Nuclear power an 'inevitable option'

VIENNA: Making a strong pitch for international nuclear energy cooperation with India, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar on Tuesday made it clear that nuclear power was an 'inevitable option' and pressed for 'reformation' of global thinking on it."There is a need for reformation of global thinking that is necessary and consensus on closed fuel cycle has to be reached by those going to participate in the future nuclear renaissance," Kakodkar said.
He was speaking at the scientific forum, an integral part of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) being attended by more than 500 participants."The world has to move forward with nuclear power as an inevitable option based purely on partnership on objective, reliable and predictable basis with holistic mutual understanding and trust as a pre-requisite," he said.
Kakodkar's carefully-worded comments come amidst a raging political debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal in India with Left parties and the opposition closely watching his approach at the IAEA.The Left parties have warned the UPA government of a 'political crisis' if it went ahead with operationalising the deal. An India-specific safeguards agreement and changes in guidelines of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group are required to put the deal into force.Kakodkar favoured a closed fuel cycle to reduce the risk of proliferation of fissile material, a proposal backed by several countries.Currently, the spent fuel from atomic power plants is stocked in high security facilities. This fuel can be reprocessed to extract plutonium, which can be used to create nuclear weapons.
"We cannot put future security at risk through the once-through cycle," he said.
The one time use of uranium fuel should not promoted as it is important for the world to make use of the spent fuel to maximise the energy production and minimise the radioactive waste, he contended.Kakodkar also emphasised that in order to meet the huge energy demands of the world community it was important to have inclusive partnership and make sure that those countries which are keen to develop nuclear power for the first time should have basic minimum infrastructure and human resource needed for it. "This will ensure that no uncertainty remains."

The AEC chief drove home the point that there was need for institutional approach in IAEA programmes. "We need to develop models not based on supplier/recipient basis but on the partnership basis to promote a healthy multi-country cooperation.
"Although IAEA has been making some efforts in this direction, it has not progressed much. IAEA needs to be backed up by additional institutional back up."
"For making the option for closed fuel cycle, there has to be a national policy and India has from the beginning opted for this and we call spent fuel a resource and not waste," he said.US Assistant Secretary for nuclear energy Dennis R Spurgeon elaborated on how the American scientists are working on various technologies to make use of the spent fuel effectively creating minimum radioactive waste.
Several scientists and leaders participating in the forum on 'Nuclear Energy' felt that they should work on the inclusive partnership proposed by Kakodkar and support the closed fuel cycle.

We can't avoid nuclear power : Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

KOLKATA: As his party continued to oppose the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday said the country cannot avoid nuclear power and wanted scientists to debate this and come to a conclusion."We just cannot avoid nuclear power. We should move ahead taking into account the price of nuclear plant and cost of power," Bhattacharjee told an interactive session with the captains of industry organised by CII. Bhattacharya was however silent on the nuke deal.On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent statement that India could not miss the bus of nuclear renaissance, Bhattacharjee said, "We have some doubts about the price of nuclear plants, the cost of power etc. Scientists, planners and economists should discuss this."Let the scientists debate, we will take a decision after that."Bhattacharjee had on Sunday stated that the state government had not taken a decision on nuclear power yet because of divided opinion on it.The state, he said, required more power in coming years because "our growth rate is increasing and FDI is coming."He said that 96 per cent of power in the state was generated by thermal power and "We have to switch over from thermal to solar, wind and other sources of power. In view of the problem of global warming, we need clean power."

Bullets fly as villagers tell comrades: Give us grain, not nuclear nonsense

Villagers faced with a food shortage today stormed a CPM nuclear-deal protest and beat up leaders, saying they wanted rice and not mumbo-jumbo on a subject they didn't understand. A mob of about 1,000 from the Bankura village - a CPM stronghold - then fought police with bombs and stones, prompting firing by the force that injured a schoolboy of 16 and a 23-year-old man. The violence, coming at a time snap polls look a possibility, may confirm the Bengal CPM's deepest fears. The state unit, which has to fight elections, favours caution while taking a decision on toppling the UPA government over the nuclear deal in contrast to the party's central leaders, who have never contested polls. A dozen villagers from Radhamohanpur, 250km from Calcutta, had come to the "anti-imperialism" meeting around 10am to complain to the CPM leaders against hoarding by ration-shop owners. They erupted when panchayat chief Pabitra Mondal - who was on the dais trying to convince a crowd of 200 daily wagers about the dangers of the 123 Agreement tried to shoo them away . One man jumped on the dais, snatched the microphone and began abusing the assembled CPM leaders. "We'll teach you a lesson. You can't give us rice and wheat, instead you talk mumbo-jumbo. We don't understand the nuclear deal, give us food," he screamed. "Maar shalader maar (beat them up)." The words will worry state CPM secretary Biman Bose, who has admitted that the anti-nuclear deal line lacks the force of bread-and-butter issues and will be difficult to sell to an electorate. This afternoon, he said he hadn't heard about the incident but would find out what happened. The news, however, spread fast across Bankura and violent protests against ration dealers were reported from elsewhere in the district, too. In Radhamohanpur, news of the clash at the meeting drew men and women out of their homes, armed with sticks, knives, burning torches and even brooms. The dais, party banners and festoons were soon in flames."I had never seen a mob so angry. They dragged me from the dais and beat me. I ran to the panchayat office but they dragged me and four others out and beat us," Mondal said. The police were driven out as soon as they arrived. A bigger team, together with the Rapid Action Force, later caned the mob and rescued the CPM leaders. The police said the villagers regrouped and hurled bombs and stones, injuring an officer and four others. "We were forced to fire three rounds," said Bishnupur subdivisional police officer Dyutiman Bhattacharjee. The villagers claimed the police fired at least 20 rounds. A bullet pierced the left hand of Sudhamoy Kandal and entered his stomach. Another hit schoolboy Tapas Pal. Nine other villagers, injured in the baton-charge, are in hospital. Ten have been held. Arjun Mondal, 30, a farmer, said: "We didn't get rice or wheat from the ration shops for nearly a year. The dealers sell in the black market with CPM backing."
Although Sonamukhi, the area in which Radhamohanpur falls, is a known CPM stronghold, local party officials blamed the Trinamul Congress, BJP and Maoists for the violence. Trinamul leaders denied the charge.
From Telegraph

WHETHER THE Left likes it or not, Kakodkar will discuss the N-deal with IAEA

WHETHER THE Left likes it or not, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar will discuss the India-US civil nuclear deal with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) DirectorGeneral Mohamed E1Baradei later this month. The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the IAEA general conference in Vienna, slated for September 17-21. However, top government sources made a distinction between general discussions on the deal and entering into negotiations to conclude an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA. India will also brief the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the contours of the nuclear agreement, on September 18 in Vienna. "In Vienna, Dr Kakodkar will be asked questions about the deal and he will have to respond," a top government official said. That the government was pushing ahead with seeking support for the deal was clear from the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Bulgarian counterpart Sergei Stanishev in New Delhi on Wednesday night. Speaking at a banquet, Singh made a specific reference to Bulgarian support for India's case at the NSG. The UPA government remains conscious of the fact that time is ticking away and it must continue the process of engagement with the international community on this key initiative. When contacted by HT, Sitaram Yechury of the CPM said, "We are going by the statement issued when the UPALeft joint committee was set up. It said that the findings of the committee will be taken into account before proceeding with the operationalisation of the deal." He added: "That means India-specific IAEA protocol issues cannot be taken up at the general body meeting." R. Chidambaram, principal scientific adviser to the Government of India, said on Wednesday that nuclear energy was an "inevitable option" for the country.

From HT.

"N-deal a golden chance for India"

THE CIVIL nuclear deal with the United States provides India with a "golden chance" to "accommodate itself" into a more legitimate international nonproliferation structure, Yasukuni Enoki, Japan's Ambassador in New Delhi, believes. In an interview to the Hindustan Times, Enoki, howevel: said that in the real world, 100 per cent results could not be achieved, pointing to the compromise implicit in the civil nuclear deal. "It is unthinkable for such a major, important power to remain an outsider to the nuclear non-proliferation regime. India will remain an excommunicated country and denied access to civil atomic energy technology and research (activities)," Enoki remarked. The ambassador: who leaves for home at the end of the month after a four-year tenure, said such an "outlaw" status for India was not healthy either for New Delhi or the international community To a question if he had any views on the domestic political debate in India on the civil nuclear deal, he said this was "very much a domestic issue" and he wished to abstain from joining this internal debate. Taking a philosophical approach, Enoki stated that India, as a country, always had "good balance": it had taken the middle path. According to him, debate and argument among ditTerent schools of thought was an "indispensable part of Indian culture". "India, eventually, has chosen with wisdom the best way So, I hope that through domestic arguments, India will reach a reasonable conclusion for the next step (in the nuclear deal)," he stressed. Turning to the international situation, Enoki made the pertinent point that barring one member of the five permanent members (P-5) of the United Nations' Security Council- China, Russia, Britain, France and the US had extended strong support to accommodate India. "I understand that this stance taken by four of the P-5 members is based on the belief that it is more conducive for world peace to accommodate India into the mainstream of international non-proliferation efforts."
From HT

Kerala Reds made illegal millions: CIA papers

THE COMMUNISTS in Kerala began amassing huge quantities of wealth soon after they came to power in the state almost five decades ago, according to a document released by the US' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The world's first elected communist government took office in 1957 and started accumulating wealth "through official coercion, bribes and kickbacks", the CIA says in a 240-page document titled "National Intelligence Survey India (1959)". Today the CPM in Kerala is believed to own property worth Rs 5,000 crore. Besides, it runs industrial units, shopping malls, super speciality hospitals, TV channels, soccer tournaments and amusement parks. In 1958, the undivided CPI in Andhra Pradesh collected Rs 8 lakh and "more than half of this collection may have been profits earned through a rice purchase arrangement between Andhra Pradesh traders and the communist government of Kerala," the document posted on the official website www.foia.cia.gov claims. "In the first two years in office, the Kerala unit of the party is estimated to have collected four to five million rupees," the document says. "The Soviet and communist bloc embassies in New Delhi have been reported to make cash contributions via agents to avoid direct tie-ups. Other assistance has been provided by paying ad- YOf tlS1119 I'21CUS 101' CE11'1'Y111P IPatUFO 211- ticles in the communist press, commissioning Indian editions of Russian books and by providing large quantities of books and pamphlets to CPI bookstores," the document says. CPM leaders said they were yet to see the document and would react to it only after going through it.

From HT

Nuclear deal unique: Kalam

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has found support for the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal from former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
“It’s unique, what he has done,” Mr. Kalam said on NDTV’s ‘Walk the Talk’ programme when asked whether the Prime Minister can be complimented for having clinched the deal.Mr. Kalam’s endorsement comes at a time when the Left parties have again upped their ante against the deal and warned the government of a “crisis” if it went ahead with its operationalisation.Asked whether he thought scientists opposing the deal were going too far, he evaded a direct response.“Fortunately, in our democratic set-up, scientists can always approach at the highest level.”The 75-year-old nuclear scientist also did not feel that the scientists were being ignored. “I didn’t feel like that at all.”“Whatever has happened is (for) good,” Mr. Kalam responded when his view was sought on the deal on which the Prime Minister had consulted him. Mr. Kalam said he had met the Prime Minister before “finishing my assignment (as President)” and highlighted the importance of thorium reactors. “I told the Prime Minister that thorium reactors are very important,” he said.
Expressing his anguish over the repeated turmoil in Parliament, he said “Parliament has to function. There may be a lot of differences, but Parliament has to function.”
Mr. Kalam had a few words of praise for both Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who led the NDA regime.

“Each of them has a unique core competence,” he noted. — PTI

India cannot afford to miss nuclear bus: Manmohan

"We do not enjoy the luxury of an either-or choice. India needs energy from all known and likely sources......We must take steps to avoid disruptions in nuclear power production"

PM outlines few simple truths

"WE CANNOT afford to miss the bus," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, far away from the din in Parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose the coastal birthplace of India's nuclear power programme to speak a "few simple truths" about boarding the world's nuclear renaissance or missing the bus. "We do not enjoy the luxury of an either-or choice. India needs energy from all known and likely sources," he said. The Prime Minister was addressing the scientists and engineers who have built India's first nuclear power plants in the late '60s and designed India's latest, costliest and largest twin 540 MW plants at Tarapur (about 100 km off Mumbai), which he dedicated to the nation. However, he did not mention the 123 agreement or directly refer to the debate with the Left over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. Nevertheless, the message couldn't have been more clear And the platform too, was an apt one to reiterate the government's stance by linking the removal of "iniciuitous shackles" with India's energy needs, security, economic growth and national interest "We need to pave the way for India to benefit from nuclear commerce without re- strictions...we need to supplement our uranium resources from elsewhere...we must take decisive steps to avoid disruptions in nuclear power production," he said. Significantly, he emphasised that the cooperation will not be dependent on any one country "We will source supplies from many countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), including the US, Russia, France and Japan." Singh also made a strong case for entering negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which the Left opposes. "Our international cooperation cannot become effective until the NSG adapts its guidelines to enable nuclear commerce with India. The NSG has made it clear that they will not do so tn the India-specific Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA is finalised." Maharashtra holds India's largest cluster of nuclear power plants, and the Tarapur 540 MW reactor designs will be modified for future 700 MW indigenous reactors. India's target nuclear power generation is 20,000 MW by 2020. reshma.patil@hindustantimes.com IllPA-Left talks mechanism m Panel does not have time frame but will give its report 'as expeditiously as possible', External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said mTalks mechanism to go into Left concerns on N-deal likely to include six Left members and one or two more than that from Congress-UPA BJP not buying truce n Party leader Arun Jaitley said BJP officebearers would meet on Saturday to prepare for both the Lok Sabha and assembly polls m The BJP's core group met, saying the 'patch-up' in the government would not work and polls would come 'sooner than expected'

From HT

Don’t let the Left dictate foreign policy

The government had been failing to build momentum on the nuclear deal ever since Manmohan Singh initially set the cat among the pigeons by challenging the Left to bring down the government if they seriously believed their own allegations about the deal selling the country short. It’s encouraging, therefore, that the prime minister has come out swinging again by stating that India cannot lag behind global developments by missing the bus on nuclear energy. It is poised to make the big leap to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, but the naysayers’ league is determined to pull it back.
Singh’s statement is aimed at both the international community — where the IAEA, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and US Congress will debate India’s nuclear status soon — as well as parliamentarians back home who are contented with the status quo and fail to see the big picture. To maintain its growth momentum India needs to fire on all energy cylinders and nuclear power cannot be left out of this matrix. Nor can it afford to be locked out of vital areas of high-tech commerce because of their potential for dual use. A high-powered committee — with representatives from the UPA and the Left — has been set up to examine the possible repercussions of the Hyde Act passed by US Congress on India’s nuclear sovereignty. But the critical phrase in the joint statement announcing the step is that the operationalisation of the deal will “take into account” the committee’s findings.
That’s as it should be. In India, foreign policy is, traditionally and constitutionally, the government’s prerogative. The Left supports the government from outside. In other words, it has stayed out of government by its own choice. The government can, therefore, take into account what the Left — or any committee where the Left has a significant presence — says about something, but it doesn’t have to be bound by it. The Left can, on its part, withdraw its support to the government if it so chooses. But then it will have to take its chances with the political realignments, and possibly elections, that will follow.
It has so far tied the government’s hands on most economic reform policy measures, including disinvestment, flexible labour laws, insurance and banking. But it can’t occupy both the government and opposition space for keeps; a car driven from the back seat usually crashes. The prime minister would be right to insist on his and his cabinet’s prerogative to make policy, including foreign policy. And if he chooses to stand by the nuclear deal — a critical element of his government’s foreign policy — he can’t be blamed for it.