nuclear-news

India’s nuclear safety is a myth

Myth of Indian nukes safety Pakistan Observer Mohammad Jamil 5 Jan 2010 There have been many accidents and thefts of uranium in India’s atomic research centres and other facilities giving rise to doubts about the security of Indian nukes. Risks related to India nuclear proliferation are many while their security arrangements are far from satisfactory. The world must take note of it before it is too late. On 29th December 2009, two research students died in the fire in laboratory of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) caused by an explosion, what was described as a ‘loud bang’. It is not yet clear if the bang was caused by an explosion or triggered by a chemical reaction, however this has exploded the myth of the security of India’s nukes…..

On 25th November 2009, at the Kaiga Nuclear Power Station at Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada District, a water cooler was found contaminated with Tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of Hydrogen and is used in preparation of nuclear weapons and can cause damage to human body cells on consumption. This dangerous incident clearly pointed to a grave Indian security lapse regarding the safe custody of nuclear material. Reportedly over 50 employees were hospitalized due to consumption of contaminated water but the incident was downplayed by the authorities……..

On 30th November, Times of India had reported about radiation contamination at the Kaiga nuclear plant in Karnataka. The locals residing in surrounding area suffered heavy losses in the shape of casualties of inhabitants and livestock losses in crores of rupees………….
According to another report, Kaiga incident was not the first accident that took place on November 30 this year but some 300 cases of similar nature have already been accounted for. The initial investigation of Kaiga incident disclosed that it was possibly an act of mischief and security breach too. Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister‘s Office, had also confirmed in New Delhi while talking to the press that it was a breach of security. In fact, poor security arrangements have been noticed on various Indian nuke plants, and there are some important places where security cameras have not been installed.

The employees working on the nuke plants have been found stealing and selling Uranium in the local market…………

It would be pertinent to mention here the US-India nuclear trade legislation granted India the benefits of being a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty without requiring it to meet all of the responsibilities expected of responsible states in this regard. India has even insisted that certain reactors would remain outside the purview of the IAEA. Knowing India’s past and being familiar with the fact that India remained outside the international nuclear mainstream since it misused Canadian and US peaceful nuclear assistance to conduct its 1974 nuclear bomb test, refused to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and conducted additional nuclear tests in 1998. India had been cut off from most US civilian nuclear assistance since 1978 and most international assistance since 1992 because of these violations. But now the US and Nuclear Suppliers’ Group anticipate at least $100 billion purchases by India, which is has already spent $20 billion on purchase of sophisticated weaponry and has allocated additional $30 billion for buying aircraft, tanks, aircraft carriers and other conventional armament. This is the reason that the US and the West turn a blind eye to India’s aberrations and violations of international cove

January 6, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin