The Hindu : National : Accord with United States not to halt indigenous nuclear programme

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Friday, Aug 26, 2005

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Accord with United States not to halt indigenous nuclear programme

Special Correspondent

Technology denial forced country to develop facilities for entire nuclear cycle: BARC official

THANJAVUR: Technology denial by countries like the U.S. had forced India to develop indigenous technology for its entire atomic energy programme, said Dr. V. Venugopal, Director, Radiochemistry and Isotopes group, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), here on Thursday.

Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on "Atomic energy, environment, and human welfare" held at the Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Engineering College, he recalled that after the Pokhran nuclear tests, the U.S. stopped fuel for the Tarapur plant and Canadian scientists abruptly left the country. "We were left with no choice but to make our own fuel," he said.

The facilities required for the entire nuclear cycle were then indigenously developed — opening of uranium mines, milling, preparing nuclear grade pure uranium oxide, fabrication of metallic and oxide fuels, operation of 15 reactors, reprocessing to recover plutonium and uranium 233, fabricating them into fuels for thermal and fast reactors, finally managing the waste into different matrices for storing and disposal.

The present agreement reached between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the U.S. President George Bush will set the road map for further progress in nuclear technology. But, India will keep its indigenous programme intact so that any technology denial will not affect our progress, he said. Dr. Venugopal released the proceedings of the seminar. P. Murugesan, Chairman of the PR group of institutions received the first copy.

Inaugurating the seminar, Dr. S. Sivasubramanian, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathiyar University, said atomic energy had several positive applications like nuclear medicine and radiotherapy and agriculture. Sixty per cent of the world's electricity requirement was met by atomic energy and there were 438 nuclear reactors in the world, 15 of them in India, he pointed out.

Dr. P. Shahul Hameed, organising secretary of the seminar and Director of Environmental Research Centre, P.R. Engineering College said that there was a negative view about atomic energy after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. The fear that atomic energy was harmful should be removed and its beneficial uses must be highlighted. Dr. A. Ramakrishna, Member Secretary, Committee for Safety Research Programmes, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Dr. Y.R.M. Rao, Principal, P.R. Engineering College, Dr. D.V. Gopinath, former director, Health, Safety and Environment group and Bio-medical group, BARC participated.

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