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India's gift: (To set up global nuclear center)
Apparently centres to be set up by China and Japan as well
Pakisatan is going to be frothing at the mouth..
ASHINGTON: Pakistan has said that it has acquired advanced nuclear fuel cycle capability and can offer it to the rest of the world under IAEA safeguards.
The offer, contained in a national statement presented at a two-day summit which concluded in Washington on Tuesday, reflected Islamabad’s desire to gain recognition as a nuclear state.
Chinmayanand wrote:The more states get nuke power , the more powerless USA and its gang becomes.
Nuke free world is a farce and it's not gonna happen.
Even if everyone destroys its nukes, what's the guarantee that they won't make it chori-chori chupke chupke.Nobody gonna trust anybody on that.
Absolutely, even if all states can be made to give up their nukes, the western elite families will definitely keep their private nukes.
MMS has lately been talking about a nuke free world. One hopes he doesn't seriously believe in that snake-oil.
Last edited by Pranav on 14 Apr 2010 10:01, edited 1 time in total.
U.S. President Barack Obama's nuclear-security summit this week raised speculation in the media once again about a South Asian arms race. There is understandably deep concern in many capitals about the apparent acceleration of Pakistan's production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, a potential source of leakage to terrorists. But the implication that India is also participating in some sort of unbridled nuclear-arms race needs to be treated with caution. In fact, in some ways New Delhi's nuclear-weapons posture could be the model to which President Obama's new policy of American nuclear restraint aspires.
However, Pakistan's actual behavior and India's potential behavior are very different things. Treating them with artificial equivalence, in the old hyphenated way, is a sure way to alienate India from the U.S. nuclear arms control and security endeavors.
The behavior pattern of the nations are being used for making decisions on their status as a nuclear state.
China seems to be not in the same kind of radar.
However, Pakistan's actual behavior and India's potential behavior are very different things. Treating them with artificial equivalence, in the old hyphenated way, is a sure way to alienate India from the U.S. nuclear arms control and security endeavors.
The behavior pattern of the nations are being used for making decisions on their status as a nuclear state. China seems to be not in the same kind of radar.
Well PRC does not let anyone define its eaqul while Indians let anyone define anyone as equal.
ramana wrote:
The behavior pattern of the nations are being used for making decisions on their status as a nuclear state. China seems to be not in the same kind of radar.
Well PRC does not let anyone define its eaqul while Indians let anyone define anyone as equal.
In what substantially raises the danger of accidental radiation exposure at the Mayapuri junk market, nuclear experts combing the area on Wednesday detected two new sources of the radioactive material, cobalt-60, at a shop least one kilometre away from the site where the hazardous metal was found earlier.
The source of the latest cobalt-60, experts said, seems to different from the previous discovery which had led to serious injuries to seven handlers.
India, China, Japan and Canada were among 25 countries that announced specific action plans at the Nuclear Security Summit here with regard to non-proliferation, including setting up of facilities for research and development and contribution of funds to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) .
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the summit of convened by U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday, announced India’s decision to set up a Global Nuclear Energy Centre for conducting research and development of design systems that are secure, proliferation resistant and sustainable.
As soon as Dr. Singh made the announcement, U.S. President Barack Obama intervened to welcome it, saying “this will be one more tool to establish best practises” in the quest for nuclear safety.
Over the past two days, Manmohan Singh did a lot of "energy diplomacy" on the margins of the security summit. The Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is now playing host to many Indian companies, got a promise to quickly complete a civil nuclear agreement with Kazakhstan. India and Kazakhstan are jointly developing the Satpayev oil block, said the MEA spokesperson, but intensified relations with Kazakhstan means foreign minister S M Krishna will be headed there in May to work out a "roadmap" with them on a cooperative future.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Kanishka bombing, but several Khalistani groups continue to operate out of Canada. During his bilateral meeting with Canadian PM Stephen Harper, Manmohan Singh asked him to monitor these groups, which he agreed to do. Meanwhile, a nuclear agreement with Canada is virtually a done deal, which opens up more uranium for India. So what if the Australians refuse to sell?
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the summit of convened by U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday, announced India’s decision to set up a Global Nuclear Energy Centre for conducting research and development of design systems that are secure, proliferation resistant and sustainable.
As soon as Dr. Singh made the announcement, U.S. President Barack Obama intervened to welcome it, saying “this will be one more tool to establish best practises” in the quest for nuclear safety.
I smell a Tag team being formed here. Pre arranged, pre determined exchange - all for the necessary sound bytes for the media and the DCH crowd.
Oh! massa himself praised PM onlee. Lungi dance onlee
Gagan wrote:
I smell a Tag team being formed here. Pre arranged, pre determined exchange - all for the necessary sound bytes for the media and the DCH crowd.
Both Brent Scowcroft and Madeleine Albright (on Public TV) stated that this entire "summit" was scripted. However, they said that that is the ONLY way that it could be done. The communique had to include and protect the position of every participant out there (which is why the Israeli PM backed out - when he got to know that his position could not be protected by Obama/organizers).
...The nuclear scientists who are carrying out tests on the radioactive material say they believe it came from overseas, though they don't have a theory yet on which country was the source
Rakesh Mehta, chief secretary of Delhi's city government, held a meeting Friday with environmental regulators and nuclear scientists to discuss potential responses to the radiation incident, including stepped up monitoring of scrap sites, and a push for better enforcement at the country's ports.
"The regulations are in place," Mr. Mehta said. "The problem is the implementation is not being done.".
..
Several experts said it was looking increasingly unlikely that the materials found at the New Delhi scrap shop came from medical equipment at Indian hospitals, based on the shape of what was recovered and other characteristics.
P.S. Negi, chief of medical physics at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in Delhi, said hospitals have to follow very strict rules set by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to dispose of radioactive sources – which they do after five to seven years of usage in cancer therapy equipment. They seal the materials in lead flasks and ship them to government research centers under tight security.
"There's been no evidence yet that these materials are making their way into scrap," Mr. Negi said. "My conjecture is that it didn't come from a medical source in India."
New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Radioactive Cobalt-60 was today found from possession of an individual at a private hospital in west Delhi by members of National Disaster Management team.
Cobalt-60, which had caused radition poisoining at Mayapuri in west Delhi recently, was found in the purse of an individual who brought it to Max hospital, Pitampura Dr B B Bhattacharya, member NDMA said.
A team of experts has reached the hospital to evaluate exposure levels.
Also:
One Ajay Jain got exposed to radiation after he unwittingly kept a Cobalt-60 pin in his pocket.
Jain has told investigators that he had received the pin made of the radioactive isotope from Deepak Jain, the scrap dealer from whose shop eight bunches of metal scrap containing sources of Cobalt-60 were found last week in Mayapuri area.
Ajay Jain was admitted to Max Hospital in Pitampura locality two days ago after he found that his back had turned black, officials said adding that the his family members were also being screened for possible exposure to radiation.
The source of the radiation, a 3.8-cm long and two-mm diameter Cobalt-60 pin, has been retrieved and isolated by experts from the National Disaster Management Authority, they said.
Cobalt-60 found from person`s purse at Delhi hospitalExperts said that the source of radiation was as strong as the one found in the Mayapuri scrap market last week.
Ten sources of Cobalt-60 had been recovered from the Mayapuri scrap market earlier and seven persons were hospitalised with burn injuries caused due to radiation.
Even though the 2007 agreement allows American companies to export equipment for the Indian reactors, they still are banned by U.S. law from selling India reprocessing and enrichment technology.
...
The State Department official expressed doubt that Western NSG members will sell such equipment to India, but Mr. Kimball cited recent reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "is reported to have appealed to [Russian] President [Dmitry] Medvedev for reprocessing technology and equipment transfers."
British Met Office and aviation authorities have been accused of exaggerating the threat from volcanic ash and sparking an “unnecessary'' crisis by imposing an indefinite ban on flying .
As the crisis dragged on for the fifth day with no hope of an early respite, experts said the Met Office was using a potentially flawed model to assess the risk.
They claimed that satellite pictures did not corroborate the Met Office's computerised simulation of the ash cloud.
. . .
The International Air Transport Association also criticised too much reliance on theoretical modelling/b] and called for a review of the risk-assessment methods.
. . .
This might be a lesson for those whose bravado is "running simulation programs is enough, actual weapon testing is not required".
Similar "flawed modeling" accusation has hit Climate Change issues also.
Bunch of crock with a measure or padi of psy-ops from crapon.
One can never expect a NPA to give unqualified praise.
KS garu deserves praise for the idea of credible minimum deterrent which the superpowers are also moving to. In this he was far ahead of the great thinkers like Bernard Brodie and the like who fashioned the doctrines to deal with unlimited nuke arsenals.
In a move that has angered arms control advocates, Washington agreed to Indian demands to increase the number of plants allowed to reprocess U.S.-supplied nuclear fuel from one to two, with the option of another two if India's needs grow in the future, the Washington Times reports.
The new document does not need congressional approval and will go into force unless Congress stops it within 30 days.
I have been to Congresswoman Tauscher office last year for some other issue. This is good news.
"Congresswoman Tauscher and Under Secretary Tauscher occupy the same body but not in the same time. What I did in the Congress was one thing, and I get quite used to accepting when things pass and letting them go on," Tauscher, who had strongly opposed the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, said.
She also acknowledged that Washington shares a significant relationship with New Delhi, and that being the under-secretary it was now her duty to implement the India-US nuclear accord.
"I'm very honoured to have been in India late last year, we have a very vibrant and very significant relationship with India," Tauscher said.
Why do you call it a fatwa? Isn't it a good article? I do not know enough about this issue. Some excerpts (I hope no copyright is violated - Mods please edit if so):
APRIL 19, 2010, 10:46 A.M. ET
By HENRY SOKOLSKI
Under the proposed Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, the Indian government would prohibit anyone harmed offsite in an Indian nuclear accident from suing American nuclear vendors for possible damages. It also would cap the responsibility of Indian nuclear reactor operators for such damages at $100 million. ...By comparison, the full costs of the world's most famous nuclear accident—Chernobyl—has been pegged at well over $100 billion. Even the cleanup at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island cost roughly $1 billion. Under U.S. nuclear accident liability laws, U.S. nuclear operators are forced to buy roughly $300 million in coverage and could be forced to pay another $10 billion for offsite damages for any single nuclear accident in the U.S. It's hard to figure why Indians should pay this price when they already may have gained as much from the U.S.-Indian nuclear deal as they ever will.
The sites under consideration are Mahi-Banswara in Rajasthan, Mannur in Karnataka and Rajauli in Bihar. These are over and above the seven sites in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that were accorded an “in principle” approval in October 2009.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - American firms, which played a key role in the passage of Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, are unlikely to engage in atomic trade with India if New Delhi does not become party to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, which has not yet entered into force, a Congressional report has said.“US companies have not yet started nuclear trade with India. New Delhi had reportedly insisted that India and the United States conclude an agreement on a reprocessing facility in India before New Delhi would sign contracts with US nuclear firms. However, the countries announced March 29 that they had concluded the agreement,” said a latest report on the civil nuclear deal released by Congressional Research Service.“The Administration must submit the subsequent arrangement to Congress, but has not yet done so. The proposed arrangement shall not take effect if Congress adopts a joint resolution of disapproval,” said the CRS report ‘US Nuclear Cooperation with India: Issues for Congress’.CRS is the independent research wing of the US Congress.“It is worth noting that US firms will likely be very reluctant to engage in nuclear trade with India if the government does not become party to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, which has not yet entered into force,” said the 47-page report, dated April 8.The civil-nuclear bill requires that, before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can issue licenses for US nuclear exports to India, the President must determine and certify to Congress that New Delhi’s IAEA safeguards agreement has entered into force and that India’s declaration of its nuclear facilities to the agency “is not materially inconsistent with the facilities and schedule” described in a separation plan that New Delhi has provided to Washington.India’s safeguards agreement entered into force May 11, 2009, and New Delhi has filed the declaration with the IAEA.Obama submitted the required certification to Congress on February 3, 2010, determining that India has satisfied the legal requirement described above.“Nevertheless, US firms will likely be very reluctant to engage in nuclear trade with India if the government does not become party to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which has not yet entered into force,” it said.In a letter, the then Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in September 2008, said: “It is the intention of the Indian Government to take all steps necessary to adhere to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage prior to the commencement of international civil nuclear cooperation under” the US-India agreement. (PTI)
This requires smaller but more reliable and survivable arsenals. The main nuclear powers – including China, Russia and the United States – are spending billions each year to upgrade their delivery systems. America is modernizing its Minuteman III missiles. Russia has increased the number of mobile Topol-M launchers and is experimenting with a new missile for submarines. China has expanded its stocks of advanced Dong Feng 25 missiles and will probably start using a new Dong Feng 41 long-range missile this or next year. Following the example of the US and Russia, China and India are also working hard on mounting multiple manoeuvrable warheads (MRIV) on its missiles to make them better protected against defence systems. Doing more with less has thus become the new precept in military planning.
The US is not only positioning interceptors in Eastern Europe, but also in Alaska, California and offshore in the Pacific. China, India and Russia too are building missile defence capabilities. Space becomes another important theatre. The Pentagon’s budget for 2011 lists dozens of new expensive research programmes to make the US the leading military player beyond earth. The Chinese responded by building new anti-satellite missiles and lasers
Fourth, many Chinese and Indians doubt that America will continue to reduce its nuclear arms. The Congress is full of sabre rattlers and will be reluctant to go along with new initiatives. Obama will have a hard time getting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban (CTBT) ratified by the Senate, to obtain the support of Congressmen to withdraw American tactical nuclear arms from Europe or to adopt a no-first-use strategy.
Finally, America is not perceived as an honest broker. Chinese officials and news media repeatedly accused Washington of using double standards in dealing with civilian or military nuclear ambitions of other countries. During a recent conference at Tsinghua University, leading military and civilian experts referred, for example, to America’s nuclear agreement with India and its ambivalence towards Japan’s reprocessing of nuclear fuel.
While strictly speaking the following recent news item may not directly relate to "Nuclear News", I have posted it in this thread to highlight another instance (we already have the "Nuclear Deal" as a jarring instance) of how the present GOI consistently prefers "phoren" over India-made. Adopting such policies would only disastrously stymie India's technological growth.
The Indian Railways has once again chosen an expensive foreign technology (TPWS) over India’s own patented ACD system.
The Indian Railways recently decided to adopt the European technology Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) on busy rail routes to avoid collisions. However, the government has once again ignored the indigenous & cost-effective anti-collision device (ACD) system developed by the Konkan Railway and has instead opted for an expensive foreign technology.
According to industry experts, TPWS is not only expensive, but also less efficient compared to the {Indigenously developed} ACD system. . . .
. . .
ACD, which is a no-signal equipment, has superior wide-area safety-enhancing capability, while costing much less individually. As a network, it delivers extremely superior performance as compared to signal systems. It also has an upgradation cycle in technology terms through progressive software and hardware additions, to eliminate the current old-fashioned Western technology-based signal systems. “This is what the signal department of the Indian Railways fears and thus is trying to fight tooth-and-nail against the introduction of the ACD,” Mr Bojji further stated.
This brings us to the perhaps the most important aspect that mars domestic effort.
The arachic government decision making process.
1. There is a huge susecptibility to brochuritis, and the "more glitzy the better it is" syndrome.
2. Government officials are afraid that if the domestic product somehow does not perform upto expectations, heads will roll that a superior foreign product was ignored. Here the general belief is still that "Foreign = Better".
3. Ghoos - plain and simple, in the case of foreign supplier, at the very least a foreign junket at the expense of the supplier.
It is most important that domestic inventors of technology and domestic companies realize it. The government system will only support domestic efforts only upto a certain level. Then market forces come into play.
It is important that a product be really good, but it has to be 'sold' to the buyer - in this case the relevant government department.
The origin of the radioactive material found in the shops of several scrap dealers in Mayapuri here earlier this month — and has claimed one life so far — has been traced to the Chemistry Department of Delhi University.
The breakthrough came in the form of photographs of the source of radiation taken by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and sent to the Delhi Police as part of its report on April 26.
On seeing the photographs, scrap dealer Giriraj Gupta, in whose shop two radiation sources were detected, told the police that he bought the scrap from another dealer, Harcharan Singh Bhola.
Mr. Bhola told the police that he purchased the lead in bulk at an auction in Delhi University. He reportedly removed the iron part of the scrap and sold the lead part to Mr. Gupta, who owns a shop in Mayapuri Phase-II. Mr. Gupta dismantled it and sold the lead part to other scrap dealers.
Pranav wrote:MMS has lately been talking about a nuke free world. One hopes he doesn't seriously believe in that snake-oil.
He does - he is singularly responsible for damaging India's nuclear weapons as well as energy programs by starving them of funds - first as FM and then as PM.
On the question of MMS believing or not believing in an nuke free world
1) If you believe in a nuke free world for all except the P5 - you are a member of the P5 or a signatory to CTBT
2) If you believe everyone needs nukes then you are a Paki
3) If you believe that even the P5 should not have nukes you are Indian
What about MMS?
He believes in a nuke free world for all EXCEPT P5. But India is not a signatory to CTBT or a P5 member.
Pranav wrote:MMS has lately been talking about a nuke free world. One hopes he doesn't seriously believe in that snake-oil.
He does - he is singularly responsible for damaging India's nuclear weapons as well as energy programs by starving them of funds - first as FM and then as PM.
On the question of MMS believing or not believing in an nuke free world
1) If you believe in a nuke free world for all except the P5 - you are a member of the P5 or a signatory to CTBT
2) If you believe everyone needs nukes then you are a Paki
3) If you believe that even the P5 should not have nukes you are Indian
What about MMS?
He believes in a nuke free world for all EXCEPT P5. But India is not a signatory to CTBT or a P5 member.
That makes MMS an agent of influence.
Yes agreed !! (though some Guru's may down play this fact , its understandable !)
I have no idea (and could not really care) about his personal beliefs wrt nukes. His position as PM of India is however quite clear, and no different from that held by previous holders of that office: India will not sign the NPT and it supports disarmament by ALL nations (P5 included).
