Mr. G R Srinivasan, the Ex-Vice Chairman of AERB published a document on Nuclear Safety measures in India on the wake of Fukushima disaster.

Below are the main points

1. Safety, security and environmental protection of Nuclear Industry are brought about by multi-organizational, multi-disciplinary and multilayered approach and need to be taken care of at all stages from cradle to grave i.e. from siting to decommissioning of each nuclear facility.

2. In India, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is primarily responsible for operation safety and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) oversees and ensures safety in design review and construction of new NPPs in India.

• Michael Krepon, the co founder of Stimson Centre wrote in Hindu this week on the on going contentious nuclear issue on ENR technology transfer.
• Through the article he tries to make a point that India has no basis to feel aggrieved that the letter or spirit of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the U.S. has been subverted.

Importance of nuclear energy was recognised as soon as India became independent. The Atomic Energy Act, 1948 was published with sole intent to develop nuclear research for peaceful purposes.The first stage of India's three stage nuclear power programme is energy generation using Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, fuelled by Natural uranium and produces Plutonium-239 as by-product. Out of the 20 operational nuclear reactors of India, eighteen are Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors.

Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity. As of now India has 20 nuclear reactors in operation in six nuclear power plants, generating 4,780 MW. India's nuclear power industry is undergoing rapid expansion with plans to increase nuclear power output to 64,000 MW by 2032. India's three-stage vision was first set out in the 1950s by the father of the country’s nuclear programme, physicist Homi Bhabha. On returning from his studies at Cambridge University in the UK, Bhabha conceived a nuclear strategy that would work around India’s rather meagre resources of uranium, the fuel powering current commercial reactors. Instead, he sought to exploit the country's vast reserves of thorium, which - if bathed in an external supply of neutrons - can be used a nuclear fuel.

The much highlighted NSG waiver for India became a line drawn in the water. For the transfer of ENR (enrichment and reprocessing) technologies, NSG needs India to adher to  the NPT. Dr Anil Kakodkar, a key negotiator of the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal wrote his opinion about the need of ENR technology for India and related issues in The Hindu. Key points of his writings are
1. Through the reprocessing and recycling of used uranium we can produce several ten-folds of carbon-dioxide free energy which will address the challenge of sustainable global energy supply as well as mitigating the threat of climate change.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth's surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground for military and civilian purposes.Ones the treaty is ratified by a nation,it makes it very difficult for that country to develop nuclear bombs for the first time, or for countries that already have them, to make more powerful bombs.

Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational group of nuclear supplier countries with an aim of reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that  related to nuclear weapon development and improving safeguards and protection on existing  materials through the implementation of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear related exports.  Guidelines of NSG are.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT) was signed on 1968 and came into force on 5 March 1970, to limit the spread or proliferation of nuclear weapons. Currently it has 189 member nations including five recognized nuclear nations - United States, Russia, China, France and United Kingdom. The four major non member nations are India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel . The first 3 nations have openly tested nuclear weapons and declared that they possess nuclear weapons while Israel is yet to officially comment on their nuclear weapon program.