India military uranium enrichment activity revealed by Google Earth?
In a discovery that could prove to be a major embarrassment to the Indian military a think-tank in the United States has used satellite imagery from Google Earth to observe what appeared to be construction activity around a new gas centrifuge near the Indian Rare Materials Plant (IRMP) for top-secret military uranium enrichment.
Publicly announcing its discovery of likely progress in Indias military uranium enrichment programme at the IRMP site not far from Mysore, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said that an image that it noticed from February 28, 2011 suggests that the new facility under construction is roughly 210 meters by 150 meters.
A report in Nuclear Intelligence Weekly earlier this month had additionally noted that Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director R.K. Sinha had admitted that India was building a new uranium enrichment facility but it was unclear whether Mr. Sinha was referencing the RMP site or a planned new enrichment facility near the town of Chitradurga, according to ISIS.
The publication revealing the likely gas centrifuge construction activity also shows two cranes adjacent to the construction sites whereas the satellite image from March 2010 reportedly showed mostly excavation work and site clearing for the new facility. According to specialists at ISIS who have tracked Indias secretive nuclear programme, which is aimed at delivering Highly Enriched Uranium for military uses, a facility observed adjacent to the new construction is in all likelihood the existing uranium enrichment facility.
This older enrichment facility was approximately 130 meters by 130 meters, ISIS analyst Paul Brannan said, noting however that the new facility under construction would be much larger than its predecessor. Extending that logic further Mr. Brannan noted that if the facility under construction was intended to be a new uranium enrichment plant, it may house a greater number of centrifuges giving India a larger enrichment capacity.
The discovery corroborates observations made based on procurement evidence in 2006, that India would soon add at least 3,000 gas centrifuges to its enrichment programme and that its uranium enrichment program would likely continue to expand, Mr. Brannan said.
A new gas centrifuge plant would indicate that the military uranium enrichment program is indeed expanding and that further procurement activities are likely ongoing, his paper noted.
The publishing of the sensitive photographs of the site suggests that there are yet further issues for the Indian government to resolve with Google Earth. Even as far back as 2006 media reports suggest that Indian officials, from then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to several top functionaries of the Indian Space Research Organisation, had voiced concerns surrounding Google Earth publishing photographs of sensitive sites on Indian soil.
At the time Google Earth reportedly agreed to blur out such photographs, although this weeks discovery shows the photographs in striking detail, including the cranes working on the site.
The Hindu : News / International : India military uranium enrichment activity revealed by Google Earth?
In a discovery that could prove to be a major embarrassment to the Indian military a think-tank in the United States has used satellite imagery from Google Earth to observe what appeared to be construction activity around a new gas centrifuge near the Indian Rare Materials Plant (IRMP) for top-secret military uranium enrichment.
Publicly announcing its discovery of likely progress in Indias military uranium enrichment programme at the IRMP site not far from Mysore, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said that an image that it noticed from February 28, 2011 suggests that the new facility under construction is roughly 210 meters by 150 meters.
A report in Nuclear Intelligence Weekly earlier this month had additionally noted that Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director R.K. Sinha had admitted that India was building a new uranium enrichment facility but it was unclear whether Mr. Sinha was referencing the RMP site or a planned new enrichment facility near the town of Chitradurga, according to ISIS.
The publication revealing the likely gas centrifuge construction activity also shows two cranes adjacent to the construction sites whereas the satellite image from March 2010 reportedly showed mostly excavation work and site clearing for the new facility. According to specialists at ISIS who have tracked Indias secretive nuclear programme, which is aimed at delivering Highly Enriched Uranium for military uses, a facility observed adjacent to the new construction is in all likelihood the existing uranium enrichment facility.
This older enrichment facility was approximately 130 meters by 130 meters, ISIS analyst Paul Brannan said, noting however that the new facility under construction would be much larger than its predecessor. Extending that logic further Mr. Brannan noted that if the facility under construction was intended to be a new uranium enrichment plant, it may house a greater number of centrifuges giving India a larger enrichment capacity.
The discovery corroborates observations made based on procurement evidence in 2006, that India would soon add at least 3,000 gas centrifuges to its enrichment programme and that its uranium enrichment program would likely continue to expand, Mr. Brannan said.
A new gas centrifuge plant would indicate that the military uranium enrichment program is indeed expanding and that further procurement activities are likely ongoing, his paper noted.
The publishing of the sensitive photographs of the site suggests that there are yet further issues for the Indian government to resolve with Google Earth. Even as far back as 2006 media reports suggest that Indian officials, from then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to several top functionaries of the Indian Space Research Organisation, had voiced concerns surrounding Google Earth publishing photographs of sensitive sites on Indian soil.
At the time Google Earth reportedly agreed to blur out such photographs, although this weeks discovery shows the photographs in striking detail, including the cranes working on the site.
The Hindu : News / International : India military uranium enrichment activity revealed by Google Earth?
