Someone recently asked me if the Naxalites could be considered a threat to India’s nuclear arsenal. My answer was a potential threat, but a highly remote one. The Naxalite problem in India has grown exponentially over the last few years, and they have become one of India’s biggest security risks. The recent attacks on security […]
China recently announced that it had reached an agreement with Pakistan for the construction of two new nuclear reactors there. These reactors would be built at the Chasma site already designated for Chasma III and IV. The first two reactors were built by China after a 1985 agreement with Pakistan regarding the same. The setting […]
The Nuclear Security Summit has opened on a positive note. Ukraine has volunteered to get rid of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The bold and applaudable decision by Ukraine is sure to help global non-proliferation efforts and bring optimism into the Summit. However, it is sad that Pakistan was given the opportunity to be the lead speaker and demand a nuclear deal from the […]
It was a successful weekend for the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as they test fired the nuclear-capable Agni-I, Prithvi-II and Dhanush missile in quick succession. All three are indigenously developed missiles. On Saturday it first test fired Dhanush, a ship-based anti-surface missile, off INS Subhadra in the Bay of Bengal. Dhanush has a range of 350 […]
India celebrates its 60th Republic Day today. It is to this day in 1950 that the Indian Constitution came into force after its independence from Britain in August 1947. The Republic Day celebrations are an opportunity to display the nation’s cultural diversity, military might and other achievements to its people and the world through a […]
In the latest issue of Foreign Policy Barbara Crossette writes about how India is the real “headache” in Asia. She refers to India as the “elephant in the room” that no one seems to be talking about. The piece is extremely critical of how India handles its international relations, and calls it “an international adolescent, […]
Fire at Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC): A fire broke out in a laboratory at India’s premier nuclear research facility yesterday. Though no danger of radiation due to the accident was reported, two research students were killed in the fire. The cause of the fire is unknown. Earlier this month three people were arrested for […]
Barely a month since the Kaiga Atomic Power Station accident that exposed 55 workers to excessive radiation, India had another nuclear related incident today. In Mumbai three people were arrested on charges of illegal possession of five kilograms of depleted uranium. Though it is unknown how they obtained the uranium, the Bhabha Atomic Research Center […]
Continuing their tradition of nuclear cooperation, Russia and India signed a civilian nuclear cooperation deal on Monday. The ‘Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy’ signed during their annual bilateral summit, will set up five new nuclear reactors in the states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Speaking at a press […]
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with his Indian counterpart next week to help boost Indo-Canadian relations that have been “cool” for more than three decades. Relations between the two countries declined after India indirectly used Canadian nuclear technology for its first nuclear tests in 1974. Thereafter it has build six Pressurized Heavy Water […]
India’s Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, announced during his speech at IAEA’s 53rd General Conference that India had designed an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor-Low Enriched Uranium (AHWR-LEU) that uses thorium along with low enriched uranium as fuel. He said that “the reactor has a significantly lower requirement of mined uranium per unit energy […]