'India to go ahead with domestic nuclear policy'

Hyderabad, Nov 24: Terming as 'intrusive' Section 115 of the Bill passed by the US Senate recommending joint research with India in the area of nuclear non-proliferation, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman and Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Anil Kakodkar today asserted that New Delhi would go ahead with domestic nuclear programme, irrespective of the outcome of the deal.

This was in view of the large energy requirement in the ''energy-hungry'' country, he told reporters here.

''We don't want to get into any such activity which is intrusive of our nuclear programme. India has a very good track record on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation''. India's concerns would be properly addressed during the forthcoming reconciliation conference before the Bill was placed before the US House of Representatives,'' Mr Kakodkar said.

Expressing ''surprise'' over inclusion of the clause, Dr Kakodkar, who was here in connection with a national conference on composites, made it clear that India would support the cooperation between the two countries in the field of nuclear power generation and any joint research should not have impact on the strategic area.

He said it may be noted that Indian scientific community feared that the clause would only facilitate backdoor entry of the US National Nuclear Security Administration (USNNSA), which allegedly had close links with agencies like the CIA, the US Defence Intelligence Agency and the US National Security Agency and carried out 'covert operations' at atomic establishments.

Section 115 of the Indo-US nuclear deal, United States-India Scientific Cooperative Threat Reduction Programme, envisaged a joint threat reduction programme with the participation of scientists from both countries included scientific research and development efforts related to nuclear non-proliferation. He said India would go ahead with its three- stage ''sequential nuclear technology implementation programme'' keeping in mind the expected rise in energy demand 11-12 times by the year 2050 and add 3,380 MW to its existing power generation capacity of 3,900 MW by the year 2010.

Expressing the hope that the Nuclear Suppliers Group Guidelines would be eventually relaxed for India providing access to enriched uranium, he said ''An opening has been created. Several steps are in progress and one of them is the relaxation of the guidelines.'' Revealing that amendments to the Atomic Energy Act would be in place to facilitate private sector participation in nuclear power generation programme 'well in time when international cooperation opens up'', Dr Kakodkar said the amendments were in various stages of discussion and consultation.

Dr Kakodkar said the Centre had approved four sites, including one new site in Maharashtra for pre-project study.

On opposition from environmental activists to the setting up of uranium extraction project in Kadapa and other places, he said ''There are no short cuts. We will go through all the statutory process and we will convince all concerned.'' There was no need for decommissioning of the Tharapur plant or units at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Chennai, as it would arise only when they become economically unviable. They could serve the nation for another 30-40 years, he added.

Making it clear that India was not living with the problem of spent fuel, he said the country had a superior method of handling spent fuel by recycling all possible material. Even the US, which had resorted to open fuel cycle, had partly decided to recycle it, he observed.

UNI