India Nuclear News and Discussion 23 July 2008

[shiv]

I am giving conservative figures:

The current installed hydro power in India is around 30 GW. The hydro potential of India is around - 80 GW giving a balance of 50 GW unused as yet.

Add to the above another 30 GW from Bhutan and 40+ GW from Nepal.

Thus India has 120 GW (50+30+40) hydro and 50 GW of wind energy, 30 GW of solar.

All this add up to 200 GW. The current installed electric power in India is around 150 GW.

In the 2010 to 2015 or 2020 time frame, the above (hydro+ wind + solar) could add 200 GW - taking India's total to 350 GW by 2020.

However, beyond that point, India will depend on imported energy (nuclear, hydrocarbon etc.).

Karnataka currently gets 60% of its power from Hydel. One failed monsoon and we start having 10 to 20% power cuts as we are facing right now. So "potential power" and real availability is dependent on the weather for many monsoon dependent states. Besides - the same water is also required for irrigation and urban water supply.

Increasing Karnataka's dependence on Hydel power would hit the state that much harder every time the monsoon fails, so diversification is required.

[shetty]

Parties should take to development politics, says Kalam

Advocating the cause of Indo-US civil nuclear deal for the nation's future energy requirements, Kalam said that thorium-based nuclear reactors would make India self-sufficient in cleaner energy.

Kalam said various people, including leaders of political parties, had approached him seeking his opinion as a scientist on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The political parties should have scientifically explained about the deal to common man, he observed. He said India should have three-dimensional approaches — solar, nuclear power and bio fuel — to solve its energy crisis. It will take seven to ten years for development of thorium-based nuclear reactors, but we will become self-sufficient in cleaner energy, he said, adding that tons of carbon dioxide was being pumped into atmosphere every day and there was a dire need of cleaner energy. A limited quantity of uranium will still be required for thorium-based nuclear reactors, he added.

Besides generating cleaner energy, the Indo-US deal was required for energy independence of the nation, he said. "As a smart nation, there was no harm in buying whatever we need from others," he remarked. In reply to a query whether India would be able to repeat Pokhran after the deal, Kalam said India was already a nuclear state and queried back, "How many times do India need to repeat Pokhran."

[Raj Malhotra]

IIRC the average efficiency of hydel power projects is around 25% of installed capacity???

[kshirin]

Good article by Prem Shankar Jha. Now BJP and Congress hould make anational unity Government and get the economy raring - best way to solve the security problem:

Conscience Slinks In
The vote for the UPA was the whisper of national interest growing loud
PREM SHANKAR JHA

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fo ... F%29&sid=1

...However, the victor on July 22 was neither Dr Singh nor Mr Singh: it was India. Not only did the vote secure India's energy and technology future, the greater victory was the outcome of Parliament's battle with its own collective conscience. In that battle, conscience won by a hair.
Many may wonder if I'm being fanciful. Where was conscience in the rowdy, unruly scenes in the Lok Sabha? Where was conscience as fistfuls of thousand-rupee notes were waved before television cameras and in the well of Parliament? On the contrary, didn't Parliament plumb the depths of depravity during those long minutes, and that too before the eyes of half the country?
It did, but as the day wore on, it also became apparent that something else was creeping, almost unnoticed, into the debate. It was a growing discomfort among the opponents of the deal with the position in which they found themselves. It was apparent in the unusual quietness of the BJP's front-benchers, the silence maintained by L.K. Advani himself, and the last ditch attempt to derail the proceedings of the house rather than allow a vote.
The discomfort in the Opposition benches had deepened when Rahul Gandhi made a stirring speech inviting the Opposition to consider the bill in the light of India's national interest. The discomfort manifested itself in a growing chorus of interruptions. Clearly, the opponents did not want the people of India to hear him. But for them, things only got worse, as Sangeeta Singh, Asaduddin Owaisi, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and half a dozen representatives of small parties also invoked the nation's welfare while supporting the government.
By the time the voting began, the BJP, in particular, had realised just what a monumental blunder it had committed. It could, with justification, have taken the credit for paving the way for the bill. Instead, it tamely surrendered its trumpcard, nationalism, to the Congress. And Owaisi, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and several earlier speakers gave the lie to the Left's cynical claim that the Muslims of India were opposed to the bill. The surreptitious return of national interest into the debate was finally confirmed by the fact that 10 of the opponents of the government chose not to vote.
This re-entry of the national interest into the debate shows that Parliament itself is on the edge of a historic change.A new generation of parliamentarians—which considers serving in Parliament a duty and not a perquisite— is coming to the fore. If their idealism is nurtured and not snuffed out, Indian democracy will finally come of age. But if the UPA chooses only to bask in its victory and returns to business as usual, then one or two decades of turning a blind eye to the deals through which parties raise cash will turn today's idealists also into cynics and party hacks.
The way to prevent this has been known for a long time: it is to set up a system of generous state funding for recognised political parties, freeing them from the need to make compromises with those who raise money for them. Manmohan Singh has believed in the virtues of state funding at least since 1994. It was also a promise made in the UPA's common minimum programme. The government still has time to implement it.

[rajrang]

I am giving conservative figures:

The current installed hydro power in India is around 30 GW. The hydro potential of India is around - 80 GW giving a balance of 50 GW unused as yet.

Add to the above another 30 GW from Bhutan and 40+ GW from Nepal.

Thus India has 120 GW (50+30+40) hydro and 50 GW of wind energy, 30 GW of solar.

All this add up to 200 GW. The current installed electric power in India is around 150 GW.

In the 2010 to 2015 or 2020 time frame, the above (hydro+ wind + solar) could add 200 GW - taking India's total to 350 GW by 2020.

However, beyond that point, India will depend on imported energy (nuclear, hydrocarbon etc.).

Karnataka currently gets 60% of its power from Hydel. One failed monsoon and we start having 10 to 20% power cuts as we are facing right now. So "potential power" and real availability is dependent on the weather for many monsoon dependent states. Besides - the same water is also required for irrigation and urban water supply.

Increasing Karnataka's dependence on Hydel power would hit the state that much harder every time the monsoon fails, so diversification is required.

Much of India/Bhutan/Nepal's hydro potential is due to the himalayan rivers which are also snow fed and thus less vulnerable to the power cut problems due to failed monsoons.

[rajrang]

IIRC the average efficiency of hydel power projects is around 25% of installed capacity???

Between 35 to 40% energy generated should be realistic.

[NRao]

As if on cue:

Power crisis hits Indian states

Authorities in the western Indian state of Maharashtra have announced tough measures to deal with a power crisis.

The state's 250,000 industries will now get power only five days a week and malls and government offices have been told to reduce energy consumption.

Scanty rains, growing demand for power and lack of new power plants has led to shortages in others parts of India too.

The southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are also reeling under severe power shortage.

In the last few days the two states have also announced a slew of measures to curb their energy use.

Cut imposed

"Industrial staggering or power cuts have been increased for industries to 40 hours per week," Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company Limited official Ajay Bhushan Pandey told reporters in the state capital, Mumbai.

Mr Pandey said a 10% cut on electricity consumption has been imposed on all government offices, civic bodies, the information technology industry and other high-use customers.



An acute power shortage has afflicted Maharashtra for many years now, but less than average rainfall this year has worsened the situation.

Also, with the increasing numbers of shopping malls and new factories and growing foreign investments, there has been a surge in demand for power.

But, says the Power Grid Corporation's Anjan Roy, "In the last five years, no new power houses have come up in the state. The result is that today load shedding (power cuts) has become a major problem."

The power crisis has also affected farmers and common people with 12 to 14 hour power cuts reported from rural areas.

A few days ago, the government of the southern Andhra Pradesh state also directed all industries to remain shut for two days every week.

Reports say due to frequent power cuts, industries in the state are already struggling to meet their production targets and their output is likely to reduce further with the increase in power cuts.

In the neighbouring Karnataka state, the capital city and India's IT hub Bangalore has seen several hours of power cuts every day.

The state government has announced the city's power supply will be reduced by 20%.

[jash_p]

Did you se the pattern?

After MMS winning trust vote

1) Uncle gave goodis worth $250 m. to Pakis
2) Bomblast in Banglore
3) Bomblast in Ahmadavad

Why after vote ? Because, if before these happens MMS might loose the vote. Uncle was knowing that Pakis are upto and told them to behave till votes are over.

[NRao]

No compromise on strategic programme: Kakodkar

Perhaps he should back it up with a test? Good time to prove it.

KHARAGPUR: Access to additional uranium, along with the quantity already available, to proceed with the nuclear electricity generation plan, will in no way compromise the country'ss strategic programme, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said on Friday.

"There is no doubt that we would pursue the three-stage development of our vast energy potential in our thorium resources on high priority. Nuclear energy, with its several million-fold calorific value and negligible greenhouse emissions, can make a paradigm change for the better."

He was addressing the 54th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Dr. Kakodkar said India had emerged as a self-reliant technological power following five decades of domestic research and development, and was capable of pursuing an autonomous path despite the existing embargo.

"Even a back-of-the-envelope assessment would reveal that the electricity demand-supply gap would progressively widen over the next few decades in spite of best efforts to deploy all available indigenous energy resources, including nuclear."

Dr. Kakodkar, who is also Secretary to the Department of Atomic Energy, pointed out that fast breeder reactors produced more fuel than what they consumed. This would enable growth of the electricity generation capacity in the future, without the need for additional fuel.

IIT Bhubaneswar begins

Meanwhile, the formal functioning of the IIT Bhubaneswar, one of the six new institutes in the country, began on Friday. "Since the infrastructure is not ready in Bhubaneswar, all 104 students would attend classes in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering on the Kharagpur campus now," said IIT Kharagpur Director Damodar Acharya.

Prof. Acharya said 30 additional professors had been recruited for the IIT, Bhubaneswar, whose academic year would start in August.

[Sanatanan]

From DD News (web edition), about the Additional Protocol

Sunday 27 July, 2008.
Talks on India-specific Additional Protocol to begin on Monday

India will begin consultations with the IAEA from Monday in Vienna to draft a template of an India-specific 'Additional Protocol' for inspection of its civilian nuclear power plants, days ahead of the Agency's Board of Governors (BOG) meeting on 1st August to discuss the India-specific safeguard agreement.

The India-specific safeguards agreement is an umbrella accord and the Additional Protocol, which New Delhi will be negotiating in detail from Monday with IAEA will also be specific to India.

There is a possibility that BOG might insist that the India-specific "An Additional Protocol" is also signed along with the safeguards agreement to enable inspection of those nuclear units declared by New Delhi as civil, according to the experts on safeguards.

As per separation plan unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March 2006, 14 out of 22 of the country's nuclear power plants will be under IAEA safeguards and eligible for inspection.

India will begin its mandatory consultation process on "An Additional Protocol" with IAEA as per the Indo-US joint statement on civil nuclear cooperation of 18th July 2005.

Additional protocol will be instrumental in enabling the Agency to carry out its mandate as per the agreement, experts said.

Indian negotiators who are reaching Vienna on Monday morning will work out details on a template of the additional protocol, which will be in addition to the India-specific safeguards agreement, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said.

"We have to work on the details of the 'Additional Protocol' which will be unique to India," Kakodkar said.

Ravi B Grover, Director, Strategic Planning, Department of Atomic Energy and Gitesh Sarma, joint secretary of the department will work out the details.

Additional Protocol or the Model Protocol of IAEA INFCIR 540 is additional to the agreement(s) between NPT state(s) and the IAEA for application of safeguards.

It is designed for NPT states for having safeguards agreement in order to strengthen and improve the efficiency of the safeguards system as a contribution to global nuclear non-proliferation objectives.

IAEA has two templates of additional protocols--one is for nuclear weapons countries (P-5) and the other is for non-nuclear weapon state.

"But for India this is the first time that in any international document it has conceded a position as a nuclear weapon state albeit indirectly. Therefore, a new template for an Additional Protocol," A N Prasad, former director, Bhabha Atomic Energy Agency and a safeguards and inspection specialist said.

Earlier India, Israel and Pakistan did not opt for additional protocols since they are not signatory to any NPT safeguards agreement with IAEA.

"But now for India it becomes mandatory to generate an India-specific Additional Protocol with IAEA," Prasad said.

For the first time India will be going for an India-specific Additional Protocol and since it is a de facto weapon state, INFCIR 540 (which is meant for non-weapon state(s) may not be directly applicable to India, Prasad said adding that there may be some exceptional condition made. {On the contrary, if I remeber correctly, the Hyde Act specifies that India must adhere to the more intrusive INFCIRC 540, while the 123 has a "place holder" where it talks of the Additional Protocol.} "How it emerges one has to wait and see," he said.

India has already placed six of its reactors under IAEA safeguards -- two at Tarapur (Maharashtra), two at Kota (Rajasthan) and two Russian-designed reactors which are under advanced state of construction at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. The reactors under construction are facility specific.

It is to be seen how Indian negotiators are able to ensure the existing safeguard regimen of these plants are 'subsumed' by the new arrangements.

"The whole exercise is a confidence building one," a senior DAE official said.

At IAEA, India had been opposing Model Additional Protocol since its introduction by the Agency in late 1990s saying it was very intrusive and discriminatory for any country.

By having country-specific 'An Additional Protocol', India will not have to experience the most draconian and intrusive "Additional Protocol" which are implemented in countries like Iraq where the entire country is under environment surveillance and monitoring.

Meanwhile, Chairman, Accelerator Safety Committees, Atomic Regulatory Board, and former Instruments Specialist & Inspect or Safeguards, IAEA, M R Iyer said the implementation of the IAEA agreement will take several years, since providing safeguard coverage from scratch for 14 installations is a mind boggling task for the IAEA.

"Then there is the aspect of what we call as safeguardability of a plant which means nothing unless it is organised from the beginning and a lot of back fitting would be required to make it a perfect 'Material Balance Area'. The input and output of fissile materials had to be reconciled by containment and surveillance techniques," he said.

There is also the Member State Support Program for the IAEA safeguards, since the Agency has to depend on member states to develop and perfect both hardware and software for implementation of safeguards, Iyer said.

He said though IAEA has infrastructure to carry out safeguard inspection and analysis, it does not have any for development of the hardwares and softwares.

Many advanced member states which help the Agency in these matters also benefit from the commercial outfall of these activities, Iyer who was one of the inspectors for North Korea facilities, said.

The IAEA agreement will form the basis for approaching Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to remove the restrictions on nuclear trade with India and the bilateral agreement with the US in the form of the 123 Agreement which gives exemption to India for nuclear commerce with that country.

More significantly, IAEA and NSG agreements will lead to several bilateral agreements with countries such as France and Russia in the near future.

Russia has explicitly said for future reactors to be set up at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu, an agreement with IAEA is required.

Once out of the shackles of the embargo, there is scope for many such agreements to be reached to open nuclear market for India for imports as well as exports.

In other words, the IAEA agreement, though no doubt originated with the requirement set forth by the US to have an Indo-US nuclear agreement, has much deeper implications in the international context, Iyer added.

[Gerard]

Pak threatens to nuke fissile treaty

Shahbaz, Pakistan's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that if the IAEA approves a draft safeguards agreement with India, and nuclear sanctions are lifted against New Delhi, then this would nip in the bud upcoming talks on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).

He told Nucleonics Week, a journal tracking global nuclear issues, that the IAEA and Nuclear Suppliers Group, a club that regulates nuclear commerce, “can say good-bye to it (the FMCT)”.

[NRao]

Pak threatens to nuke fissile treaty

Shahbaz, Pakistan's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that if the IAEA approves a draft safeguards agreement with India, and nuclear sanctions are lifted against New Delhi, then this would nip in the bud upcoming talks on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).

He told Nucleonics Week, a journal tracking global nuclear issues, that the IAEA and Nuclear Suppliers Group, a club that regulates nuclear commerce, “can say good-bye to it (the FMCT)”.

A known proliferator is hijacking FMCT!!

What is it with the West that they can sleep through such threats?

[Gerard]

For the first time India will be going for an India-specific Additional Protocol and since it is a de facto weapon state, INFCIR 540 (which is meant for non-weapon state(s) may not be directly applicable to India, Prasad said adding that there may be some exceptional condition made. {On the contrary, if I remeber correctly, the Hyde Act specifies that India must adhere to the more intrusive INFCIRC 540, while the 123 has a "place holder" where it talks of the Additional Protocol.} "How it emerges one has to wait and see," he said.

There are proliferation concerns with IAEA inspectors (many from NNWS) running around a state with nuclear weapons facilities. This would be a potential source of leakage of weapons technology to NNWS.

[Gerard]

Nuclear India is good for globe

As India grows, it will rank third behind the US and China in terms of global energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

If the existing restrictions on the import of nuclear technology and uranium for peaceful power sources are removed, as much as 35 per cent of India's total energy needs could be met by clean nuclear power plants by 2050.

This would have a much bigger impact on global greenhouse gas reductions than any domestic policy Rudd could propose.

[Gerard]

Kalam reiterates support for nuclear deal

[Gerard]

India as nuclear exporter

[Amber G.]

Kalam reiterates support for nuclear deal

So it seems that previous peculiar reports, Like Arun_S posted on July 18 were not credible.
Arun_S wrote on July 18:

Yes, strange it is, that there is no rebuttal from any quarter on such an important matter.
More so interesting that the media reporting that went up 20dB in crescendo to sway public opinion by widely reporting and leaving no stone unturned on APJ Kalams pro-Deal stance, is very quite. In fact very very quite, when their poster boy Prof APJ Kalam has now listened to his inner voice and has turned hostile.

Just shows that the 10 x increase in number of media houses (print and electronic) in India, that large young body is listening to and serving "His Master's Voice" and not serving India as diligent fourth estate.

Also, when some, postors doubted the sources .. the summarily dismissal by others were not up to the mark either:
Acharya wrote on the same day:

jash_p wrote:
Quote:
I have not seen a single bit of news on Kalam's change of heart on TV which means that news is nothing but DDM BS.
>>>

it was during press conf. with Sourie, DDM did not gave prominence on TV thats another matter.
>>>
It was a part of the psy ops plan to make sure that SP does not get much opposition from its MPs to support the deal. They want to give publicity to only that part where he supported the deal

Thanks G. for setting the record straight.

[Neshant]

N-deal: 'US after India's sovereignty'

RANCHI: The USA is conspiring to control India's sovereignty through the Indo-US nuclear deal, former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Sunday.

"The Vajpayee government had given us nuclear power and now the USA wants its keys, so it is conspiring to control India's foreign policy and its sovereignty through the nuke deal," Sinha told a news conference here.

"Advani'ji' has already stated that the BJP will renegotiate the deal when it returns to power," Sinha, who is here as part of the BJP's week-long programme to reach out to the people with its views on various issues, added.

[Gerard]

N-deal is not for stocking weapons, says Pranab

"We have enough arsenal in our possession and a strong force to defend our country. So we don't need to sign the nuclear deal for stocking weapons. It has much larger implication,"

[Gerard]

Infamy or beautiful friendship

[Gerard]

India files nuclear separation plan with IAEA

[svinayak]

What’s IAEA? Rahul needs to know
Hyderabad: The leader of the pack of young MPs who hold out hope to Indian politics was hopelessly caught out by a simple question on Saturday . Rahul Gandhi, one the nuclear deal’s chief mandarins, could not ex-pand IAEA for a student in the Andhra Pradesh capital. Surely, the Congress MP has heard of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will license the nuclear deal New Delhi and Washington hope to strike.

When the interaction with students began at Ravindra Bharathi on Saturday, Rahul was his usual confident self. “I do not care if you lose the next election here or there. I am worried about what is going to happen tomorrow. We will go in for the nuclear deal as it will influence every sphere of the economy and section of people,” he asserted. “The deal means millions and millions of jobs and light in the houses of poor of this country.”

But that’s where the lights went out, not in the room but from Rahul’s address. A student asked the young MP what IAEA, mentioned in newspapers and television channels every day, stood for. Rahul faltered, the words did not come. He apologised to the student for his ignorance.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins...M&login=default

[Amber G.]

Meanwhile (ex) BJP MP is quoted as saying: "Rajnath Singh and Advaniji are trying to kill me"
29 held for attacking BJP MP's house

In Delhi, 29 people have been detained after local BJP workers stoned the house of expelled BJP MP Chandrabhan Singh in Delhi's high security North Avenue area.

Chandrabhan had abstained from the trust vote and says he fears for his life.

"It seems top leaders like Rajnath Singh and Advani ji are trying to kill me. I was not well on the date of the trust vote and was admitted in the hospital. I don't know why they think I was involved in cross-voting," he said.

[Amber G.]

Beijing’s N-deal stand worries UPA
Japan to look into nuclear deal

[p_saggu]

Infamy or beautiful friendship

Greg Shredian is very supportive of much improved Indo-Australian relations, but where did this come from?

Under the deal India will separate its peaceful nuclear energy program from its weapons program. It will put the reactors devoted to the production of electricity under complete supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency and commit to a voluntary moratorium on further tests of nuclear weapons.

[vishwakarmaa]

A known proliferator is hijacking FMCT!!

What is it with the West that they can sleep through such threats?

West supports pakistan. Why they should worry?

[vishwakarmaa]

What’s IAEA? Rahul needs to know
But that’s where the lights went out, not in the room but from Rahul’s address. A student asked the young MP what IAEA, mentioned in newspapers and television channels every day, stood for. Rahul faltered, the words did not come. He apologised to the student for his ignorance.

Rahul Gandhi doesn't know full form of IAEA and he expects Indian Parliament to listen to him and vote for nuclear deal.

Now, don't blame this yanky-wanna-be. Probably he doesn't get time to study nuclear deal when he is busy roaming with his gori girlfriend on Indian tax-payer money.

If this is the IQ level of young politicians, then we can see the future US-puppet role for India well fitting.

Lets hope Rahul is just exception and other youth leaders are not ignorant and kiddish like him.

[vishwakarmaa]

Meanwhile (ex) BJP MP is quoted as saying: "Rajnath Singh and Advaniji are trying to kill me"

"It seems top leaders like Rajnath Singh and Advani ji are trying to kill me. I was not well on the date of the trust vote and was admitted in the hospital. I don't know why they think I was involved in cross-voting," he said.

Same thing was said by many Congress MPs before the vote - getting threats from IB and party is trying to push them on the vote.

Mere boundary majority of 275 shows that many Congress MPs have voted against the deal, since there was as many cross-voting from other side.

[vishwakarmaa]

Rahul Gandhi doesn't have attachment to soil here. He is basically disconnected from Indian soil. Only his language skill is exception.

For such disconnected person, its not natural to feel any loyalty or desire of integrity towards the land. Its just good timepass and career for him. Nothing beyond that.

Otherwise, he wouldn't go out and fake a speech in parliament on a crucial nuclear issue and not knowing meaning of IAEA.

[vishwakarmaa]

We need a law to allow only those people to become PM, those who have spent their childhood and education life in India.

Atleast upto college graduate level.

[enqyoob]

For the enjoyment of all the CTs (Conspiracy Theorists, a respected tribe on BRF, no insult intended. This standard disclaimer is now needed on BRF posts, with all the instant-offence-takers wandering around with lathis): Does the timing not delight you? US glow-waste storage problem solved.

Energy department discards list of possible nuclear waste recycling sites.

The Chicago Tribune (7/27, Gregory) reported that last year, "the U.S. Department of Energy stirred controversy by announcing it was considering recycling nuclear waste and building facilities at Argonne National Laboratory [Ill.] and on a site near Morris [Ill.] to aid in the effort." However, the Department of Energy has recently announced that "it is not considering any sites for the facilities," and that the "department still is examining the feasibility of reprocessing nuclear waste." According to the Tribune, the program was called the "Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)" and "was proposed by President George W. Bush in January 2006" with the purpose of "expand[ing] the use of nuclear reactors to generate electricity all over the world." Advocates said that "the program would offset rising oil and natural gas prices while lowering emissions," but critics contended that the increase in "storage and shipping of radioactive material" would also increase "the potential for nuclear mishaps." Argonne Director Robert Rosner "dismissed the notion that the energy department's change deals a significant blow to GNEP."

Study outlines federal plan for transportation of nuclear waste. In continuing coverage from previous editions of First Bell, Pennsylvania's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (7/26, Prine) reported, "A Department of Energy (DOE) study details how the federal government might ship 7,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste through Pittsburgh to Nevada's proposed Yucca Mountain repository." According to the study, "Pittsburgh for 24 years beginning in 2018 would be the rail corridor through which 1,107 massive casks containing spent nuclear fuel from nine commercial reactors" in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland would pass using 372 trains. "That breaks down to about 15 or 16 'glow trains' moving through Pittsburgh every year through 2042. If Congress approves it, the number of shipments could double through 2067." The Pittsburgh Tribune Review noted, however, that "in an age of terrorism, and following non-nuclear accidents in" South Carolina and Texas in recent years, "critics fear that cities like Pittsburgh," could "become cancer zones killing tens of thousands of people in the wake of a derailment or sabotage."

[NRao]

List of sites for possible nuclear waste recycling facilities scrapped

Of interest:

But critics said the program, known as GNEP, would require more storage and shipping of radioactive material, increasing the potential for nuclear mishaps. GNEP also would make it easier for terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons materials, detractors said.

The core idea of GNEP was nonproliferation. The critics seem to think otherwise!

Strong concerns remain over nuclear recycling, said Ed Lyman, senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group. The administration's change of course more likely is the consequence of Congress refusing to fund construction of labs and reprocessing facilities until the Department of Energy has a thorough understanding of impact of recycling spent nuclear fuel, he said.

So, reproc techs are still not mature and well understood enough for US Congress!!

[Gerard]

Why India should get exceptional treatment from IAEA?

[sunilUpa]

Why India should get exceptional treatment from IAEA?

Please check the link.

[NRao]

Why India should get exceptional treatment from IAEA?

Why India should get exceptional treatment from IAEA?

[NRao]

N-deal: US confident of getting IAEA, NSG nod

IAEA, NSG approval is passport for India: Pranab

US prevented Pakistan from blocking India at IAEA

[Gerard]

N-deal bonanza: One lakh new jobs in India

[Pulikeshi]

Why India should get exceptional treatment from IAEA?

Why India should get exceptional treatment from IAEA?

If India is given the waiver all its reactors except eight will come under safeguards and all new imported reactors will also be under safeguards. If India is not given a waiver then all its present 22 reactors and new reactors it may build itself will be outside the safeguards.

Question: What enforces India to place any new imported reactors under safeguards?

Follow up, so if India builds her own reactor then there is no need to place it under safeguards - as long as the fuel is not imported as well.
Is this what follows from the assumption of the quote above?

[svinayak]

India, Pakistan must jointly produce n-energy: analyst (Interview)
May 20th, 2008 - 4:48 pm ICT by admin - Email This Post Email This Post
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sou ... 50706.html

By Manish Chand
Islamabad, May 20 (IANS) A leading Pakistani strategic expert has suggested that India and Pakistan should jointly produce nuclear energy as a confidence-building measure and to solve their power crunch. “India and Pakistan should jointly manage nuclear plants and produce nuclear energy. It will resolve power problems faced by both countries,” Shireen Mazari told IANS in an interview here.

“It’s not such a radical idea as it appears to be. I have tried to sound out Pakistani leaders and their reaction has not been negative,” Mazari replied when asked if Pakistan’s establishment was ready to accept such a bold proposal given its opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal.

“I don’t see any real obstacles on the way. But for such a thing to happen, both countries should move away from their traditional bureaucratic mindset,” she said.

Mazari, who till a week ago was director-general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Pakistan’s premier think tank, is also an influential columnist and author of “The 1999 Kargil”. She was in news recently for writing a polemical piece on “The devastating effects of appeasing India and kowtowing to the US” in The News.

“If psychological barriers can be overcome, the two sides can do a lot together,” she said.

“The India-US nuclear deal will have a military fallout as there will be a lot of unsafeguarded reactors producing fissile material. That’s Pakistan’s anxiety,” Mazari said.

Pakistan has not only opposed the nuclear deal but sought a similar deal from the US. Washington cold-shouldered Islamabad after making a veiled reference to the nuclear proliferation network run by disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan.

“India and Pakistan should not have any problems with such an arrangement if they set their mind to it. Maybe external powers will not be happy with it,” Mazari said.

She denied reports of a new civil nuclear deal between Pakistan and China, saying the two countries have been cooperating in this area under international safeguards.

Mazari’s views on the India-Pakistan nuclear collaboration are bound to rattle the present dispensation in Pakistan, which sacked her as ISS head allegedly due to her anti-America stand.

“I was asked to leave under American pressure because of my sustained criticism of the US policies,” she said.

“By and large, there is a general consensus in Pakistan on strengthening relations with India. There is no Left and Right in Pakistan as far as seeking better relations with India are concerned,” Mazari said.

She was asked if the rightwing Islamic parties also backed the peace process with India.

Mazari’s views may surprise many who are familiar with her writings criticising Pakistan for “bending over backwards” to please India and over sidelining issues like Jammu and Kashmir.

The expert also spoke about the death of a Pakistani prisoner in an Indian prison.

“India sending bodies of Pakistani prisoners sends a wrong message. The two sides should strike a deal on prisoners. This is an essential CBM (confidence-building measure),” she said, as Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir met to pursue the bilateral composite dialogue.

She is not sure what direction the new civilian government in Pakistan will take in carrying forward the dialogue on crucial issues like Kashmir, saying these were “early days” to predict the future course of talks.

[Gerard]

SP to govt: Press US to amend Hyde Act

After backing the UPA government on Indo-US nuclear deal, Samajwadi Party on Monday said India should press the United States to amend the Hyde Act passed by the American Congress or enact a law in Parliament to counter its provisions.