India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 19 Sep 2013 12:58

Philip wrote:"Quisling" Singh to betray the nation and parliament for his US masters ?

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/m ... epage=true

Manmohan may carry nuclear liability dilution as gift for U.S. companies.
Sandeep Dikshit J. Venkatesan

It is for operator to exercise ‘right of recourse’ under section 17 of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act

Under sustained pressure from the Obama administration, the Manmohan Singh government is looking to use the opinion of the Attorney- General to effectively neutralise a key provision of India’s nuclear liability law that would hold American reactor suppliers liable in the event of an accident caused by faulty or defective equipment.

In an opinion to the Department of Atomic Energy, which referred the matter to him on September 4, Goolam Vahanvati has said it is for the operator of a nuclear plant in India to decide whether it wished to exercise the ‘right of recourse’ provided to it by section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act.

The AG’s opinion effectively paves the way for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which will operate any nuclear plant using imported reactors, to repudiate a right that Parliament explicitly wrote into section 17(b) of the law to ensure that foreign suppliers don’t get away scot-free if a nuclear accident is traced back to “equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub standard services.”

American nuclear vendors Westinghouse and GE have lobbied hard with Washington and Delhi to have this provision amended or removed. Though India has publicly stuck to the line that dilution of this provision is not possible, Mr. Vahanvati’s view opens a door for the government to accommodate the U.S. demand when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President Barack Obama on September 27.

Reiterating the opinion he gave to the government in October 2012 in the context of the Inter-Governmental Agreement between India and Russia, Mr Vahanvati noted, “Section 17(a) provides for recourse if such right is expressly provided for in a contract in writing. If the operator chooses not to incorporate such a provision in the contract, it would be open for him to do so.”

In its reference to the AG, the DAE had sought confirmation “regarding the presumption that the existing provisions of section 17 of the Act facilitate the operator either to exercise his ‘right of recourse’ by incorporating a clause in the contract or to waive his right or to limit the liability on the part of the supplier.”

The AG endorsed the view expressed by the Ministry of External Affairs in an internal note that “a right was given to the operator to have recourse against the supplier but there was no mandatory obligation or requirement for the operator to do so and that the operator could choose not to exercise that right.”

The AG’s view is likely to be challenged by the opposition, since section 17 grants the operator the right of recourse under one of three conditions: (a) if the right is expressly provided for in writing; (b) if the accident is caused by faulty material or equipment provided by the supplier; or (c) the accident results from an act of commission or omission of an individual done with intent to cause nuclear damage.

Since 17(b) suggests Parliament intended to hold suppliers responsible even if there is no contractual liability, it is not clear how a public sector undertaking like NPCIL, which is answerable to Parliament, could give its suppliers a free pass.

In 2008, India had promised American companies 10,000 MWe worth of contracts for setting up nuclear power plants in return for the U.S. administration helping to end the country’s nuclear isolation.

Now, five years later, NPCIL and Westinghouse are set to sign an agreement that in theory will give the American company the go ahead to begin work on its proposed nuclear power park in Mithi Virdi, Gujarat.

Keen to improve the ‘atmospherics’ around the signing of the pact, likely to be on the day Dr. Singh and Mr. Obama meet at the White House, the government is asking NPCIL to announce $100-175 million as the first token payment for the Gujarat reactor.

Keywords: Manmohan Singh, Barack Obama, Indo-US civil nuclear deal, nuclear liability law, NPCIL, Westinghouse, Gujarat nuclear power park, nuclear damage liability, nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel
PS:Mir Jafar,etc., watch out.There's a new claimant for the title of greatest betrayer of the nation.watch the Rupee plunge further.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 19 Sep 2013 15:05

The sh*t has already reached the punkah.The Times channel is speaking about a "secret" CCS note bypassing the AEC,etc.Cursed is defending the govt. saying that everyone (all stakeholders) will be informed before any decision is made,but the facts run contrary to his excuse.

Though dated,its puts the issue in perspective.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opi ... 946804.ece

The real foreign hand
Samit Aich

The PM should know that agrotech and nuclear firms, rather than NGOs, are undermining the public interest.

By raising the spectre of the “foreign hand” supposedly behind protests against nuclear energy and GM food, the Prime Minister has dismissed the concerns of millions of Indians, creating a smokescreen behind which to undermine both nuclear safety and the food safety of 1.2 billion Indians.

It is no coincidence that the PM's statements come even as the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill and the Rules under the Nuclear Suppliers Liability Act are due to be introduced in Parliament. Both are seen as critical by the real foreign hand: giant American agrotech companies and the French, US and Russian nuclear industries.

Through his recent statements, the PM is trying to discredit and undermine the people and groups asking legitimate questions of a government that they have elected.

The last few years have seen mass mobilisation by farmers and consumers who do not want their seed sovereignty and food safety jeopardised, all to benefit American corporations such as Monsanto.

They opposed the introduction of genetically modified Bt brinjal. Public sentiment and scientific questions led to the former Environment Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, imposing a moratorium on GM food.

Similarly, following the Fukushima disaster, concerns grew about the dangers of nuclear energy. From Fatehabad in Haryana and Jaitapur in Maharashtra to Haripur in West Bengal and Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, lakhs of farmers and fishermen are rising up to protest their lands, homes and livelihoods being taken over for the risky, expensive and uneconomic proposition that is nuclear energy. Middle-class urban India has also grown sceptical that nukes are a solution to our energy shortages. By dismissing these protests as being engineered by a foreign hand, the PM has shown he is out of touch with the grassroots.

NUCLEAR LIABILITY

In July 2011, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, bluntly demanded that India amend its liability law — demanding that the will of Indians, through their elected representatives, be disregarded. The US State Department spokesperson, P. J. Crowley, and Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, have made similar statements.

The Manmohan Singh Government has spared no effort to reassure the governments of France, the US and Russia, that neither protests nor the Civilian Nuclear Liability Bill will be allowed to delay the entry of foreign nuclear companies into India. If nuclear energy is truly safe, why are the suppliers worried about being liable in the case of an accident? The nukes liability law has now been passed, and any amendment is politically unfeasible. So the government is seeking to circumvent the law by framing Rules which will protect foreign suppliers by severely limiting their liability — even as the PM diverts attention by accusing civil society of being controlled by foreign interests!

Similarly, the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill seeks to bypass the opposition to GM foods. The Bill will institute a centralised, single window clearance to GM crops, taking away the powers of the States. It will not be in keeping with India's biosafety obligations and overlooks the principle of absolute liability.

MUZZLING NGOs

Rather than engaging with the legitimate questions of millions of Indians, the Government is browbeating those who do not toe their line. If there is wrongdoing by NGOs, why has the government not made its evidence public? Crude attempts to muzzle the right to protest have no place in India. These statements must be seen in the light of a wider governmental crackdown on non-profit organisations.

The FCRA 2010 now enables the Home Ministry to suspend the FCRA registration of any non-profit organisation for up to 180 days without a hearing, and for 0a number of reasons, including ‘public interest'. Similarly, under the proposed Direct Taxes Code, NGOs will be denied the existing benefit of being able to transfer up to 15 per cent of their annual income into a corpus against future contingencies. The Finance Ministry has ignored pleas from India's leading charities that this provision be reconsidered.

It is ironic that a Prime Minister who has been instrumental in opening up the economy to foreign corporations now accuses civil society of being controlled by a foreign hand.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 19 Sep 2013 22:43

As per tweet by Rajeev Sreenivasan, 90k Tons of Thorium sand have been smuggled out . Will any be left at all by 2040?

Jarita · Post by **Jarita** » 20 Sep 2013 09:00

^^^ Always in a hurry to get shit through before the elections. Monies needed

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 20 Sep 2013 09:18

PM planning a nuclear capitulation?

It's a crucial foreign visit on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singhâ€™s agenda, a meeting with the American President. But the Indian Government appears to be in a hurry to get a few key deals going in what could be the Prime Minister's last visit to America while in office. On the agenda is a deal, a preliminary contract with a US power major for setting up six nuclear reactors in Mithivardi in Gujarat. But this top secret note to be presented before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) shows that the Government appears to have overlooked some key factors. "Given that complete viability analysis of the project is yet to be completed, NPCIL has proposed that GoI may fund the cost of the preliminary contract, as was done in the case of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant units 1 and 2," para 4 of CCS note said.

First, the Government wants to go ahead with the project despite not having done the complete viability analysis. "It is proposed to sign the preliminary contract prior to the visit of the Prime Minister to the USA in end-September 2013. Given the paucity of time, approval of the Atomic Energy Commission cannot be sought. Instead, approval of the CCS is being solicited directly," para 4.7 of CCS note said. And secondly the Government wants the CCS approval but is ready to bypass the Atomic Energy Commission. The Governmentâ€™s urge to get all this done prior to the Prime Minister's US visit has raised questions. The total cost of the project for the six reactors could be over ninety thousand crore rupees.

The size of this deal is about Rs 100 crores and the note to the CCS clearly mentions that the Government intends getting the CCS go ahead prior to the Prime Minister's visit. For a Government that staked its future on the Indo-US nuke deal the move has invited sharp criticism. The Government has confirmed the substance of the note but faced with tough questions it has chosen a diplomatic response. The Government has already had enough heartburn in getting the Kudankulam nuclear plant on the road and with this deal was hoping to speed up the nuclear power project status. But this apparent urge to sign a deal with the Americans is sure to raise uncomfortable decisions of having acted under American pressure.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 20 Sep 2013 09:35

* Deleted *

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 22 Sep 2013 07:23

Further betrayal? But where will the BJP stand on the same issues?

http://newindianexpress.com/prabhu_chaw ... 796374.ece

In UPA II's twilight, PMO takes wings for smooth takeoff of Manmohan's dream project

By Prabhu Chawla
Published: 22nd September 2013

South Block’s current fatal obsession is not about engaging friends and foes of the world’s superpowers. For the past few weeks, the goalposts of Indian diplomacy have changed. All energies of the Indian establishment’s many paid and unpaid megaphones are being diverted to get the PM’s dream project airborne. Since the Nuclear Civil Agreement is Manmohan Singh’s single genuine achievement in his two terms in office, he wants to ensure that it takes off in with fanfare and fireworks. He couldn’t have chosen a better venue than Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat. Suddenly, the diplomatic discourse that had moved towards peace talks with Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif has become just a footnote in the discussion papers in the dossiers prepared for the PM’s US visit next week. Since it is customary for all visiting Heads of State to carry gifts for their counterparts, the Indian PM has been advised to take along a copy of the pact between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Westinghouse, the US multinational which supplies nuclear reactors to many.

Since the PM is an accidental politician who trusts more in his academics than political polemics, he doesn’t mind ignoring the electoral compulsions and fallout of his actions. It is not a coincidence that NPCIL was suddenly activated to seek legal opinion from the country’s top law officer on how to bypass nuances and legal bindings of the nuclear law passed by Parliament. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) reports directly to the PM and all nuclear-related establishments like NPCIL and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) fall under the ambit of PMO. According to reports and senior diplomats who facilitated the agreement in 2008, India promised various US globocorps over 10,000 MWs of power, worth over $20 billion in contracts. Five years later, not a single deal has been finalised because of the protective Clause 17 in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act. It was understood that the Indian operator would insert a clause in the agreement which provides heavy compensation in case of any accident. But not only the US but also its corporates have mounted pressure on India to dilute this clause. For the past few months, top leaders like Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry have been protesting to Manmohan on the delay in the dilution of the liability laws. Even the heavyhitters in the Senate have been relentlessly attacking the UPA for its inaction.

Only last month, Mark Warner and John Cornyn wrote a strongly worded letter to President Obama: “Eight years later, the agreement has not been implemented and we have yet to see India provide a workable nuclear liability agreement that allows companies to move forward.” Curiously, US corporates are not mounting pressure on their own government to encourage the setting up of nuclear power plants at home. Even America’s steadfast ally Japan is dismantling its nuclear plants following Fukushima. Hence it was puzzling that Ashwani Kumar, the PM’s temporary special envoy to Japan, should boast about the assurance he claims to have received from the Japanese on extending help to India in our nuclear energy programme. Ironically, on the same day, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe had announced that the toxic remains of the Fukushima plant would be destroyed. While the world can ignore the might of the greenback, it is India which dances to the tune of the American corporates.

It is, therefore, not surprising that the government is determined to exploit the loopholes in the manipulated and mutilated mandate it got in Parliament to pass the nuclear agreement. Obama and the US nuclear lobby hustled the agreement through at home. But invisible and lucrative assurances given to the US during the 2008 negotiations through interlocutors are now beginning to surface. The mandarins of both White House and South Block with the backing of powerful business forums in both countries are now working overtime to finalise the fineprint of a draft which will allow Westinghouse entry in India’s nuclear energy business. But the roadblock is within. According to unconfirmed sources, the AEC which dealt with superpowers and the US to push the deal through is angry because DEA had bypassed it. Also, supporters of the well-tested Indo-Russian strategic relationship are of the view that the Americans can’t be trusted as they are guided by profit motives and would subvert any legal provision which ensures the security of Indian citizens. The fight between the pro-Russian and pro-American lobbies in India is acquiring dangerous proportions, leading to the leakage of several classified documents. Even senior diplomats are surprised over the speed with which the PMO is promoting the nuke deal. Since most have been chosen for their ideological commitment to the US model and nuclear energy, they are likely to win in the end. On the other hand, those who are pleading for slow action feel that the next government may dilute the agreement. But these critics have been silenced by the PMO with the excuse that the BJP’s opposition to the unfolding revelations is pathetically feeble. Since the beneficiary of the dilution of the liability clause would be Gujarat—the palatine of BJP’s PM candidate—the PMO expects a rough but safe ride to Washington. Ironically, though Modi never misses an opportunity to attack Manmohan as a ‘maun pradhanmantri’, on nuclear projects for his state, Modi’s maunvrat has become Manmohan’s mantra for his mission. The PM may return to India wearing a broad smile and showing the V-sign even if it means an embarrassment to Congress and BJP leadership.

PS: Dr Rakesh Sood’s appointment as PM’s Special Envoy on Disarmament has stirred a hornet’s nest in the nuclear lobby within. As the PMO readies to take the N-deal forward, those who have failed to secure any post-retirement sinecures have started a whisper campaign. Their novel epiphany is that Sood would work against the deal. Some are even trying to restrain his responsibilities and minimise his say in any future nuclear engagement with the US. But the PM is in no mood to patronise the saboteurs.

[email protected]

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 21 Oct 2013 15:56

Kirloskar Brothers develop critical application sodium pumps for Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactors

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 21 Oct 2013 21:32

At long last a picture of good news.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 22 Oct 2013 04:14

nukavarapu wrote:Any update on site selection for AHWR? No news seems to be coming out.

posted above.

The Thorium Question - An interview with India's nuclear czar

Says the Oct, 2013 issue of Geopolitics has the complete interview.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Oct 2013 08:25

Kudankulam First Unit Synchronization Likely Today - The Hindu

It has been beset with so many problems that we cannot count this chicken before it hatches.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 22 Oct 2013 09:42

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 260260.ece

The first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project was synchronised with the southern regional electricity grid in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to an official, the synchronisation took place at about 2.45 a.m. and went up to around 4.45 a.m. The authorities claimed that the Unit-I, with the power generation capacity of 1,000 megawatt (MWe), produced up to 150 MW of electricity.

It may take a few more months for the Unit to be commissioned, the official added.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 22 Oct 2013 11:17

^^^

The pump looks beautiful, to me. I hope that, it works beautifully as well.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Oct 2013 11:33

Now, let us get the other four units also at Kudankulam.

rgsrini · Post by **rgsrini** » 22 Oct 2013 23:32

Kudankulam plant synchronised, expects to reach 500MW production in 2 3 weeks

Looks like they are upping the synchronization in steps of 250MW until they reach the full 1000MW.
Hats off to the determination and focus of the state and central government in making this a reality, inspite of foreign funded traitors and sabateurs!!!

A big salute to all the Indian scientists, managers and workers, besides the Russian technical team!!!

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 01 Nov 2013 10:50

BBC news report today.Amazing.While the west wants to sell us their obsolete PWRs,quietly in comparative secret,in Norway,a thorium reactor built by the Brits is experimenting apace,as Norway had large deposits of thorium,the gift of its volcanic geological history.Now we are supposed to be amongst the world's top nations in FBR tech ,the route to nuclear power self-sufficiency that was HBs masterplan. The nuclear s ientific community in the country,present and past should come together and publicise the correct route that we should take to achieve that goal.

PS:Ramana,studying the design for the thorium reactor,can't the excess waste heat be used to run a steam turbine as well and generate some excess power? Pros and cons.

Thermax have boilers which use VAMs (vapour absorption tech) for various industrial/commercial applications.

Thermax Absorption Cooling offers Lithium bromide Vapour Absorption Machines (VAMs) as a cost effective alternative to electricity-driven compression chillers. Our VAMs are extensively used in a variety of industries as well as commercial buildings for process-cooling and air-conditioning.

Thermax VAMs are designed to be driven by different heat sources – steam, hot water, gas/liquid fuels, exhaust gases or a combination of these fuels. These machines offer outlet temperature of zero degree Celsius (0ºC), which is a rare feat achieved by Thermax in the industry.

Here is something from Stanford on the same.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2012/ph241/tilghman1/

Using Nuclear Waste Heat as Power Source
Matt Tilghman
March 19, 2012
Submitted as coursework for PH241, Stanford University, Winter 2012

Using Nuclear Waste Heat as Power Source
Matt Tilghman
March 19, 2012
Submitted as coursework for PH241, Stanford University, Winter 2012
Fig. 1: Simple schematic of once-through reactor, and two ways in which waste heat could be utilized

Gas turbine power plants work by igniting fuel, and expanding the hot gas through a turbine to generate work. However, since the exhaust gas from the turbine is still quite hot, it still holds a lot of energy. Not harvesting this energy significantly reduces the energy efficiency of the power plant. Hence the "combined cycle gas turbine": a gas turbine which also has a bottoming cycle that uses the hot turbine exhaust to simply boil water in a heat exchanger, and this steam is sent through a steam turbine to generate more electricity. The addition of this cycle has led to significantly higher efficiencies in gas turbine power plants, currently nearing 60%.

It is easy to draw a similar analogy to nuclear power plants. The fuel cannot be "burnt" to completion in the primary reactor, for various reasons. It exits the reactor incredibly hot, and still has a large energy content. And yet, no secondary cycle for nuclear power plants has been implemented. The main way nuclear energy is burned in the U.S. is known as the "once-through" route, and utilizes only approximately 5% of the energy of the reactor fuel. [1] Plutonium recycling, which extracts plutonium from the spent uranium fuel, raises this number to a mighty 6%. [1] There is a proposed method to utilize upwards of 99% of the fuel, however it involves a polymetallurgical reprocessing of the waste before burning it in a fast-neutron reactor. [1] The process is only in the prototype phase and is likely to have significant costs of research and implementation. All at a time when the public's fear over nuclear energy has made research funding increasingly hard to secure.

However, even without recovering fissionable fuel, there is still energy to be recouped which requires little to no new research. Fuel rods continue to beta decay and gamma decay long after they are considered spent and pulled from the reactor. This generates heat, which goes completely unused. It could be used to generate steam and run a separate cycle, or simply to preheat the main working fluid. A few simple schematics of how this heat could be used are shown in Fig. 1. An expression for the power generated by the beta and gamma decay of the fuel is given below: [2]
P/P0 = 0.066 × [ (t-ts)-0.2 - t-0.2 ]

In this equation, P is the power generated, P0 is the nominal reactor power, t is the time elapsed since reactor startup, and ts is the time of reactor shutdown. Let's try to put in some numbers. First, we assume that shutdown of the reactor and removal of a spent rod from the reactor are the same things for any individual fuel rod. Many power plants plan to refuel approximately ever two years, so let us take a modest number of 500 days for our refueling time. [3] However, typically only 1/3 to 1/4 of the fuel is placed during a refueling event, so let us assume that any individual rod remains in the reactor for 2000 days, or 1.73 × 108 seconds. This will be the shutdown time, ts. A plot of P/P0 for this value of ts is shown in Fig. 2. The power is plotted for a time of 1 × 108 seconds, as that is the duration for which this equation remains accurate. It shows that for a significant duration of time, the power emitted by this fuel is between 1 and 10 percent of the reactor power, which is a significant fraction.
Fig. 2: Decay heat as fraction of reactor power, as a function of time

Furthermore, integrating this curve for the time shown yields the total amount of energy lost, and for the parameters stated this integration yields a value of 6.7 × 104. This means that for a 1 GW plant, 6.7 × 104 Gigajoules of energy will be lost over this time, or 1.86e7 kWh. This is a very large number; however, it needs to be put into perspective. Over this same time, a 1 GW plant will produce 1 × 108 Gigajoules, meaning the power due to beta and gamma decay of spent fuel amounts to only 0.067% of the energy produced by the plant (a number for an individual fuel rod would have to be divided by the number of rods in the reactor, but this number represents the entire ancillary cycle). Another way of putting this number into perspective is that 6.7 × 104 Gigajoules over a time of 1 × 108 seconds averages out to a 0.67 MW power plant. It should be noted that values for the power of this ancillary cycle can be easily changed by integrating to different final times - if you integrate for very short times while the rods are hotter, you will obtain a significantly higher average power. However this number would be artificial, as it only makes sense to integrate over a length of time similar to the time between refuelings. This integration is carried out to a value comparable to the time between refuelings, and thus is a reasonable estimate for the average expected power from such a cycle. Not many people are clamoring to build a 0.67 MW-average power plant - especially one with such high risks involved.

And make no mistake, the risks are indeed high. Cooling pools are so ubiquitous because of their simplicity. The simpler things are, they less chance they have of breaking. And regarding nuclear waste, you don't want things to break. If the turbine of the bottoming steam cycle, or some other part of the heat exchanging process, were to fail, it would be difficult to repair without getting close to the radioactive waste. Furthermore, if active cooling malfunctions, It also may require that the plant be shut down for an extended period of time in order to delay the production of waste. Furthermore, in cooling pools, the water not only serves the purpose of cooling, but also of radioactive shielding. If the proposed heat exchanger were to be implemented, some rods would inevitably be surrounded by steam, not liquid water. Therefore, radiation shielding would be diminished, and alternative means of shielding would need to be constructed. The water could alternatively be pressurized, to prevent it from boiling, but this increases the dangers of waste storage. Implementation might be easiest for plants with molten salt, which would not boil in an ancillary heat exchanger even at atmospheric pressure. Nevertheless, there are so many other risks, and such little payoff, that a bottoming cycle from nuclear waste heat release is not likely to be a fertile endeavor, especially at a time when public faith in nuclear energy is fickle.

© Matt Tilghman. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.

vic · Post by **vic** » 01 Nov 2013 11:06

I think we should push the AHWR line also aggressively as a alternative to Sodium Cooled Fast breeder reactors. AHWR uses 2/3rd Thorium with 1/3rd enriched Uranium. This will alllow us to utilize our Thorium reserves better.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 Nov 2013 08:14

India-Australia inching towards civil nuclear agreement - The Hindu

India moved a step closer to sourcing uranium from Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of the radioactive mineral, with the Foreign Ministers of both countries agreeing to hold the third round of talks on a bilateral civil nuclear agreement towards the end of this month.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to finalise a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to enable the sale of Australian uranium to India, and announced that the third round of negotiations would be held here [New Delhi] in the last week of November. They met in Perth on the margins of a multilateral conference.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 07 Nov 2013 13:38

Firstpost India ‘Indian nuclear power plants have high safety standards’

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Nov 2013 08:39

Pranab Inaugurates Waste Immobilization Plant in Kalpakkam - The Hindu

A Waste Immobilisation Plant (WIP), a crucial component of the closed fuel cycle technology embraced by India for nuclear power generation, was inaugurated on Friday at the Kalpakkam facility of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here.

President Pranab Mukherjee opened this and a few other facilities of BARC elsewhere, through video conferencing, at a function organised in Mumbai.

BARC Facility Director Amitava Roy told journalists here that hot commissioning of the WIP was an important step towards realisation of the country’s nuclear energy programme. The reprocessing plant facilitates generation of fuel for the next stage of nuclear power generation from the spent fuel from the first stage — pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR). The WIP is designed to process the radioactive liquid waste after the reprocessing. Under the closed fuel cycle technology, there are three stages of generation — PHWR; Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) and Advanced Heavy Water Reactor. The objective is to recycle and reuse the valuable nuclear material to sustain the three stage nuclear energy programme.

According to a release, the WIP is designed to process the radioactive liquid waste generated by reprocessing spent fuel of 250 tonnes a year from the PHWR. At Kalpakkam, one reprocessing plant is under operation and presently handling spent fuel from the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), and another is under construction.

The waste is processed to immobilise the radioactivity for storage and disposal in solid form. The liquid wastes from reprocessing plants are classified as high, intermediate and low level based on the concentration of radioactivity.

The facility consists of the high-level waste vitrification plant, the uranium separation plant, intermediate level and organic waste treatment plant. Besides uranium, plutonium is also recovered in the reprocessing of the spent fuel and the quantum of waste leftover for immobilisation is three per cent of the spent fuel.

With regard to the immobilisation process for high level waste, Mr. Roy said that it involved storage of vitrified products for about 40 years, before final disposal in deep geological depository. The intermediate level waste (ILW) is first pre-treated to recover traces of heavy metals and thereafter subject to ion exchange treatment for removal of Cesium and Strontium, using indigenously developed selective ion exchange resins.

Largest melter

By removing the predominant fission products contributing to radio activity, the ILW gets converted into low level liquid waste, which is treated in centralised waste management facility. The Joule Heated Ceramic Melter used for vitrifiction of high-level liquid waste at Kalpakkam, he added, was the largest such melter in the country. This is the third WIP in the country, after those in Tarapore and Trombay. Mr..Roy said the process performance of the new facility was encouraging.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 16 Nov 2013 15:23

Wow fantastic. Such reprocessing plants means better fuel consumption and therefore should be more in number, this way we can solve independently issues to a large extant. Another feather in the cap of Indian scientific community. Plus great job of developing indegenous technology!

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 Nov 2013 11:46

Australia to support India's membership of NSG - Business Line

Australia will support India’s membership of the Nuclear Supplier Group, the newly appointed Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said here on Monday.

“I have informed External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid of the Australian Government’s decision. We believe it is appropriate given India’s strategic importance in the region and given India’s record on non-proliferation,” she told newspersons after a meeting with the Indian External Affairs Minister.

NSG is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials. Earlier, former French President Nicholas Sarkozy also expressed his country’s backing for India’s inclusion in Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The UK has for a long time been a supporter of India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Nuclear deal

Later answering questions, Bishop said that there was no delay in concluding the civil nuclear agreement.

“The two countries will hold the third round of negotiations on November 26. There is no specific time frame,” she added.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 19 Nov 2013 13:59

^^^

Can India become a member of the NSG, without being a signatory as a recognized nuke power, of the NPT?

AFIK, the PRC will oppose such a move by the rest of the Nuke power. As such it is a welcome but meaning less gesture.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 Nov 2013 15:07

In the NSG, PRC does not have a veto power like it has in the UNSC. NSG relaxed its trade restrictions with India in spite of opposition from China in 2008. Of course, PRC will oppose India's entry into NSG and simultaneously demand Pakistan's entry into it. I do not think it will matter much.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 19 Nov 2013 20:35

>>Can India become a member of the NSG, without being a signatory as a recognized nuke power, of the NPT?

They will bend the rules, and we will get in. Better to have us on the inside, pissing out, rather than on the outside pissing in. We are not, however, in the business of making threats or issuing warnings and so on. We behave in the expectation that these powers will come to their strategic senses and act in accordance. The logic is clear and irrefutable. And they are recognising it and behaving accordingly.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 20 Nov 2013 02:21

Fascinating little TED debate on Nuclear power. The jury is still out...

KrishnaK · Post by **KrishnaK** » 20 Nov 2013 03:54

JE Menon wrote:>>Can India become a member of the NSG, without being a signatory as a recognized nuke power, of the NPT?

They will bend the rules, and we will get in. Better to have us on the inside, pissing out, rather than on the outside pissing in. We are not, however, in the business of making threats or issuing warnings and so on. We behave in the expectation that these powers will come to their strategic senses and act in accordance. The logic is clear and irrefutable. And they are recognising it and behaving accordingly.

To add, India should behave like an exceptional country and expect to be treated so. Of course that won't happen without our economy pulling like a freight train.

alexis · Post by **alexis** » 22 Nov 2013 17:14

Thorium smuggling should be prevented at all costs.... BR needs to undertake a twitter war if needed...

disha · Post by **disha** » 26 Nov 2013 22:36

So even before any nuclear fallout, the protests against the nuke power pland claimed 6 lives in total. Out of this 3 were totally innocent - 3 kids under the age of 5 years - Dead.

The anti-kudankulam protests have been murderous and now the count stands at 6. One in the protests some 2 years back and 5 more now.

Five people, including three children, were killed on the spot in a powerful bomb explosion on Tuesday night in a colony in Idinthakarai coastal village, close to Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant, police said.

Those killed included a woman and three children, all aged below five years, they said.

Two houses were razed under the impact of the blast, they said, adding rescue teams rushed to the pot to clear the debris and extricate people believed trapped under it.

DIG of Police Sumith Saran and Superintendent of Police Vijendra Bidari also rushed to the spot.

People of Idinthakarai, the hub of protests against KNPP, backed by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, have been agitating for more than two years, demanding its closure.

Unit-1 had attained criticality on July 13 this year following protests against the project by anti-nuclear activists in areas around the complex, citing safety reasons.

Police had raided Kunthankuli village near Idinthakarai in 2012 and early this year and seized some country bombs from some huts.

Police suspect that some people involved in criminal cases from Kunthankuli were staying in the two houses.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/5-ki ... 26643.html

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 26 Nov 2013 22:42

NGO/Naxals are probably responsible. Peaceful folk onlee.

Lilo · Post by **Lilo** » 27 Nov 2013 00:02

AL-Hindu reports it as country made bombs exploding inside a house (most probably the bombs were being made there). Wonder if Udaykumar will be booked for these terror activities ?
As I remember he made threats of physical violence by the agitators if Kundankulam opens.

Explosion at Idinthakarai claims 6 lives
Six persons, including two children and a woman, were killed and a few others injured seriously on Tuesday evening when country bombs exploded in a house at Tsunami Colony at Idinthakarai, the epicentre of protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.

Police fear the toll could rise as people might have been trapped under debris.

One presumption is that that the country bombs exploded when the miscreants were engaged in making a bomb in the house. Police suspect the explosion could be because of rivalry between two groups who hail from Kooththenkuzhi, about 6 km from Idinthakarai.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 27 Nov 2013 00:33

It looks like more than a country bomb explosion.

Among the dead were a woman and three children who were all aged below five, police said. A senior official of the department of atomic energy said the plant is running fine and is safe.

Two houses were razed under the impact of the blast, they said, adding rescue teams rushed to the pot to clear the debris and extricate people believed trapped under it.

Need to keep tab on such activities and unearth the nexus.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Nov 2013 03:44

must nail such irritants asap.. else it can be disastrous for even prying neighbor looking for weak-points.

i'd say, need higher level probe to show the seriousness of such issues. i am really appalled at no real action talks happening and only election talks takes precedence.

arun · Post by **arun** » 27 Nov 2013 08:27

New York Times quoting a Zhang Li, described as an expert on Pakistan at the Institute of South Asian Studies at Sichuan University in southwest China on the subject of the Sino-Pakistani deal to put up two nuclear generating reactors in Karachi.

Raises the questions as to why US, France and in particular Russia kept citing the Nuclear Supply Group guidelines prohibiting the supplying of nuclear reactors to countries who have not signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty without agreeing to accept IAEA full scope safeguards requiring India to go through the rigmarole of obtaining NSG waiver:

“My analysis is that this issue won’t trigger too much controversy,” Mr. Zhang said. “The Indian government will certainly respond, but I don’t think that this will fundamentally harm Sino-Indian relations, because it’s not something that has come out of the blue. China and India have exchanged views on this many times.”

On the supplier group’s likely response, Mr. Zhang said: “I don’t think the N.S.G. will formally raise this issue, because the experience in the past was that the members would reach an implicit understanding, and so this issue never caused a big fuss in previous N.S.G. meetings.”

From here:

New York Times

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 28 Nov 2013 13:33

Story behind the blast that killed 7

I rarely am a guy for CTs.

But the story being woven here is this:
Idinthikarai village is now split b/w two groups - one for & one against VV minerals company. The guys against were driven out but a small group remained,tried building a bomb to target the for group, and it went awry.

- Now, since when did tree-huggi'n atomwerk-hatin' lot start making bombs to settle score and that too amongst themselves. Aruval ( sickle ) is the weapon of choice.
- The reporter says no mention of any of anti-nuclear protestors in the FIR. <insert slow clap here> - goes to show the reporter has no idea what FIR is & what an investigation is. He probably thinks FIR should contain full investigation and maybe even judgement too.
- Our favorite Anti-kknpp hero has this to say:

On Thursday Udaykumar addressed the village women in the church after observing a minute’s silence to mourn the dead. “It is a matter of shame for us. We have been protesting against nuclear energy for more than two years and have always been peaceful. Today the peace has been destroyed in our village. Maybe they were not our villagers but they were from our community.

<cough cough> eh ? eh ? See what he is trying to do there? There are two untruths in those sentences.
- Please to read artical in full - looks like gag orders have been issued to prevent multiple versions.

Remember, Udaykumar threatened violence against PM of India.
When Binayak Sen went there, the alarm levels should have been raised.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 29 Nov 2013 00:49

Scientists design India's largest nuclear reactor.

Scientists have designed India's first 900-MW light-water nuclear reactor to catapult the country into the big league of nuclear energy.

The pressurised water reactor, whose conceptual design has already been prepared, would be a joint effort between the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), said BARC director Sekhar Basu on Wednesday.

“We hope to start the construction work in another five years, after obtaining the requisite permissions. For the first time will such a big reactor vessel be forged in India,” Basu told Deccan Herald over the phone from Mumbai.

A new enriched uranium plant to feed the reactor has been proposed at Chitradurga. The forging will be carried out at L&T and NPCIL's new joint venture at Hazira, and the turbine will come from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.

India's indigenous nuclear programme began in the 1960s with small reactors. The first two units at Tarapur, which became operational in 1969, were of 160-MW capacity each, whereas the first unit at Rawatbhata, which came four years later, was of 100-MW capacity.

Later, the NPCIL perfected the design of 220-MW nuclear reactors, which were replicated all over the country for two decades. The two biggest indigenous reactors are of 540-MW capacity. The NPCIL is now constructing four 700-MW reactors for Kakrapar and Rawatbhata.

“The 900-MW reactor is similar to the one at Kudankulam. Unlike the previous reactors, which used heavy water both as coolant and moderator, the new one will use light water. Its site is about to be selected,” said Basu. A detailed project report will be submitted soon to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for approval.

Over the next 10 years, the NPCIL intends to set up 16 more 700-MW indigenous reactors, of which civil work would begin in eight by 2017, said Department of Atomic Energy chairman Ratan Kumar Sinha. These include the fifth and sixth units at Kaiga. Another six reactors will be installed at Gorakhpur in Haryana, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh and Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan. Each site will have two reactors of 700 MW each.

The first 500-MW prototype fast-breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam will be operational by September 2014, and construction work for two more fast-breeder reactors will start within the 12th-Plan period.

The PFBR has been delayed by several years due to delay in construction and technical complications arising out of the plant's necessity to handle hazardous liquid sodium at 400-550 degrees Celsius.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 30 Nov 2013 05:57

X-posted from the Lankan td.PMANE stands exposed as saboteurs and quislings.The GOI should declare all N-plants as military establishments and establish a no-go "trespassers will be shot" zone of a radius of some KMs around the plants and defences similar to what we have on the intl. border/LOC with Pak..A special N-plant security force should be established suitably armed to deal with intruders and all civilians living within a certain radius of the plant should be given ID cards and also investigated for links to anti-national entities and deported if need be.

Activists Charged in Fatal Blast Near Indian Nuclear Plant
6 killed and 3 injured in blast at apparent bomb factory near highly contested nuclear plant which started up in October.
AAFont Size
By Ari Yashar
First Publish: 11/27/2013, 3:31 PM

Illustration: Explosion

On Tuesday a blast near the Kudankulam nuclear plant in south India left 6 dead and 3 injured. SP Uthayakumar, head of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), was injured in the blast and booked by police for suspected involvement.

The controversial nuclear plant began operations in October. Those opposing the plant, which is located on a coastline that was hit by a tsunami in 2004, fear that it will face a similar disaster as occurred in Fukushima, Japan in 2011, reports BBC.

Local police chief Vijayendra Bidari said "the bomb exploded accidently inside a house" that is suspected of being used as a bomb-making factory, and further stated that two unexploded bombs were found near the site.

The explosion reportedly occurred 15 kilometers (9 miles) away from the nuclear plant.

Among the dead was a woman and three young children under 5 years old. At least 3 homes apparently collapsed due to the explosion.

Anti-nuclear activist Uthayakumar was identified by police among the 3 injured according to the Hindustan Times. He was placed under investigation along with his associates Pushparayan, Mukilan and as yet unnamed others.

The nuclear plant, which was unaffected by the blast, is one of many similar planned facilities. India aims to generate 63,000 MW of nuclear power by 2032, nearly 14 times more than current production levels.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 30 Nov 2013 06:25

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 398449.ece

The police have filed a case against three persons and a few more unnamed persons in connection with the country bomb blast at Tsunami Colony here on Tuesday night, which killed six persons, including two children.

In what appears to be an illegal explosives factory in the middle of a residential layout, a bomb disposal squad, which recovered two live bombs from the site on Tuesday night around 10 p.m. and one bomb on Wednesday morning, seized 7.25 kg of explosive materials. Investigations reveal 18 fishermen families from Kooththenkuzhi, who had recently migrated to Tsunami Colony in Idinthakarai following rivalry with another group, were making country bombs to eliminate their enemies.

None of the accused or killed was associated with the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project struggle. The deceased have been identified as X. Viyagappan (32), M. Valan (27) and S. Mahimai Rajan (31), all from Kooththenkuzhi, S. Subisha (10) and her younger brother S. Subison (2), from Tsunami Colony, and P. Pramila (35) of Idinthakarai.

The police have registered the case against the first deceased, his associates and those injured— Jesu Maria Soosai and Vijay, a polytechnic student — who was recently arrested for allegedly possessing country-made bombs and released on bail and a few more persons.

The bombs went off while being assembled at house number 317 in Tsunami Colony on Tuesday, destroying one house and badly damaged three adjacent houses.

The flying bricks and concrete pieces seriously injured S. Roselin living in the opposite house and killed her son Subison, who was in her lap. The flying junk material also killed Subisha and her friend Pramila.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 30 Nov 2013 06:28

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 399242.ece

Rivalry among fishermen led to Idinthakarai explosions

Even 12 hours after the country bomb explosion rocked the small Tsunami Colony near Idinthakarai to raze to the ground a house and kill six persons, thick white burning sulphur fumes were emanating from the debris on Wednesday morning.

Human parts were strewn around for a distance of about 100 feet. The residents of this seven-year-old colony, housing 450 dwellings, feared that some bodies could have been trapped underneath the rubbles. The damaged houses and the killing of six persons including two children seemed to have angered the Tsunami Colony residents as a few women onlookers started shouting against their ‘guests’ (Kooththenkuzhi fishermen). “They should never be allowed here again,” one of them shouted.

After tsunami damaged the houses of several Idinthakarai fishermen who lived close to the shore, Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), a non-governmental organisation, had constructed 450 permanent houses, each measuring about 350 square feet with a small living room, a bedroom, kitchen, toilet, bathroom and a sit-out, on a sprawling land west of Idinthakarai in 2006.

When factional rivalry drove a group of fishermen from adjoining Kooththenkuzhi to Tsunami Colony, the original settlers lost their peace.

“Since we know very well that the Kooththenkuzhi fishermen would prepare country bombs to settle their scores with their rivals, we urged them not to do so as long as they are in Tsunami Colony. They violated their promise,” said Kala, a resident of the colony.

One of the victims, Roseline, lost two of her three children while she was seriously injured in the Tuesday’s explosion. Roseline’s friend Pramila, who had come from Idinthakarai to Tsunami Nagar on the fateful evening, was also killed.

The Tsunami Colony residents allege that the migrated Kooththenkuzhi population had planned to orchestrate a “final assault” on their rivals on Wednesday (November 27) in a bid to retrieve their lost land. They were, in fact, packing the bombs in plastic baskets to be taken to their village in the boats. “The explosives went off prematurely to kill our people here,” says Rosammal of Tsunami Colony.

A group of 21 children in a private tuition session in a nearby house had a miraculous escape because the session was still on when the blast took place

“After tsunami irreparably damaged our lives nine years ago, we were gradually returning to peaceful life… The blast has reminded us that our ordeal will continue to haunt us,” said K. Dhason, another resident of Tsunami Nagar.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 30 Nov 2013 06:44

Meanwhile....

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/P0VlK ... -proj.html

On the final price of power from this project, Choho said, “Various numbers are floating around and we hear numbers like Rs6.50 per unit and Rs9 per unit. But my guess is that it is going to be somewhere in between these two numbers.”