute in, increase post count, and yet still manage to make an A*s of themselves. :-)
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by negi »

Negi might be an Ass but he is definitely not an Asslick&r :rotfl:
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

negi wrote:Negi might be an Ass but he is definitely not an Asslick&r :rotfl:

Tut, tut, who called you an Ass??? :oops:

Far be it Negi saab. I've always maintained you're a cool dude.

You made a general comment which sounded intelligent, with value add to this thread, and so I tried my hand in also making a comment which I had hoped would sound as intelligent as yours.

Gustaphi Maap, if it sounded like an Asslick&r comment. It was never my intention to castigate your comment thus! :-)
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by JE Menon »

Shiv, good one :D

GuruPrabhu, boss, first of all welcome back. I know its a bit late, but still. Meanwhile, all opinions are needed no? Even though we may vehemently disagree, agree to disagree, etc. etc... This is not to say that I personally disagree with your comments... In short your posts are valuable and we would not like things to get sidetracked to the personal.

Meanwhile, to all and sundry, strongly recommend that no abusive or suchlike language is used against people who have done a great deal for the country. No one is saying don't criticise, but please criticise with wisdom and dignity... These are not AQK types, no matter what one may think of them - far from it. My humble suggestion is use language that you would use if you meet them face to face.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by somnath »

There was some renewed discussion in the earlier thread on whether thorium is "viable" at all..

An interesting perspective, from UK!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... lear-power
To successfully reduce the risk of climate change we need to commericalise affordable, safe, flexible, long-lasting, low carbon sources of energy. We do not know yet if LFTRs fit the bill but they look extremely promising. It would be irresponsible to dismiss them out of hand before finding out. If the UK is serious about pursuing nuclear power, and it appears that it is, then we must include the pursuit of thorium power in this endeavour. On paper it looks like it may just save us.
Ironically, from a card carrying "green"!

Another interesting bit - look at the photo in that article - its from BARC...When was the last time one saw a mass media write-up on a frontier area of science (unrelated to "India"), with the accompanying illustration being from India? To me, it displays our competitive advantage in the area...
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by merlin »

Wasn't it Kakodkar who said recently that denial of ENR is betrayal of the clean exception given to India?
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Sanku »

merlin wrote:Wasn't it Kakodkar who said recently that denial of ENR is betrayal of the clean exception given to India?
Yups....
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by ShauryaT »

India, ENR and NSG - G. Balachandran
Therefore, India should refuse the offer of NSG membership even if it is offered to India in the absence of NPT membership so long as the NSG does not consider transfer of ENR technologies to India under proper safeguards as a legitimate requirement for the progress of Indian civilian nuclear programme.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by SSridhar »

I agree with Shri Balachandran. It will be a travesty if we are an NSG member but we ourselves cannot get ENR technology from another member.
Theo_Fidel

Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Theo_Fidel »

While we are at it, lets remember that a MSR typically requires a running reprocessing facility attached. So far Massa has most of the technology for this locked up.

So an entire class of reactors technology is likely off our import options. Esp. with Hyde law in place.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by harbans »

India offers veiled warning to nuclear suppliers
By AFP

Published Monday, July 04, 2011

India has suggested that countries refusing to match nuclear reactor sales with technology transfers could be frozen out of one of the world's largest reactor markets.

The veiled threat came in a television interview broadcast Sunday, in which Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was asked about new Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines on sensitive uranium enrichment and reprocessing technology.

The guidelines place restrictions on the sale of such technology to countries which, like nuclear-armed India, have not signed up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by tejas »

Finally the GOI understands how to play hardball. The French or Russians are surely likely to break from the pack for the $$$$. Once one breaks there will be a deluge.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by somnath »

ShauryaT wrote:India, ENR and NSG - G. Balachandran
Therefore, India should refuse the offer of NSG membership even if it is offered to India in the absence of NPT membership so long as the NSG does not consider transfer of ENR technologies to India under proper safeguards as a legitimate requirement for the progress of Indian civilian nuclear programme.
Good article, encapsulates some of the known facts..One disconnect though..
Therefore, a transfer of ENR technology to India under the current environment can be made only if India agrees to such conditions i.e. allow for an examination by IAEA or mutually agreed experts to decide whether or not any similar ENR facility constructed by India subsequent to an ENR transfer is or is not based on the transferred technology i.e. whether or not the constructed facility should or should not be covered by IAEA safeguards. If India should consider such a condition a violation of its freedom to separate the civilian and military facilities and not agreeable to it, then transfers of ENR technologies to India may not be possible even if NSG does not bar ENR transfers.
The NSG "waiver" is on civilian nuke trade, not for military! So any imported ENR facility will be under safeguards, by definition...The question of "similar" is a bit of a red herring, how does anyone know if a new ENR facility built by BARC is "similar" to imported tech or not, unless stated by India?

About the rest its a good article...

However, the prescriptions are out of wack..
Currently, NSG is considering on how to accommodate India as an NSG member. As NPT membership is also a criterion for admittance of new members to NSG, the NSG will, therefore, have to craft a language that will allow India to circumvent this requirement.
Any issuance of guidelines by NSG is a laborious, time-consuming process..Its by consensus - it took years of deliberations before the ENR guideline was passed...The US isnt going to spend political capital to hasten it out the way it did last time around...In any case, the "battle" has to be fought bilaterally with individual countries, on commercial negotiations..So why waste time on international law making?
If, however, the NSG is unwilling to consider such a move then India may reconsider its approach to the issue of NSG membership and decline NSG’s offer of NSG membership
This would be very foolish...NSG loses nothing by not having India as a member..However, by being a full member, India ensures that no guidelines can go out that is inimical to our interests, even peripherally, like the latest one on ENR...Its a no-brainer, with NSG working only by consensus, India as a member has veto over all decisions...Especially, on Chinese shenanigans on offering a similar waiver to Pakistan...Once India is on board, Pak will never get a waiver, unless its on India's terms...

BTW, the "fight" has already been opened..France...
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a ... epage=true
This exemption reflects the unique situation of India and constitutes a historical achievement. Therefore, in the French view, nothing in the existing and future guidelines shall be interpreted as detracting from that exemption or reducing the ambition of our bilateral cooperation
“This agreement aims at expanding our existing cooperation to ‘full civil nuclear cooperation for the development and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes’...,” he said. The ambassador emphasised that this “covers all aspects of a civilian nuclear program, including nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management, and scientific cooperation”.
Euros work better, especially in a scenario of a stressed Euozone, than legal niceties :wink:
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by gakakkad »

@ GuruPrabhu would you do us a favour ? Would it be possible to seek clarifications from Kakodkar sir on the following issues ? Or better still would it be possible for you to ask some questions directly to him and post replies ? The thing is that whatever comes out in media is not very clear as journalists don't ask the right questions due to their lack of knowledge .
I have some questions -

Can we reprocess fuel from imported reactors in our own facilities? If not what will happen to the spent fuel ? To what stage of fuel disposal are safeguards likely ? Is there any difference in agreement between different countries ?

What about imported fuel used in Indian reactors , can it be reprocessed in Indian facilities ?

Which country do we have fuel sharing agreements ?

I have heard that an Indian company owns a Uranium mine in an African country.

What is the indigenous production capacity of India? What is the attitude of GOI with this respect ?
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Sanku »

tejas wrote:Finally the GOI understands how to play hardball. The French or Russians are surely likely to break from the pack for the $$$$. Once one breaks there will be a deluge.
With Man Mohan at the helm Govt will play hardball? :rotfl:

Only with Baba Ramdev.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

Deny ENR tech, lose out on Indian N-reactor market: Rao

And the French reaction:

Nothing will detract from NSG's clean waiver to India: France

The decision on ENR was certainly a shifting of goalposts. But on hindsight maybe in a way it would be beneficial for now with it out in the open, it can be good benchmark to use for buying reactors. I think the US companies are going be a very unhappy lot!
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

Sanku wrote:Only with Baba Ramdev.
Yet again you bring in frivolous OT comments in the nuke dhagga and then you ask God what you have done to deserve the treatment you get.

Sigh! Some folks never learn.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by somnath »

amit wrote:And the French reaction:

Nothing will detract from NSG's clean waiver to India: France

The decision on ENR was certainly a shifting of goalposts. But on hindsight maybe in a way it would be beneficial for now with it out in the open, it can be good benchmark to use for buying reactors. I think the US companies are going be a very unhappy lot!
The French reiteration is quite explicit - it only took one veiled threat by an outgoing Foreign Sec..Presumably the negotiations on Jaitapur are at their home stretch! :wink:
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

^^^^

Just to add to my post on ENR above, it's good that this decision by NSG has come before the negotiations with the French and Russian have been finalised.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by amit »

somnath wrote:
amit wrote:And the French reaction:

Nothing will detract from NSG's clean waiver to India: France

The decision on ENR was certainly a shifting of goalposts. But on hindsight maybe in a way it would be beneficial for now with it out in the open, it can be good benchmark to use for buying reactors. I think the US companies are going be a very unhappy lot!
The French reiteration is quite explicit - it only took one veiled threat by an outgoing Foreign Sec..Presumably the negotiations on Jaitapur are at their home stretch! :wink:
Money, irrespective of whether its denominated in US$, Euro or even Rupees is a powerful lever. We only have to see the Chinni example.

And now more so with PIGs about to start flying in Euroland! :-)
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by tejas »

India has finally reached a position where its purchasing power whether in civilian airliners, military aircraft or nuclear reactors CANNOT be ignored at a global level. Obviously with time this situation will only improve. Now is the time to set the wolves against each other. They will fight each other for scaps of meat and our supply of meat is growing day by day.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Kanson »

amit wrote:^^^^

Just to add to my post on ENR above, it's good that this decision by NSG has come before the negotiations with the French and Russian have been finalised.
Yeah, it is good. Unless we(general public) know what was aimed at by Clean waiver, we don't know how good it is going to be.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Kanson »

somnath wrote:
amit wrote:And the French reaction:

Nothing will detract from NSG's clean waiver to India: France

The decision on ENR was certainly a shifting of goalposts. But on hindsight maybe in a way it would be beneficial for now with it out in the open, it can be good benchmark to use for buying reactors. I think the US companies are going be a very unhappy lot!
The French reiteration is quite explicit - it only took one veiled threat by an outgoing Foreign Sec..Presumably the negotiations on Jaitapur are at their home stretch! :wink:
N deal is like walking on the rope, delicately balanced. Devil is in the details. If you are happy that french prostrating at our feet with one veiled threat, good for you. Those who followed the N deal negotiation knows until you reach there, nothing is certain.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Prem »

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/07 ... .html?_r=1
India Stung by Tighter Rules on Nuke Suppliers
Irritation has built up in India over revised rules agreed on last month by the U.S., Russia, France and other major suppliers banning the sales of key technology and equipment that has civilian applications but also can be used to arm nuclear weapons. The agreement does not limit India's access to modern U.S. or other foreign-made reactors that are difficult to use for making fissile warhead material. The move, however, does appear to slam the door on any future attempts by New Delhi to expand its secretive nuclear arms program through foreign purchases of weapons-making technologies. India already can reprocess material from its fast-breeder reactor program to arm its nuclear missiles. So for New Delhi, the issue may be more a sense of injured pride at being rebuffed in strivings to stand shoulder to shoulder with the five "recognized" nuclear powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. In any case, the Asian giant is unhappy at what it sees an anti-Indian move backed by Washington and other suppliers — and is hinting that it may retaliate by cutting them out of any multibillion dollar reactor deals
"A betrayal," is how Anil Kakodar, the former chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission, described the new rules. Washington does appear to be saying that the new restrictions permanently block transfers of enrichment and reprocessing equipment or know-how to all nations outside the 46-member Nuclear Suppliers Group — and that would include India. "The new NSG guidelines don't put the India exception in doubt," a senior U.S. official told the AP. But the official, who asked for anonymity for commenting on the sensitive topic, said they "reinforce the commitment of NSG members to prevent the transfer of items that could be used for weapons purposes." To access NSG equipment, all countries except the five formally recognized nuclear-armed powers normally must accept safeguards of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency meant to ensure that their atomic programs are peaceful. If India makes good on veiled threats to retaliate by boycotting U.S. suppliers, the potential losses are huge. The U.S. nuclear industry could stand to lose billions of dollars in projected reactor sales as the country plans to quadruple its present 5,000 megawatts of nuclear power to 20,000 megawatts by 2020 — a project that could cost it as much as $250 billion (euro173 billion.)
Usual BC chime in
D
aryl G. Kimball, who heads the Washington-based Arms Control Association calls it "an important, if overdue, decision to tighten its rules on the transfer of equipment and technology that can be used to make fissile material for nuclear weapons." The new NSG guidelines, "ensure that sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies will not be transferred to India and used in its unsafeguarded military program," says Kimball, whose organization shared a copy of the restricted text with the AP
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by gakakkad »

The new NSG guidelines, "ensure that sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies will not be transferred to India and used in its unsafeguarded military program," says Kimball, whose organization shared a copy of the restricted text with the AP.
Does not it mean that ENRT can be transferred in a for safeguarded civilian purpose but not for un safeguarded places ? That there is not ban on ENRT transfer.

That should not be an issue as we can manage weapons plutonium on our own . Beside nothing transferred via this deal will be un safeguarded .
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by gakakkad »

Evidence suggests that Associated Press is closely observing our BR forums .
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by somnath »

gakakkad wrote:
The new NSG guidelines, "ensure that sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies will not be transferred to India and used in its unsafeguarded military program," says Kimball, whose organization shared a copy of the restricted text with the AP.
Does not it mean that ENRT can be transferred in a for safeguarded civilian purpose but not for un safeguarded places ? That there is not ban on ENRT transfer.

That should not be an issue as we can manage weapons plutonium on our own . Beside nothing transferred via this deal will be un safeguarded .
This is Kimball' interpretaiton of the guideline - isnt what the guideline itself says (whichs isnt formally know yet, though)...

In any case, all trade under the NSG waiver is "civilian" - there is no "military trade" allowed! So anyone expecting that and deriding the nuke deal is basically creating hot gas...
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Sanku »

somnath wrote: In any case, all trade under the NSG waiver is "civilian" - there is no "military trade" allowed! So anyone expecting that and deriding the nuke deal is basically creating hot gas...
The shifting of goal posts is a usual technique used by those who have nefarious means at end, including this Govt at center.

The deal was promised and sold as a comprehensive package towards breaking out of the stranglehold in all aspects and improving all INDIAN nuclear activity.

Of course it has by now become a dire battle for keeping out grubby hands seeking to rake in money at Indian expense.

With some vested intrests cheering on the process and actually calling it good.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Kanson »

Reactor may attain criticality in 5 months
The much-awaited ‘hot run' of the first of the 2 X 1,000 MWe reactors under construction as part of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) commenced last Friday, indicating that this nuclear reactor may attain criticality within another five months provided the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is satisfied with the functioning of the hi-tech equipment of this reactor and gives its clearance on time.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by ramana »

Balachandran knows his neutrons.

Wehn the entire nuke commentariat is crying foul something that was promised is not being delivered.

Essentially new restrictive practices are being introduced subsequent to the NSG waiver.

Kimball shows what is motivating the intorduction..

Keep that in mind.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by Sanku »

Narayan Rane's son and other Congress people forced their way into a meeting which was planning for future protests against Jaitapur NPP and forced out the folks from there.

--- On TV.

Sort of like Ramlila Maidan Redux (much smaller scale)
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by negi »

gakakkad wrote: Can we reprocess fuel from imported reactors in our own facilities? If not what will happen to the spent fuel ? To what stage of fuel disposal are safeguards likely ?
It's simple imported reactors are under safeguards anything that comes out of those reactors will be under safeguards so the facility in question will fall into the safeguards (at least in theory); also any reprocessing or ENR facilities setup with phoren help will be under safeguards.

For the nuclear deal to make sense to the US and others who pushed for it the fuel will have to be processed in India else the cost of operation will hit the roof (i.e. if some NPA comes with brilliant idea of shipping the fule from India to say Japan/France for ENR and then back as fuel bundle) .
Is there any difference in agreement between different countries ?
The modalities of nuclear trade like any other trade are at country-country level in fact to be honest NSG permit is just like a license once you have that what one can buy(manage to buy) from one of the big players is completely governed by the buyer-seller equation (case in point Cheena selling reactors to TSP).
What about imported fuel used in Indian reactors , can it be reprocessed in Indian facilities ?
If you are referring to 'legal' angle then as long as the said facility is under safeguards no issue whatsoever . However technically I do not know for maal coming out of imported reactors is not same as that of our PHWRs. If I am not wrong that is what import of ENR technology is supposed to address.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by somnath »

negi wrote:If you are referring to 'legal' angle then as long as the said facility is under safeguards no issue whatsoever . However technically I do not know for maal coming out of imported reactors is not same as that of our PHWRs. If I am not wrong that is what import of ENR technology is supposed to address
If the fuel is imported (under a civilian contract), then it needs to be reprocessed in a facility that is under safeguards..Net net, imported fuel cannot be used for "strategic" purposes...This was the issue in 1974 as well...

With the nuke deal however, every single gram of domestic fuel can be used in unsafeguarded reactors and reprocessed for the strategic programme...The civilian programme on the other hand, can technically run completely on imported fuel...
negi wrote:For the nuclear deal to make sense to the US and others who pushed for it the fuel will have to be processed in India else the cost of operation will hit the roof (i.e. if some NPA comes with brilliant idea of shipping the fule from India to say Japan/France for ENR and then back as fuel bundle)
Well technically, there is no need for the ENR tech to be "imported"..India can setup a facility under safeguards to enrich imported fuel...Depends on the cost-benefit - does the imported ENR facility cost more than the Indian? If it does, we might never need to import..

Added later: In April 2010, India and US signed an agreement that gave India the right to reprocess all fuel imported from the US, in an (IAEA) safeguarded facility...Its quite significant, as US has such a deal only with Japan and a couple of European countries...
Last edited by somnath on 11 Jul 2011 08:32, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by ShauryaT »

NSG bid to force India to sign NPT, says Kakodkar
“This is obviously their agenda,” said Kakodkar
I hate it, when our DDM puts in a single quote and the rest is their take :evil: if someone finds the actual speech, please link. Thanks.
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by somnath »

^^Absolute nonsense...Even in the article, the quote is "This is obviously their agenda"...

Someone like Dr Kakodkar would be the last one to suggest that India can be "forced" into signing NPT because ENR tech wasnt easily avialable! :twisted:
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Re: India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Post by vera_k »

It occured to me that the ENR fight may actually be about getting Indian R&D to show their cards with respect to the current state of Indian ENR.

So far, Indian ENR tech has been under wraps, and the rest of the world, certainly the NPA community has had to deal with wide uncertainties as to the capability and composition of the nuclear deterrent. If local ENR tech is used in a safeguarded facility, then all sorts of performance and reliability data would be newly available, and would lessen the ambiguity of the current deterrent posture.
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