How developed is our nuclear arsenal anyways? Do we have the tech at present to harvest underwater?
regards
Hi,
I don’t know what you imply by ‘nuclear arsenal’? If you are referring to nuclear weapons arsenal then clearly this is not the thread to discuss that. This thread is exclusively meant for discussing developments in the ‘Civil Nuclear’ field.
If you want to know about India’s civil nuclear capabilities, here is a very brief overview I had posted some time back in another thread.
http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/33226-russia-will-not-agree-any-curbs-transfer-sensitive-technologies-india-5.html#post472971
Introduction & chronology
The Indian nuclear program started even before India became an independent nation. Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha submitted a proposal in March 1944 to the Sir Dorab Tata Trust for the establishment of a nuclear research institute. This led to the creation of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in April 1945. Soon TIFR started its initial work in Bangalore in June 1945 with Bhabha serving as the first director. In December 1945, Bhabha moved TIFR to Bombay where it continues to serve as a research institution today. A year after we attained independence, the Indian Atomic Energy Act was passed. This led to the establishment of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The AEC would pursue in-depth studies of nuclear energy and was comprised of three members: Dr. Bhabha, Dr. K.S. Krishnan, and Dr. S.S. Bhatnagar.
In August 1950, Indian Rare Earths Limited (IRE) was established to recover minerals and process rare earths compounds and thorium-uranium concentrates. Later in April 1951, uranium deposits were discovered at Jaduguda and drilling operations commenced in December 1951. The Jaduguda mine was the main source of uranium for the entire Indian nuclear program until the present day.
On January 3, 1954, the Atomic Energy Establishment at Trombay (AEET) was created by the AEC. AEET led research on nuclear weapons technology and has been referred to as the “Indian Los Alamos”. The AEET was formally inaugurated on January 20, 1957 and was followed by the creation of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on August 3, 1954 with Dr. Bhabha as Secretary. The DAE was not under the regular control of the cabinet but reported directly to the Prime Minister. On January 12, 1967 in tribute to Dr. Bhabha, who died in an airplane crash on January 24, 1966 (CIA is suspected to have assassinated him to impede Indian nuclear weapons program), the AEET was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC). During his tenure, Dr. Bhabha also transferred all the scientific initiatives from TIFR to AEET.
3-stage nuclear energy plan
Long before his sad demise, Bhabha in 1954 presented the three-stage nuclear energy plan for national development. Under this plan, India would start its nuclear power in the first-stage with natural uranium fueled, heavy-water moderated Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) reactors to produce power and plutonium. The first-stage reactors would be based on the CANDU technology and would be built with Canadian assistance. These reactors would produce 420 GWe-yrs of electricity. In the second-stage, plutonium would be separated from the spent fuel from the first-stage reactors and used to power fast breeder reactors (FBRs). The FBRs would then generate an additional 54,000 GWe-yrs of electricity. Thorium would be irradiated in the blanket of the FBRs to breed U-233. In the third-stage, the U-233 bred from the second-stage would serve as fuel for the U-233 breeder reactors (Advanced Heavy Water Reactors). These U-233 breeder reactors (AHWRs) would provide 358,000 GWe-yrs of electricity and breed more fissile materials. Breeder reactors are an advanced reactor design in which the reactor breeds additional fuel during operation. Technically, a breeder reactor produces more fuel during operation than it consumes. The breeder reactor achieves this through a design which highly conserves neutrons in the system. These reactors would produce enough excess material to fuel themselves and produce excess for weapons use. The Indian government formally adopted this three-stage plan in 1958 recognizing the importance of nuclear power as a sustainable energy source.
Here is an illustration of the 3-stage nuclear program of India-
The basis of the three-stage-program was indigenously available technology for production of natural uranium, vast reserves of thorium, and the mastering of heavy water production and spent fuel reprocessing technology. When this program was devised, India did not have any existing power reactors and there were no commercial fast breeder reactor systems anywhere in the world.
Globally unparalleled indigenous capabilities
India is the only country in the world that has accorded a high priority to the use of all the three main fissionable materials- U-235, Pu & U-233, to meet the challenge of reaching energy independence through a well calibrated use of domestic uranium and thorium resources.
The magnitude of R&D in any field is best represented by the number of scientific publications in that area. Hence, I am providing a few statistics to compare India’s capabilities with other much advanced global players.
Publications on PHWR-
As can be seen from the figure above, India has progressively reached world leadership in the field of PHWRs. Nearly 55% of the scientific publications in the field of PHWRs originated from India in the year 2006.
Publications on FBRs-
As seen from the above figure, in the area of FBRs, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) brought out the largest number of publications by any single institution in the years 2005&06.
Publications on Thorium-
Even in the area of Thorium research, on the basis of International Nuclear Information System (INIS) database, India stands at the top!
Performance in other cutting edge areas
-Radio isotopes
The DAE has made large contributions in the field of application of radio-isotopes in industries, health care, hydrology, food preservation and agriculture. For example, in the field of nuclear agriculture, the mutant ground nut seeds developed at BARC contribute to nearly 25% of total ground nut cultivation in the country. Similarly, in the area of black gram production, the BARC developed mutant seeds contribute to 22% of national cultivation. In the state of Maharashtra this percentage is as high as 95%.
-Cancer research
The Tata Memorial Centre, an aided institution under DAE, was recognized as the outstanding cancer organization for its excellence in cancer control from within and beyond India’s border, by the International Union for Cancer Control, Washington DC in 2006.
-Astronomical research
The Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) built by DAE for TIFR, has become an international tool for astronomical research. In Aug-2004, using this facility, the TIFR scientists and their collaborators discovered a new pulsar.
-CERN
India has an observer status at CERN along with US, Japan, Russia, Turkey and Israel. We are also partners in contributing to the construction and testing of several important systems of this very large international experimental facility now nearing completion.
-ITER
India is one of the seven members of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. Other members include- the EU, US, Russia, Japan, China & South Korea.
Well that was a very brief description of India’s nuclear capabilities. Hopefully, I have managed to put across my point regarding India’s expertise in this field. Finally, I will end my post by quoting Dr. Siegfried S. Hecker, former director of Los Alamos National Lab, USA.
In his testimony at the US senate committee on appropriations, Subcommittee on enrgy and water development on April 20, 2008, Dr. Hecker said-
"I found that whereas sanctions slowed progress in nuclear energy, they made India self-sufficient and world leaders in fast reactor technology. While much of the world’s approach to India has been to limit its access to nuclear technology, it may well be that today we limit ourselves by not having access to India’s nuclear technology developments. Such technical views should help to advice the diplomatic efforts with India."
-Dr. Siegfried S. Hecker
Former director,
Los Alamos National Lab, USA.
-Skull
