India’s nuclear power programme – is it safe?

Doubts over India’€™s ability to handle nuclear power expansion, SMH, August 31, 2014 Jason Koutsoukis South Asia correspondent at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald New Delhi: With an agreement to allow the sale of Australian uranium to India expected this week, Indian scientists are questioning India’s ability to manage a rapid expansion of its nuclear power industry.

“Nuclear security and safety is a pressing concern in this country,” said Happymon Jacob, who teaches arms control and disarmament at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“India insists that enough security is in place, but my argument is that we need to look deeper, and when you look deeper you see that the regulation of nuclear materials is in the hands of government – and not in the hands of a totally independent regulator,” Dr Jacob said.

With India’s nuclear capabilities hidden beneath layers of secrecy since its first successful nuclear tests in 1974 and a subsequent round of tests in 1998, Dr Jacob said, there have been several attempts to establish an independent regulator of the nuclear power industry……….

if we are going to learn the lessons of the nuclear accident in Fukushima, then we have to ensure there is a means for independent verification of what is occurring and of what could go wrong,” Dr Jacob said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will arrive in Mumbai on Thursday for his first bilateral meeting with India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meeting will take place the day after Mr Modi’s return from Japan where he is expected to a sign a massive $90 billion nuclear trade pact to allow Japanese nuclear power companies to build plants in India………http://www.smh.com.au/world/doubts-over-india128153s-ability-to-handle-nuclear-power-expansion-20140830-10aggo.html

September 1, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general

5 Comments »

Nuclear safety regulation in India had emphasized grave nuclear safety concerns and organizational flaws comparable international norms. India’s auditor general in a report has designated the country’s nuclear industry as insecure, disordered and in many cases, unregulated. The report underlined the fact that there is no national policy on nuclear and radiation safety after almost 30 years and is not much ardent to adopt world standards and best practices.

Comment by Uzman Khan | September 2, 2014 | Reply
Yes there is a dire need to be clear about nuclear security arrangements which India follows for its nuclear build up. All the nuclear security measures are in the hand of Government and of course it can project a flawless picture. There is a need of an unbiased independent body to regulate nuclear security measures of the country. If all sounds okay than why there are strong aggressive protests and movements in India against the nuclear setup. Many years have gone in these anti-nuclear demonstrations but Government is unable to address the queries and concerns of nuclear protestors.

Comment by nehath | September 2, 2014 | Reply
Despite nuclear liability issue, safety and security of Indian nuclear program is also a matter of great concern. The recently published NTI Index also shows Indian poor nuclear safe guards. The reason is that still Indian government is unable to establish a separate body to deal with nuclear issues. Governmental officials have enormous role in policy making which can lead to another Fukushima like disaster if skilled people left out side from nuclear sector.

Comment by Aazar Kund | September 2, 2014 | Reply
Protests have been a regular feature in Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra) and Gorakhpur (Haryana) and at least five activists have lost their lives since 2010 in their struggle against the Indian government’s decision without taking the affected parties on board. Radioactive waste from uranium mining in the country’s east is reportedly affecting adjacent communities. Thousands of Indians suffer from the effects of uranium mining as related to poor technical and management practices. Surely it describes a lot that in Indian eyes, their nuclear power is not safe.

Comment by Siraj Novada | September 2, 2014 | Reply
There may be excellent reasons for the concern shown about the programmes being developed in North Korea and Iran, regimes which promote intransigence, ideology and confrontation. But intention is not the only danger in a nuclear world. The international community would do well to turn its attention to the fast accelerating availability of nuclear potential in India.

Comment by Nidhi Manoj | September 2, 2014 | Reply