India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

member_29172 · Post by **member_29172** » 27 Sep 2015 22:01

It'd be Bhopal tragedy redux American companies crap all over and flee to unkilland never yo return. The companies should be fined to bankruptcy if it ever screws up on the nuclear front. The rewards are huge, so should be the penalty

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 27 Sep 2015 22:34

Have not been following this discussion, but ....

"I am not going to put my company at risk for anything -- there is no project that is worth it. We have to get common language on this," Immelt told reporters.

What is this common language? Is there one that he follows in any other nation that one can look at?

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 28 Sep 2015 00:27

NRao wrote:Have not been following this discussion, but ....

"I am not going to put my company at risk for anything -- there is no project that is worth it. We have to get common language on this," Immelt told reporters.
What is this common language? Is there one that he follows in any other nation that one can look at?

Yes, California! Where US energy companies dare not tread.

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 04 Oct 2015 11:36

Hiten wrote:what design is this?

via http://www.aame.in/2013/12/can-you-iden ... -quiz.html

the successor to the PFBR

Applying the knowledge & experience gained from the PFBR programme, it is proceeding with R&D of its successor - generically referred to as, either, the FBR-600 or Commercial Fast Breeder Reactor [CFBR]#. Designed to "burn" a mixture of Uranium Oxide & Plutonium Oxide to generate 600 MWe of power each, current plans involve building 6 Units, co-locating 2 at any given place. This arrangement would facilitate cost-rationalisation, using common auxiliaries to serve both Reactors.

http://www.aame.in/2015/10/fbr-600-indi ... -fast.html

habal · Post by **habal** » 04 Oct 2015 17:29

Amazing !

Bengaluru innovator creates super high-efficiency machine that produces power from vacuum

A prototype of the machine tested by Kirloskar Electric exhibited 165% efficiency, said Murlidhar Rao, former director of Karnataka Power Corporation (KPCL), assisting Tewari.Through an agreement signed earlier, the Kirloskar group company can now enter into a contract with Tewari to commercialise the machine. Anand Hunnur, vice-president, marketing, Kirloskar Electric, did not respond to calls and text messages from ET.

The breakthrough for Tewari, a former director of the Kaiga Atomic Power Station, came last year when his machine achieved an efficiency of 238%, which means it produced 2.38 times the electrical power provided to it initially, making it the first to achieve this. This essentially defies the Law of Conservation of Energy - and in the case of electrical generators, Lenz's Law, which forms the basis of mechanics and thermodynamics laws that suggests machines cannot attain over a 100% efficiency. ..

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 832793.cms
http://www.tewari.org/about-tewari/

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 04 Oct 2015 18:04

^^people tech wale, is this even remotely feasible?

rgosain · Post by **rgosain** » 04 Oct 2015 18:52

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary science and would be interesting to see what Kirloskar's share price looks like. Compared to the free energy pioneers, his biography looks very realistic.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 04 Oct 2015 19:49

L&T Forgings achieves milestone for India's PHWR Nuclear Program.

L&T Special Steels and Special Forgings (LTSSHF),a joint venture of L&T and NPCIL, crossed an important milestone with the manufacture of heavy and complex forgings for the Steam Generator (SG) of the 700 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).

This landmark achievement affirms, for the first time, India's indigenous capability to make all types of forgings for the PHWR nuclear program of the Indian government. It assumes special significance in the light of the 'Make in India' drive by the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi.

A flag-off ceremony was held for the despatch of the complex primary head and cone shell, on September 23, 2015 at the state-of-art Steel making & Forging Facility of LTSSHF at Hazira, near Surat. It was attended by top management personnel from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and L&T.

This achievement has been a culmination of a joint collaborative and persistent technology development effort with extensive trials and learning to achieve nuclear grade quality. Through this indigenous capability build-up, LTSSHF has geared itself for the execution of the future bulk orders in significantly reduced time schedule thus vindicating the vision of founders of this facility towards ensuring nation's self-reliance in critical technologies.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 05 Oct 2015 08:41

Deleted by author..Sorry JEM best for "techwale" is not to even take a chance, lest something offends the brf admins.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 05 Oct 2015 09:45

Here is his website geeks.

www.tewari.org

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 08 Oct 2015 17:32

11 nuclear scientists died in mysterious circumstances in 4 years.

11 nuclear scientists had unnatural deaths during 2009-13 in the country, latest data provided by Department of Atomic Energy shows.

Eight scientists and engineers working in laboratories and research centres of the Department died in a blast or by hanging or drowning in the sea.

In its RTI response to Haryana-based Rahul Sehrawat dated September 21, the department said three scientists of Nuclear Power Corporation had also died under mysterious circumstances during the period of which two allegedly committed suicide and one had died in a road accident.

The bodies of two scientists of C-group posted at Barc, Trombay were found hanging in their residences in 2010, while one scientist of same grade posted at Rawatbhata was found dead at his residence in 2012.

In one case of Barc, police claims that he committed suicide because of prolonged illness and closed the case while the remaining cases are still under investigation.

Two research fellows at died in a mysterious fire in the chemistry lab of Barc, Trombay in 2010.

A scientist of F-grade was found murdered at his residence in Mumbai. It is suspected that he was strangulated but the murder accused remained untraced till date.

A D-grade scientist at RRCAT also allegedly committed suicide with police closing the case.

Another scientist posted at Kalpakkam allegedly jumped into the sea to end his life in 2013 with the case is still under probe whereas a Mumbai based scientist committed suicide by hanging, with police citing personal reasons for the same.

One scientist allegedly committed suicide by jumping into Kali river in Karwar, Karnataka with police again pointing at personal reasons.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 09 Oct 2015 03:40

habal wrote:Amazing !

Bengaluru innovator creates super high-efficiency machine that produces power from vacuum

I would use another adjective to describe this...

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 09 Oct 2015 04:55

JE Menon wrote:^^people tech wale, is this even remotely feasible?

No. It defies many physical laws.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 09 Oct 2015 06:17

I think this is supposed to be 'zero point energy', 'vacuum energy'. I don't think it violates any known laws, just not credible. Also 'dark energy' may be a source of apparent violation of thermodynamics. Again no known way to obtain dark energy. But that is not the same as impossible.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 09 Oct 2015 18:10

it is probably based on the Casimir Effect named after Hendrik Casimir, a Dutch Scientist.

He, along with another scientist found a quantitized field between two plates at extremely small distances. That is to say, virtual particles.

I don't have the G2 smarts to truly understand what all this implies but here is the wiki explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect

But anyhoo, according to Bob Berman of Astronomy magazine, there may be enough power in a liter sized jar of vacuum space to boil off the entire Pacific Ocean is just a split second. These virtual particles pop in and out of existence incredibly fast.

One way to access this energy according to Bob, is to get below absolute zero in temperature, which is of course, an impossibility.

BTW, all articles appearing in Astronomy magazine are prior vetted by a panel of professional Astronomers and Astrophysicists.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 09 Oct 2015 18:30

Sorry, despite patents like this: http://www.google.com/patents/US7379286 extraction of energy from vacuum zero-point fluctuations is pseudoscience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-poin ... ontroversy

PS: (PDF) http://info.publicintelligence.net/USAr ... Energy.pdf

habal · Post by **habal** » 09 Oct 2015 18:34

I don't understand why people ask if it's feasible. Dr. Tewari has test results which have proven it is feasible. This is no water-car con artist.

http://www.tewari.org/test-results/

how it works

http://www.tewari.org/wp-content/upload ... ite_R1.pdf

Crompton Greaves Ltd is the company he contacted to commercialize his invention. And they have produced two 'working models'. One a 20 KVA and after verifying it worked they quickly came up with a 25 KVA one. Current plans call for introductory models to be marketed at 10 KVA and 25 KVA. A second company is involved in manufacturing discussions and the Karnataka Power Corporation, which supplies Bangalore, is investigating the use of 200 KVA units in a wind farm application as described in the April 7th edition of Asia Times.

What I do not like about all this is that instead of making his discoveries open source, he decided to commercialize it and benefit a few corporations. And these entities will again charge for power which they can now theoritically generate without spending a penny.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 09 Oct 2015 18:49

Finally realising that the Indian liability laws will scr*w their happiness,the US N-majors are looking at Pak to sell their wares,why the reports of an imminent US-Pak N-deal similar to that singed with India is on the cards. Pak already is profiting from a total transfer of N-weapons tech by China ,US blinkers about it,but is trying to throttle India's N-weapons capability primarily. It feels that if it offers Pak the same N-deal,it will be able to reduce the threat of N-weapons/proliferation from Pak,and thus stop N-weapons being diverted to the Saudis after the Iran N-deal.Saudi Nukes would make the Iranians dump the deal and build their own N-weapons.

The faster that India dumps the thought of acquiring N-reactors from the west the better.We should revert back to Dr. Homi B's roadmap for Indian independence in all N-matters,both civil and mil.For energy prod. an accelerated emphasis on promoting and supporting renewable energy solar and wind power,should take place,apart from N-power,as in any case N-power alone will not produce enough.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 09 Oct 2015 21:16

Just to note, Pakis are pushing for a deal similar to Indo-US nuke deal is a lesson - that this is also part of 'international' nuke environment - rife with nuke cartel on one hand and outright ignoring Paki nuke proliferation on the other hand. The nuke cartel has ignored Paki black market for decades under one excuse or the another and now this outright abuse of nuke deal offered to India, based on clear non-proliferation record by Indians.

And the ever protesting Europeans are as silent as a silent orchestra. Talk of Indian nuke reactors from Russia and the orchestra will quickly play loudest notes of windpipes.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 09 Oct 2015 21:21

ramana wrote:
JE Menon wrote:^^people tech wale, is this even remotely feasible?

No. It defies many physical laws.

Yup seems like that, but the chaps credentials gave me pause for thought so wanted some confirmation. So this is our own version of Bashiruddin - jinnergy. Sad.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 09 Oct 2015 21:46

extraction of energy from vacuum zero-point fluctuations is pseudoscience.

Black holes.

kit · Post by **kit** » 09 Oct 2015 23:29

sanjaykumar wrote:extraction of energy from vacuum zero-point fluctuations is pseudoscience.

Black holes.

inter dimensional

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 10 Oct 2015 01:44

I am not hawking any theories.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 10 Oct 2015 04:04

Its been commercialized already...

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 11 Oct 2015 11:42

Congrats to Dr.Basu and here's wishing him well as he takes charge of the most onerous responsibility of an Indian scientist! Let's hope that he will give further thrust to India's civil/mil programmes to meet current and future challenges .

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dr-sekha ... ef-1230355

Dr Sekhar Basu to be India's New Nuclear Chief
All India | Written by Pallava Bagla | Updated: October 09, 2015 21:16 IST

New Delhi: Veteran atomic scientist Dr Sekhar Basu has been appointed as India's new nuclear chief. 63-year-old Dr Basu, the man who pioneered the highly complex nuclear reactor for India's first nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant, is the new Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Dr Basu is a mechanical engineer who has already spent four decades in India's atomic energy program.

His key contribution to the nation, the INS Arihant, is powered by a nuclear rector of less than 100 MW and is fuelled using enriched uranium.

The submarine is undergoing sea trials and is likely to be inducted into the Navy in about a year. Making a nuclear reactor that is safe, compact and light weight is a Herculean task and India joined a select club in 2009 that had manufactured its own indigenously-made nuclear-powered submarine. The submarine is capable of carrying nuclear tipped missiles and completes the much needed nuclear triad and the second strike capability from under water.

Dr Basu has also been named as the new secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy. What has raised eyebrows is that his appointment term is only for 11 months as he turns 64 on September 19, next year. Dr Basu is currently the director of India's main nuclear weapons laboratory the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Mumbai.

Speaking to NDTV, Dr Basu said even in his short tenure he hoped to speed up the commissioning of India's ambitious Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu and hoped to bring the second 1000 MW unit of the Kudankulam nuclear reactor online.

Dr RK Sinha, the current chief of the nuclear program, retires on October 23.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 14 Oct 2015 10:10

Jaitapur's nuclear discontent

Six months after signing a pre-engineering agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France, state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and India arm of French multinational company, Areva, are still struggling to conclude techno-commercial negotiations and strike the final work contract for the 9,900-Mw Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra.

The bone of contention is the per unit tariff of Rs 6.50 as envisaged by the Depart-ment of Atomic Energy (DAE) in November 2013. NPCIL and Areva are also playing hardball over sharing the burden of application of additional safety measures while ensuring the viability of the project. The upgrade of safety applications has been mandated by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011.

NPCIL and Areva are also discussing how a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the latter and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on localisation of key equipment will help reduce costs as well as the per unit tariff.

This apart, despite Modi's recent US visit, talks between NPCIL and the US-based GE Hitachi for the supply of six reactors, of 1,594 Mw each, for the Kowada project in Andhra Pradesh are yet to gain momentum. Similarly, negotiations between NPCIL and Westinghouse for the supply of six AP1000 reactors of 1,100 Mw each, for the Mithi Virdi project in Gujarat have been a non-starter.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 14 Oct 2015 10:29

^^

Of course, the BJP-led government in Maharashtra will have to clarify if it is prepared to clear the Jaitapur project at the per unit tariff of Rs 6.50, even as its undertaking, MahaVitaran, has struck long-term power purchase agreements for the availability of power at Rs 3.20-3.50 per unit. The government needs to make its stand clear as it had recently decided not to resume buying power from the Dabhol power plant after it revives production on November 1, citing surplus availability. Power from Dabhol will cost Rs 4.70 per unit.

Looks like the UPA government was trying to foist another Enron-type deal on Maharashtra. There may be a chance for the project if the Central government agrees to subsidize it in perpetuity.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Oct 2015 15:52

Preparations on for launching Kudankulam Unit-2 Nuclear plant

kit · Post by **kit** » 15 Oct 2015 18:37

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... &start=440

Is it possible for India to use supercomputers for new nuke designs ? Also why not test in some new place and blame it on earthquake ?

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 16 Oct 2015 19:58

^^^^

Currently, India produces about 400 tonnes of uranium per year.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 20 Oct 2015 19:45

No tariff hike for Kudankulam NPP - Rosatom
20 October 2015 Alessandro Belli, specially for RIR
http://in.rbth.com/economics/cooperatio ... tom_484603
There will be no hike in the price of electricity generated from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Rosatom said. Tariffs will remain at the 2010-2011 levels.

The tariff for electricity generated by the Kudankulam NPP will remain at the level set by the Indian Government in 2010 – 2011, with no hikes, Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom" has said.

“The electricity tariff for the power generated by Kudankulam NPP is maintained at the level established by the Indian Government in 2010 – 2011, without any escalation. It is considered to be one of the most efficient tariffs in India as well as the most compatible internationally,” Natalya Kudryashova, the "Rosatom" Representative in India said.

Speaking at the India Nuclear Energy-2015 meeting in Mumbai, she added that the first Unit of the Kudankulam NPP “proves the safety and economic efficiency of the Russian-Indian megaproject”.

“The NPP has already generated 6873 million units of electricity and the turbo-generator was operated for 9267 hours. The installed capacity of the Indian NPPs reached 5780 MW. This is the first NPP in the world where the post-Fukushima safety enhancement requirements have already been implemented and are being operated successfully”, she said.

Russia is the only country that is really cooperating with India in the field of nuclear energy. In the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the first unit of the Kudankulam NPP, built with Russian assistance, has been functioning successfully. The second unit is ready and should begin loading atomic fuel soon.

Construction work on the third and fourth units of Kudankulam NPP should begin in 2015. These are planned to be commissioned in 2020-2021.

The Indian Express newspaper reported recently that Russia has proposed a plan to involve India in building Russian-designed nuclear power plants in third countries, According to the newspaper, the cooperation is to be extended also to joint extraction of natural uranium and the production of nuclear fuel and atomic waste elimination.

“Russia has also offered to build over 20 nuclear power units in India, up from the 12 offered earlier”, it added. It also quotes a high-level source, saying that Moscow saw it as “long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation” in the nuclear sector.

A government source confirmed to RIR that such negotiations have taken place, and said this could lead to “joint construction of power stations and other aspects of cooperation, including the training of personnel in other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka”.

“This, in particular, is due to logistical issues. New Delhi is much closer to these countries than is Moscow. Moreover, our Indian partners are ready to train their Asian colleagues,” the source said.

RIR’s source also said, “Russia and India, in fact, have reiterated their commitment to cooperation in this field.”

“Cooperation in the field of nuclear energy was one of the main topics in the talks between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Russian President at Ufa during the July BRICS Summit. Emphasis was placed on the future construction of facilities in India, with a possible increase in the number of units.”

India is also in talks for a new location, possibly within the new state of Andhra Pradesh, where it could build a new nuclear plant with Russian assistance, RIR learned from the Department of Atomic Energy.

“Discussions between the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Government of Andhra Pradesh for location of the second Russian technology based Light Water Reactor (LWR) Nuclear Power Plant are at an advanced stage,” a source in the Department said.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 20 Oct 2015 20:05

Why isn't India setting up its 700MW CANDU reactors in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Kenya, Myanmar amongst other countries?

We need to up the 700 MW reactors to now 1000+ MW ones.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 20 Oct 2015 22:04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbt4AlYQfdI

On the thorium reactor, a bit old, but not sure if it's been posted here before.

member_29172 · Post by **member_29172** » 21 Oct 2015 06:38

Gagan wrote:Why isn't India setting up its 700MW CANDU reactors in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Kenya, Myanmar amongst other countries?

We need to up the 700 MW reactors to now 1000+ MW ones.

Do we even use CANDU anymore? It was in the 50s and 60s when we bought from Canada then, right?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 Oct 2015 15:02

I think India doesn't want to export a reactor or a missile before joining NSG or MTCR respectively.

kit · Post by **kit** » 21 Oct 2015 15:05

very strange then !! ..the moment India gets into MTCR Pakistan will too, thanks to the US ! ..their relationship with NoKo is well known regarding ballistic missile and nuclear weapon designs

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Nov 2015 07:44

Fast forwarding to thorium - Jaideep A. Prabhu, The Hindu

What is the single greatest factor that prevents the large-scale deployment of thorium-fuelled reactors in India? Most people would assume that it is a limitation of technology, still just out of grasp. After all, the construction of the advanced heavy-water reactor (AHWR) — a 300 MWe, indigenously designed, thorium-fuelled, commercial technology demonstrator — has been put off several times since it was first announced in 2004. However, scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre have successfully tested all relevant thorium-related technologies in the laboratory, achieving even industrial scale capability in some of them. In fact, if pressed, India could probably begin full-scale deployment of thorium reactors in ten years. The single greatest hurdle, to answer the original question, is the critical shortage of fissile material.

A fissile material is one that can sustain a chain reaction upon bombardment by neutrons. Thorium is by itself fertile, meaning that it can transmute into a fissile radioisotope but cannot itself keep a chain reaction going. In a thorium reactor, a fissile material like uranium or plutonium is blanketed by thorium. The fissile material, also called a driver in this case, drives the chain reaction to produce energy while simultaneously transmuting the fertile material into fissile material. India has very modest deposits of uranium and some of the world’s largest sources of thorium. It was keeping this in mind that in 1954, Homi Bhabha envisioned India’s nuclear power programme in three stages to suit the country’s resource profile. In the first stage, heavy water reactors fuelled by natural uranium would produce plutonium; the second stage would initially be fuelled by a mix of the plutonium from the first stage and natural uranium. This uranium would transmute into more plutonium and once sufficient stocks have been built up, thorium would be introduced into the fuel cycle to convert it into uranium 233 for the third stage. In the final stage, a mix of thorium and uranium fuels the reactors. The thorium transmutes to U-233 as in the second stage, which powers the reactor. Fresh thorium can replace the depleted thorium in the reactor core, making it essentially a thorium-fuelled reactor even though it is the U-233 that is undergoing fission to produce electricity.

After decades of operating pressurised heavy-water reactors (PHWR), India is finally ready to start the second stage. A 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam is set to achieve criticality any day now and four more fast breeder reactors have been sanctioned, two at the same site and two elsewhere. However, experts estimate that it would take India many more FBRs and at least another four decades before it has built up a sufficient fissile material inventory to launch the third stage. The earliest projections place major thorium reactor construction in the late 2040s, some past 2070. India cannot wait that long.

Procuring fissile material

The obvious solution to India’s shortage of fissile material is to procure it from the international market. As yet, there exists no commerce in plutonium though there is no law that expressly forbids it. In fact, most nuclear treaties such as the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material address only U-235 and U-233, presumably because plutonium has so far not been considered a material suited for peaceful purposes. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) merely mandates that special fissionable material — which includes plutonium — if transferred, be done so under safeguards. Thus, the legal rubric for safeguarded sale of plutonium already exists. The physical and safety procedures for moving radioactive spent fuel and plutonium also already exists.

If India were to start purchasing plutonium and/or spent fuel, it would immediately alleviate the pressure on countries like Japan and the U.K. who are looking to reduce their stockpile of plutonium. India is unlikely to remain the only customer for too long either. Thorium reactors have come to be of great interest to many countries in the last few years, and Europe yet remains intrigued by FBRs as their work on ASTRID, ALFRED, and ELSY shows.

The unseemly emphasis on thorium technology has many reasons. One, thorium reactors produce far less waste than present-day reactors. Two, they have the ability to burn up most of the highly radioactive and long-lasting minor actinides that makes nuclear waste from Light Water Reactors a nuisance to deal with. Three, the minuscule waste that is generated is toxic for only three or four hundred years rather than thousands of years. Four, thorium reactors are cheaper because they have higher burnup. And five, thorium reactors are significantly more proliferation-resistant than present reactors. This is because the U-233 produced by transmuting thorium also contains U-232, a strong source of gamma radiation that makes it difficult to work with. Its daughter product, thallium-208, is equally difficult to handle and easy to detect.

The mainstreaming of thorium reactors worldwide thus offers an enormous advantage to proliferation-resistance as well as the environment. Admittedly, there still remains a proliferation risk, but these can be addressed by already existing safeguards. For India, it offers the added benefit that it can act as a guarantor for the lifetime supply of nuclear fuel for reactors if it chooses to enter the export market, something it is unable to do for uranium-fuelled reactors.

It is clear that India stands to profit greatly from plutonium trading but what compelling reason does the world have to accommodate India? The most significant carrot would be that all of India’s FBRs that are tasked for civilian purposes can come under international safeguards in a system similar to the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. There is little doubt that India will one day have a fleet of FBRs and large quantities of fissile material that can easily be redirected towards its weapons programme. This will limit how quickly India can grow its nuclear arsenal to match that of, say, China. Delhi has shown no inclination to do so until now, but the world community would surely prefer that as much as possible of India’s plutonium was locked under safeguards.

The U.S. could perhaps emerge as the greatest obstacle to plutonium commerce. Washington has been resolutely opposed to reprocessing since the Carter administration, preferring instead the wasteful once-through, open fuel cycle. Although the U.S. cannot prevent countries from trading in plutonium, it has the power to make it uncomfortable for them via sanctions, reduced scientific cooperation, and other mechanisms. The strong non-proliferation lobby in the U.S. is also likely to be nettled that a non-signatory of the NPT would now move to open and regulate trade in plutonium. The challenge for Delhi is to convince Washington to sponsor rather than oppose such a venture. In this, a sizeable portion of the nuclear industry could be Delhi’s allies.

Scientists predict that the impact of climate change will be worse on India. Advancing the deployment of thorium reactors by four to six decades via a plutonium market might be the most effective step towards curtailing carbon emissions.

(Jaideep A. Prabhu is a researcher in foreign and nuclear policy. He can be reached at @orsoraggiante)

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Nov 2015 13:45

India's nuclear programme among largest in developing nations: US report - PTI

WASHINGTON: Stating that India has "one of the largest nuclear power programmes" among developing nations, a US-based thinktank said by the end of 2014 India had enough weapon-grade plutonium to possess an estimated stock of atomic weapons in the range of 75-125.

"An estimate of India's nuclear arsenal can be derived by considering its weapon-grade plutonium stock. The resulting estimate has a median of 138 nuclear weapons equivalent with a range of 110 to 175 weapons equivalent," a report released by Institute for Science and International Security said.

"However, the actual number of nuclear weapons India built from its stocks of weapon-grade plutonium must be less. When accounting for the amount of plutonium in the weapons production pipelines and in reserves, it is reasonable to assume that only about 70 per cent of the estimated stock of weapon-grade uranium is in nuclear weapons," the report said.

"Thus the predicted number of weapons made from its weapon-grade plutonium at the end of 2014 is about 97 with a range of 77-123. These values are rounded to 100 nuclear weapons with a range of 75-125 nuclear weapons," the report co-authored by David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini said.

Notably, Albright had led anti-India campaign both at the Congress and among the think-tanks against the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

The report 'India's Stocks of Civil and Military Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium, End 2014' concludes that India has "one of the largest nuclear power programmes among developing nations".

The report estimated that India has made 100-200 kilogrammes of weapon-grade uranium for nuclear weapons.

"Faced with a lack of information but evidence that India has produced HEU (highly enriched uranium) for nuclear weapons, it is assumed that India has made 100-200 kilogrammes of weapon-grade uranium for nuclear weapons. Of course, this estimate is highly uncertain," the report said.

"It has a substantial stock of nuclear weapons made from weapon-grade plutonium, and perhaps some thermonuclear weapons that rely on both weapon-grade plutonium and weapon-grade uranium," the report said.

Noting that an estimate of India's nuclear arsenal can be derived by considering its plutonium and highly enriched uranium stocks, the report said India separates plutonium produced primarily in a set of small, dedicated reactors and a smaller amount produced in nuclear power reactors.

"However, India also has a growing gas centrifuge programme capable of producing significant amounts of HEU mostly for naval reactor fuel and perhaps for nuclear weapons, including thermonuclear weapons," it said and alleged that India is not transparent about its fissile material stocks. {Ha ha, as though others are}

The report estimates India's stocks of separated plutonium and highly enriched uranium as of the end of 2014.

India's stockpiles of nuclear weapons is much less than that of neighboring Pakistan, according to a recent report.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 03 Nov 2015 15:37

^^they themselves say "this estimate is highly uncertain"

Someone should ask Albright the question, "then why bother, fool"?

srin · Post by **srin** » 03 Nov 2015 22:19

^^^Main reason would be funding - so who are funders ? Go here and you see the usual suspects: Ford Foundation for one. Their job it is to maintain US primacy in strategic and international affairs and want to continue to the original goal of "cap, reverse and eliminate".
So these reports would be brought in Senate hearings and then 123 agreement will be brought up, maybe NSG membership - just to keep things cooking.