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Saturday, November 17, 2007

Why India should go for Thorium fuel Cycle?

Developed countries in the west are not blessed with large thorium deposits while uranium could be procured easily from the mines of Canada, South Africa and Australia for the Light-Water Reactors (LWR). That seems to be main reason why the thorium fuel cycle was not pursued with vigor in the west and uranium fuel cycle served the purpose of power generation and for producing plutonium for nuclear weapons. It is definitely low-risk development of choice with inherent safety. However, the generation of large amounts of high-level waste, including trans-plutonics and their ultimate disposal became an emotive subject worldwide.

India is one of the very few blessed countries with large deposits of thorium right on the beaches of the States Kerala and Orissa. But somehow, the high technology required for thorium fuel cycle didn’t take off earlier probably due to the “sanctions” post 1974. Besides, uranium was available from the Jaduguda mines, and a number of PHWRs were built for nuclear power generation. Simultaneously, however, thorium utilization was at the top in the agenda for the long term core objective of the “third stage” of the nuclear power program.

At present, it is reported that BARC is engaged in developing 300 MWe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) to gain expertise for thorium utilization and for demonstrating advanced safety concepts. Mixed Thoria-Urania and Thoria-Plutonia are the candidate fuels for the AHWR. Accelerator Driven Sub-Critical Systems (ADS) is the latest addition to the Indian Nuclear program for large scale utilization of thorium. It is expected to provide the strong technology base for its ambitious program of incineration of the long-lived actinides and fission products, thereby reducing the high level waste inventory. India’s long term nuclear power program is reported to be based on the thorium fuel cycle.

The much publicized Indo-US nuclear deal, if works out satisfactorily, would have augmented the short-term nuclear power contribution from the PHWRs. Natural uranium is used as the fuel, which India seems to have short supply.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

What the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said at the The Indian Fifth Annual Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, New Delhi

The Summit, held on 12 October, 2007, featured talks by several important political figures in India, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ms. Sonia Gandhi and the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who talked on - Global security: The need for a new beginning.

Some of the challenges humanity is facing today, as listed by him are:

• Poverty and the persistent inequity in the global distribution of wealth. A study by the United Nations University found that, as of the year 2000, the richest one percent of the world's population owned 40 percent of the world's assets. By contrast, the poorest half of humanity owned barely one percent of global wealth.
• Religious intolerance and the lack of political freedom to systematic oppression and torture and human right abuses, lack of good governance
• Uneven approach to the sanctity of human life
• Global insecurities and threats of nuclear and radiological terrorism.

He said that India has never joined the NPT, and therefore has not made the same legal commitments, it shares responsibility in terms of the urgent need for leadership on nuclear disarmament. In fact, he quoted that next month, it would be 50 years since Prime Minister Nehru made an impassioned appeal, here in New Delhi, for a worldwide end to nuclear testing and the elimination of all nuclear weapons arsenals, in order to "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".

He appreciated the sustained economic growth of recent years has given hope that the political freedoms enjoyed by the Indian people can be coupled with economic prosperity for all. He said democracy is an evolutionary process; however, it must begin from within, and it must be nurtured and supported, regardless of whether the particular leader is a political friend or foe, and regardless of the outcome of a given election. Investments should be in more advanced science and technology to meet development needs - seeking to do more than create more wealth for the wealthy

He appealed to the international community to deal with symptoms of insecurity at the national level, including nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. On the nuclear front he said, the security of existing stocks of nuclear and radiological material should be strengthened, and controls over sensitive nuclear operations that produce such material should be tightened.

Dr. ElBaradei emphasized the need to engage in the sustained diplomacy necessary to resolve longstanding conflicts and to alleviate problems of poverty and hunger to generate momentum for good governance. He called for investments on innovation to address problems of hunger and disease.