Indian Nuclear Arsenal at risk of taken over by insurgents

[idune]

Red Alert for Indian Nuclear Arsenal

November 25, 2009

The red corridor which is now turning into red alert for Indian sovereignty has been camouflaged by the Government of India so strongly since years to save the face in the world community. But now the cover is proving too short to hide this ugly reality.

http://img5.imageshack.us/i/theredcorridor.jpg/

Naxals/Maoists issue is widely censored by the common Indians you interact in daily life, but the living reality says otherwise. Naxalite/Maoist insurgents are controlling more than 45% of India without any obstruction from the state anywhere in those regions. The police and paramilitary is too vulnerable to their deadly attacks due to lack of capability and fire power to confront these militants. The most dangerous reality is that the Militants are now in full control of those regions where there are located key Nuclear Installations or most convincingly the Nuclear Arsenal storage sites.

Talcher’s Heavy Water Plant

Starting from the state of Orissa at the eastern coast of India, where Maoists are showing much stronger presence. A very important Heavy Water Plant is located in the City of Talcher in this state. Since last many months this city is badly hurt due to repeated terrorist activities of Maoists and their supporters. Maoists displayed their power most recently when they blocked the road access to Talcher making things to complete standstill inside that city and in the surrounding areas. Most ironic is that the presence of law enforcing agencies in these areas is very minimal and almost next to none. Local residents are living in extreme fear and in complete insecurity. In these circumstances, any serious accident to the Heavy Water Plant would lead to complete catastrophe. It is ironic that besides being completely helpless against the growing influence of Maoists near this important nuclear site, Indian media is not alarming any warnings. It is clear that India is hiding this matter deliberately and does not want the world to know about the intensity of the threat.

Uranium mines & mills, Jaduguda, Jharkand

The important Uranium mines and mills in Jaduguda Jharkand are facing worst catastrophe of deadly leakages when a new tailings pipeline burst caused a uranium mill tailings spill that reached nearby homes. Ironically this incidence of International importance was camouflaged again by the Indian media. It is widely believed that this particular area is now under full control of Naxal/Moist forces. Read More

Madras Atomic Power Station

Located at Kalpakkam about 80 km south of Chennai, India, is a comprehensive nuclear power production, fuel reprocessing, and waste treatment facility that includes plutonium fuel fabrication for fast breeder reactors [FBRs]. It is also India’s first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station. It has two units of 170 MWe capacity each. The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985 respectively. The station has reactors housed in a reactor building with double shell containment ensuring total protection even in the remotest possibility of loss of coolant accident. An Interim Storage Facility [ISF] is also located in Kalpakkam.

Naxal tentacles are reaching Chennai which as mentioned above has this important Power Plant, Naxal presence just few kilometers from this city is a living threat which no one can ignore so easily. The recent train mishap in Chennai is believed to be the activity of Naxals to signal their strong presence in this region too. Read Report

Narora nuclear power plant

Narora is located on the banks of river Ganges, in district Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh. A nuclear power plant is located in its vicinity. The insurgent sympathizers smuggle highly radioactive material out of the Nuclear Fuel Complex to detonate a radiological dispersion device or ‘dirty bomb’ in Hyderabad. An example of security blunder that could have resulted in the theft of fissile material in August 2006: Security was tightened in and around the Narora nuclear power plant after three men working there were arrested for giving fake addresses at the time of their appointments. Unbelievably, the men were given access to the facilities without first conducting thorough background checks. The problem is that India does not only have 22 declared including under construction nuclear reactors, but it also has about 60 less secure agencies connected with nuclear activities. India is well known for lax security and overworked systems; security experts believe smuggling of radioactive materials to be highly probable.

There are several other regions where Naxal ideology is gaining popularity and more and more poor and homeless are becoming part of their Army. The Maoist/Naxals are too close to capture the half of India and consolidate their position for their future goals. Read More

It is extremely ironic that India is yelling and screaming about the vulnerability of Pakistani Nukes, but it is more catastrophic when we see that many important locations of Indian Nuclear Installations are situated in those areas which are in complete control of these insurgents. Why this truth is hidden from the world? The catastrophe of weapons slipping into the hands of most cruel terrorists on earth is quite possible not in years but in days. The question arise that who will raise the alarm for the world? The world leaders are quite unmoved on this issue, but once we come to know that Naxals have obtained few of the war heads for their ugly means then it will become a global threat overnight and the sleeping savers of the world would jump for crash program! This is bad luck for the poor people of India in particular that their government has thrown them in front of Maoists/Naxals and has accepted an undeclared defeat against these forces. Read More

From every corner of India sane and intellectual journalists and news channels are now beginning to raise their voice on this issue but it seems that water has reached the noses already.

When we analyze as to why India is not taking strong action against Maoists/Naxals then we can find few important reasons behind this criminal delay which is hurting Indian existence:

India has till now portrayed itself as a safe and trouble free country thus gaining maximum attention of tourism and foreign investment which it does not want to loose due to this issue.

Next year a huge event of Cricket World Cup is to be held in India and the Government does not want a situation in which the neighboring country Pakistan has fallen into after initiating assault over Taliban Militants which brought complete catastrophe and subsequent barring of all International sporting events to be conducted there for security reasons.

India does not want itself to be slipped into the same situation where Pakistan has been pointed out as an unsafe Nuclear Power.

It is also believed that Americans are trying to penetrate into Nuclear Installations of India in the name of assistance or help to increase security level of these Installations. Some of them are almost 4 decades old and have completed their life. India is trying to hide the vulnerable status of their Nuclear command and control system to avoid undue interference of USA.

In short, Indian nation would have to bear the threat of Naxals/Maoists helplessly because in the near future Indian Government seems to have no plan but to unwillingly allow these terrorists to spread their influence inside the whole of the Indian territories.

USA, UK, China and Europe should see this latest development with responsibility because the threat of Maoist/Naxals is 1000 times more deadly than the proclaimed threats in Pakistan who are confined to only some remote mountain areas as compared to Naxals/Maoists who are controlling the cities and the huge region in full. World cannot afford to see the Nuclear Arsenal of India easily slipping into the hands of Naxals who can use that any time anywhere to surprise the peace loving nations. It is also possible that these insurgents who are so close to capture these important weapons would also sell them ahead to Al Qaeda or any deadly group which can hit America with unmatchable intensity as USA has put a blind eye on this possibility.

 

[sadiqams]

This is a huge failiur on the part of international community in bringing India to heel concerning her nuclear industry. To fight the Naxalites India will have to withdraw forces from the north near Pakistan and Indian Held Jammu and kashmir this will cause her a security headache perhaps this is why it has swept this problem under the carpet but it will give india a sever stomach ache if it does not deal with this problem effectively and might require surgery where it will loses control its over the region and perhaps some independant states might emerge. If China backs the insurgency then India will be the loser.

 

[FreekiN]

Separatists are controlling 45 percent of India? I dont believe it. And even if this is true or not this could mean that they have a pretty big influence. And that influence used to take over nuclear arsenal is scarier than Taliban or any other terrorist groups attempt to take over Pak's arsenal.

I mean you have got to be kidding me. 45%? lol.

 

[graphican]

Separatists are controlling 45 percent of India? I dont believe it. And even if this is true or not this could mean that they have a pretty big influence. And that influence used to take over nuclear arsenal is scarier than Taliban or any other terrorist groups attempt to take over Pak's arsenal.

I mean you have got to be kidding me. 45%? lol.

They are spread in 45% of Indian territory but surely they do not control as much area at all. Wikipedia article shows which are the states where Naxals are active and which states are getting under their influence. But one thing is for sure, their influence is not decreasing and that's a serious sign for the security of Nuclear Arsenals that India possesses.

 

[FreekiN]

They are spread in 45% of Indian territory but surely they do not control as much area at all. Wikipedia article shows which are the states where Naxals are active and which states are getting under their influence. But one thing is for sure, their influence is not decreasing and that's a serious sign for the security of Nuclear Arsenals that India possesses.

Oh. I see what you mean.

 

[navtrek]

This is a huge failiur on the part of international community in bringing India to heel concerning her nuclear industry. To fight the Naxalites India will have to withdraw forces from the north near Pakistan and Indian Held Jammu and kashmir this will cause her a security headache perhaps this is why it has swept this problem under the carpet but it will give india a sever stomach ache if it does not deal with this problem effectively and might require surgery where it will loses control its over the region and perhaps some independant states might emerge. If China backs the insurgency then India will be the loser.

I think u should first know who are Naxalites. These are our own people farmers & unemployed tribal people who feel deprived of their rights so this will be solved through talks.

 

[idune]

Indian Nuclear Program is Unsafe, Unsecure and Alarming Chernobyl Warning

Posted: Aug 12th, 2009

India cannot hide the mysterious killing of its Nuclear Scientists from the eyes of world media? Further, the insecure and outdated Nuclear Installations are raising concerns about possible catastrophe like Chernobyl.

Source: IndiaDaily - Who killed Indian Nuclear power plant scientist, N Mahalingam?

“This was the second time Mr. Mahalingam went missing. Earlier, while working at Kalpakkam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, he was reported missing for few days but had returned home later. This time he never returned. Someone killed him.


Ending the mystery over the disappearance of the Indian Nuclear power plant scientist, N Mahalingam, Naval divers on Saturday recovered his body from the Kali River, six days after he went missing.


But who killed the Indian nuclear scientists? This is not the first time Indian nuclear scientists are killed. Vikram Sarabhai was killed by two Christian woman spies sent to him in Kovalam palace in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala by a foreign agency. Homi Bhabha was killed in a plane crash created by a foreign spy agency to stall India’s progress science and technology.


But the western foreign agencies are not after small fries in India these days. They buy the whole parliament and implant foreign agent at the very top these days. Then who killed the Indian nuclear scientists this time? Were the Islamic terrorists behind this heinous act?


Naval divers fished out the body of Mahalingam, the scientific officer at the plant, who was reported missing during a morning walk on June 8, from the river flowing near the Kaiga Township, police said. Police said they are investigating whether Mr. Mahalingam had drowned or there was any foul play.”

In my recent article I raised the issue of Naxal’s threat to Indian Nuclear Arsenal. Some of my critics thought that to be a baseless claim. But now things are showing signs of the intensity. It is the easiest thing for India to put garbage on Pakistan’s head this time also, but the situation cannot be publicized so easily. Presently it is the matter of India’s own and most important matter of weakness and lapses in internal security arrangements. One can ask that if Indian Scientists are so vulnerable prey to terrorists like Naxals and most probably Muslim extremists inside India, then how India can assure the world that it’s Nuclear Arsenal is safe and secure.

The possible take over of Indian Nuclear Arsenal by Naxal is an important issue and needs the attention of super powers of the world.

Recent American deal with India to provide Civil Nuclear Technology is a positive development. The reactors which India will build after this deal would definitely be safe and according to the international standards of safety and security. But the question arises, what will be the fate of those outdated Reactors which were built on the basis of obsolete Russian technology? Majority of those have been perished, ill maintained and alarmingly dangerous when nuclear contamination and leakages are expected.

Most recently Mr. Ashwin Kumar and Mr. M. V. Ramana posted a shocking report about the poor security and risks of contamination on the major Indian Nuclear Reactors. (Ashwin Kumar - A doctoral student in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie)
Understanding the seriousness the complete report is reflected here for better knowledge about the situation.

Source: Severe accident risk at India's fast breeder nuclear reactor - South Asia Citizens Web

“India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is planning a large expansion of nuclear power, in which fast breeder reactors play an important role. Fast breeder reactors are attractive to the DAE because they produce (or "breed") more fissile material than they use. The breeder reactor is especially attractive in India, which hopes to develop a large domestic nuclear energy program even though it has primarily poor quality uranium ore that is expensive to mine.

Currently, only one fast reactor operates in the country--a small test reactor in Kalpakkam, a small township about 80 kilometers (almost 50 miles) south of Chennai. The construction of a larger prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) is underway at the same location. This reactor is expected to be completed in 2010 and will use mixed plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel in its core, with a blanket of depleted uranium oxide that will absorb neutrons and transmute into plutonium 239. Liquid sodium will be used to cool the core, which will produce 1,200 megawatts of thermal power and 500 megawatts of electricity. The reactor is to be the first of hundreds that the DAE envisions constructing throughout India by mid-century.

However, such an expansion of fast reactors, even if more modest than DAE projections, could adversely affect public health and safety. While all nuclear reactors are susceptible to catastrophic accidents, fast reactors pose a unique risk. In fast reactors, the core isn't in its most reactive--or energy producing-- configuration when operating normally. Therefore, an accident that rearranges the fuel in the core could lead to an increase in reaction rate and an increase in energy production. If this were to occur quickly, it could lead to a large, explosive energy release that might rupture the reactor vessel and disperse radioactive material into the environment.

Many of these reactors also have what is called a "positive coolant void coefficient," which means that if the coolant in the central part of the core were to heat up and form bubbles of sodium vapor, the reactivity a measure of the neutron balance within the core, which determines the reactor's tendency to change its power level (if it is positive, the power level rises)--would increase; therefore core melting could accelerate during an accident. (A positive coolant void coefficient, though not involving sodium, contributed to the runaway reaction increase during the April 1986 Chernobyl reactor accident.) In contrast, conventional light water reactors typically have a "negative coolant void coefficient" so that a loss of coolant reduces the core's reactivity. The existing Indian fast breeder test reactor, with its much smaller core, doesn't have a positive coolant void coefficient. Thus, the DAE doesn't have real-world experience in handling the safety challenges that a large prototype reactor will pose.

More largely, international experience shows that fast breeder reactors aren't ready for commercial use. Superphénix, the flagship of the French breeder program, remained inoperative for the majority of its 11-year lifetime until it was finally shuttered in 1996. Concerns about the adequacy of the design of the German fast breeder reactor led to it being contested by environmental groups and the local state government in the 1980s and ultimately to its cancellation in 1991. And the Japanese fast reactor Monju shut down in 1995 after a sodium coolant leak caused a fire and has yet to restart. Only China and Russia are still developing fast breeders. China, however, has yet to operate one, and the Russian BN-600 fast reactor has suffered repeated sodium leaks and fires.

When it comes to India's prototype fast breeder reactor, two distinct questions must be asked: (1) Is there confidence about how an accident would propagate inside the core and how much energy it might release?; and (2) have PFBR design efforts been as strict as necessary, given the possibility that an accident would be difficult to contain and potentially harmful to the surrounding population?

The simple answer to both is no.

The DAE, like other fast-reactor developers, has tried to study how severe a core-disruptive accident would be and how much energy it would release. In the case of the PFBR, the DAE has argued that the worst-case core disruptive accident would release an explosive energy of 100 megajoules. This is questionable.

The DAE's estimate is much smaller when compared with other fast reactors, especially when the much larger power capacity of the PFBR--and thus, the larger amount of fissile material used in the reactor--is taken into account. For example, it was estimated that the smaller German reactor (designed to produce 760 megawatts of thermal energy) would produce 370 megajoules in the event of a core-disruptive accident--much higher than the PFBR estimate. Other fast reactors around the world have similarly higher estimates for how much energy would be produced in such accidents.

The DAE's estimate is based on two main assumptions: (1) that only part of the core will melt down and contribute to the accident; and (2) that only about 1 percent of the thermal energy released during the accident would be converted into mechanical energy that can damage the containment building and cause ejection of radioactive materials into the atmosphere.

Neither of these assumptions is justifiable. Britain's Atomic Energy Authority has done experiments that suggest up to 4 percent of the thermal energy could be converted into mechanical energy. And the phenomena that might occur inside the reactor core during a severe accident are very complex, so there's no way to stage a full-scale experiment to compare with the theoretical accident models that the reactor's designers used in their estimates. In addition, important omissions in the DAE's own safety studies make their analysis inadequately conservative. (Our independent estimates of the energy produced in a hypothetical PFBR core disruptive accident are presented in the Science and Global Security article, "Compromising Safety: Design Choices and Severe Accident Possibilities in India's Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor" and these are much higher than the DAE's estimates.)

Turning to the second question: In terms of the stringency of the DAE's design effort, the record reveals inadequate safety precautions. One goal of any "defense-in-depth" design is to engineer barriers to withstand the most severe accident that's considered plausible. Important among these barriers is the reactor's containment building, the most visible structure from the outside of any nuclear plant. Compared to most other breeder reactors, and light water reactors for that matter, the design of the PFBR's containment is relatively weak and won't be able to contain an accident that releases a large amount of energy. The DAE knows how to build stronger containments--its newest heavy water reactor design has a containment building that is meant to withstand six times more pressure than the PFBR's containment--but has chosen not to do so for the PFBR.

The other unsafe design choice is that of the reactor core. As mentioned earlier, the destabilizing positive coolant void coefficient in fast reactors is a problem because it increases the possibility that reactivity will escalate inside the core during an accident. It's possible to decrease this effect by designing the reactor core so that fuel subassemblies are interspersed within the depleted uranium blanket, in what is termed a heterogeneous core. The U.S. Clinch River Breeder Reactor, which was eventually cancelled, was designed with a heterogeneous core, and Russia has considered a heterogeneous core for its planned BN-1600 reactor. The DAE hasn't made such an effort, and the person who directed India's fast breeder program during part of the design phase once argued that the emphasis on the coolant void coefficient was mistaken because a negative void coefficient could lead to dangerous situations in an accident as well. That might be true, but it misses the obvious point that the same potentially dangerous situations would be even more dangerous if the void coefficient within the core is positive.

Both of these design choices--a weak containment building and a reactor core with a large and positive void coefficient--are readily explainable: They lowered costs. Reducing the sodium coolant void coefficient would have increased the fissile material requirement of the reactor by 30-50 percent--an expensive component of the initial costs. Likewise, a stronger containment building would have cost more. All of this is motivated by the DAE's assessment that "the capital cost of [fast breeder reactors] will remain the most important hurdle" to their rapid deployment.

Lowered electricity costs would normally be most welcome, but not with the increased risk of catastrophic accidents caused by poorly designed fast breeder reactors.”

The report above has serious revelations and if not considered properly may result in a huge catastrophe many times higher than Chernobyl where people who lived around paid enormous price and facing the aftermath till now.

The world cannot ignore the fact that Indian Nuclear Program and security arrangements cannot meet the international standards they are extremely outdated and obsolete. Most importantly the kidnapping and killing of nuclear scientists and possible slippage of information to deadly forces like Naxals and other Islamic extremist groups operating inside India may take the world to even bigger loss than 9/11. The time has come when India should be asked questions about the security arrangements and proper assistance should be extended to India most importantly by USA under the new deal to refurbish and secure the Nuclear Assets of India.

 

[ironman]

Thanks .. for the informative posts..keep going..

 

[idune]

These information are matter of great concern for india's neighbors. So don't be jumping on these information.....

http://img268.imageshack.us/i/11164cutemonkeyswinging.jpg/

 

[Atheist]

Lol idune - Infact I am ROFLing now...

 

[Goodperson]

Request people not to respond to any of Idune's flamer posts.

 

[Sravan]

@Idune, MBI Munshi, Grey boy 22 etc etc

I know only pleasure in your life is flaming india, i really pity them coz we are getting better and their heart burn is gonna sky rocket

 

[grey boy 2]

@Idune, MBI Munshi, Grey boy 22 etc etc

I know only pleasure in your life is flaming india, i really pity them coz we are getting better and their heart burn is gonna sky rocket

Hey, what the hell wrong with you ?

Why drag me into this ?

Well, if you Indians consider people posting the truth with Facts to

back up as flame, where i got the source from in the first place ?

Don't shoot the messenger, just prove me wrong with facts !!

Now stick back to the topic "Indian Nuclear Arsenal at risk of taken

over by insurgentes" and stop crying like a spoiled brat !!

 

[Awesome]

I think u should first know who are Naxalites. These are our own people farmers & unemployed tribal people who feel deprived of their rights so this will be solved through talks.

The "our own" people theory is being challenged very strongly since there really is very little "Indian" about them.

Anyway, India better reassure the world that it has everything under control. Although the first place to get nuked from a naxal A-bomb would be India itself, but imagine the likelihood of misunderstanding and if India bombs Pakistan or China in response?

Not to mention that the Naxals would probably not put nuclear fallout into consideration.

Does India have a similar thing as to the NCA with the nuclear authority resting upon President/PM or is it with the local army guy controlling the nukes?

 

[idune]

India Puts Its All Nuclear Installations on High Security Alerts

17 November, 2009 02:05:00 Ajay - Sood

New Delhi (ABC Live): After Terror threats India put on high alert in its nuclear installations, and State governments including Maharashtra where BARC is located to beef up security there.

Information and confirmation to this effect was shared by Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan that, all nuclear installations were absolutely secure, and further instructions have been issued to concerned states.

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC} located in Trombay is the high risk nuclear installation of India.

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