Quote:WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would [SIZE="5"]use nuclear weapons, even in self-defense[/SIZE].



But the president said in an interview that he was carving out an exception for “outliers like Iran and North Korea” that have violated or renounced the main treaty to halt nuclear proliferation.



Discussing his approach to nuclear security the day before formally releasing his new strategy, Mr. Obama described his policy as part of a broader effort to edge the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete, and to create incentives for countries to give up any nuclear ambitions. To set an example, the new strategy renounces the development of any new nuclear weapons, overruling the initial position of his own defense secretary.



Mr. Obama’s strategy is a sharp shift from those adopted by his predecessors and seeks to revamp the nation’s nuclear posture for a new age in which rogue states and terrorist organizations are greater threats than traditional powers like Russia and China.



It eliminates much of the ambiguity that has deliberately existed in American nuclear policy since the opening days of the cold war.[SIZE="5"] For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, e[COLOR="Red"]ven if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack[/COLOR].[/SIZE]



Those threats, Mr. Obama argued, could be deterred with “a series of graded options,” a combination of old and newly designed conventional weapons. “I’m going to preserve all the tools that are necessary in order to make sure that the American people are safe and secure,” he said in the interview in the Oval Office.



White House officials said the new strategy would include the option of reconsidering the use of nuclear retaliation against a biological attack, if the development of such weapons reached a level that made the United States vulnerable to a devastating strike.



Mr. Obama’s new strategy is bound to be controversial, both among conservatives who have warned against diluting the United States’ most potent deterrent and among liberals who were hoping for a blanket statement that the United States would never be the first to use nuclear weapons.



Mr. Obama argued for a slower course, saying, “We are going to want to make sure that we can continue to move towards less emphasis on nuclear weapons,” and, he added, to “make sure that our conventional weapons capability is an effective deterrent in all but the most extreme circumstances.”



The release of the new strategy, known as the Nuclear Posture Review, opens an intensive nine days of nuclear diplomacy geared toward reducing weapons. Mr. Obama plans to fly to Prague to sign a new arms-control agreement with Russia on Thursday and then next week will host 47 world leaders in Washington for a summit meeting on nuclear security.

....

Quote:Narayan Lakshman

11/04/2010

‘U.S. working with both countries to ensure that their stockpiles are safeguarded' The risk of a nuclear attack has increased



U.S. to boost funding for maintaining weapons stockpile



WASHINGTON DC: India and Pakistan have pursued nuclear weapons “in a way that has upset the balance of nuclear deterrent,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.



That was why the United States was working with both countries “very hard to try to make sure that their nuclear stockpiles are well tended to, and that they participate with us in trying to limit the number of nuclear weapons,” she said.



Speaking at at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, Ms. Clinton argued that the nature of the nuclear threat had changed. “As President Obama has said, the risk of a nuclear attack has actually increased. And the potential consequences of mishandling this challenge are deadly.” Nuclear terrorism presented a different challenge, but the consequences would still be devastating, she said.



Doomsday scenario



Highlighting the growing threat of nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation a few days ahead of the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Ms. Clinton illustrated what a doomsday scenario would look like, given these risks. “A 10-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated in Times Square in New York City could kill a million people. Many more would suffer from the haemorrhaging and weakness that comes from radiation sickness.”



In the light of these risks, Ms. Clinton outlined three main elements of the U.S.'s strategy to safeguard itself and its allies from nuclear attacks: support for the basic framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); a global effort to secure vulnerable nuclear material and enhance nuclear security; and efforts to maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent for the U.S. itself.



Disarmament move



As for the impact of the new U.S.-Russia START on countries where non-proliferation challenges remained, Ms. Clinton said she did not suggest that moves towards disarmament by the U.S. and Russia would convince Iran or North Korea to change their behaviour. “But ask yourselves, can our efforts help…persuade other nations to support serious sanctions against Iran? I believe they could.”



Following the recently announced Nuclear Posture Review and its implications for military expenditure, the Secretary said: “Our budget devotes $7 billion to maintaining our nuclear weapons stockpile and complex…And over the next five years, we intend to boost funding for these important activities by more than $5 billion.”

Quote:Besides the first-ever Nuclear Security Summit, a pet project of Obama designed to secure all loose nuclear material within four years, Manmohan Singh will have a packed schedule of bilateral meetings with the leaders of the US, France and Canada.

Quote:Media reports said Tharoor proposed to marry Sunanda, a girl from a Kashmiri family. Trained as a beautician, Sunanda runs a spa and has lived in Dubai. The Minister is said to be undergoing a legal separation from his second wife Christa Giles, a Canadian civil servant[color="#FF0000"] who works with the United States on disarmament issues[/color].



Tharoor was earlier married to academic Tilottama Mukherji, whom he knew from his school days in Kolkata.

Quote:WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ukraine agreed to give up its bomb-grade uranium on Monday at the start of a 47-nation nuclear security summit that President Barack Obama hoped to use to entice China to support tougher sanctions on Iran.

Obama began the unprecedented two-day gathering with a series of one-on-one sessions with some of the world leaders gathered for the summit, which is aimed at preventing terrorists from gaining access to nuclear materials.

Quote:NAM meet hosted; but omits India !

pioneer.com

PTI | Washington

India, a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), was not invited to a luncheon meeting hosted by US Vice President Joe Biden, where he professed that the grouping and his country had similar goals on nuclear security and non-proliferation.



Only those member states of the NAM which are part of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) were invited to the luncheon hosted by Biden at his official residence on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit here, a senior White House official said.



Since India is not a signatory to the NPT, it was left out, the official told PTI.



"The goals of the non-aligned movement and my country on the important issues of nuclear security, non-proliferation, as well as other issues have never been closer than they are today, in our view," Biden said addressing a group of leaders from NAM countries during the luncheon.



He said the Obama Administration is committed to seeking peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.



"We believe that is ultimately an achievable goal, and that is our goal. We know that some of the countries here and elsewhere believe that we have not been moving fast enough or that we can do more," he said.



"Well, there is room to disagree on the exact approach of reducing nuclear weapons, but make no mistake about it this administration is intent on reducing and continuing to reduce our nuclear weapons," Biden observed.

Quote:‘Cobalt-60 landed from foreign scrap market’



New Delhi: The BARC has confirmed that the radioactive waste, discovered recently at a scrap dealer’s shop in West Delhi, originated from the international scrap market. The hazardous substance, Cobalt 60, had caused serious injuries and confirmed fears that India was being treated as a dumping yard for such dangerous wastes.



Meanwhile, a high-level meeting will soon discuss the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for scanning and disposing of radioactive junk material. The Department of Atomic Energy, Prime Minister’s Office and the Home and Health Ministries, besides representatives of various intelligence agencies, would participate in the meeting.

Quote:Radioactive source traced to DU lab

pioneer.com

Staff Reporter | New Delhi

Traders bought unutilised gamma irradiator from Chemistry Dept



A callous Delhi University administration has been found responsible for the exposure of eight persons to radiation from a Cobalt-60 source in Mayapuri. In a startling revelation, the Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have traced the origin of the radioactive Cobalt-60 that has left one dead and seven critically ill so far to Delhi University’s Chemistry Department.



The police said that Cobalt-60, contained in a gamma irradiator, was lying unused in the laboratory for the last 25 years. Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajay Kashyap said that the radioactive isotope was brought to the scrap market by the scrap dealers after the university sold the gamma irradiator through auction in February this year. “The gamma irradiator was purchased by the Chemistry Department in 1968 from Canada and was lying unused since 1985. The same irradiator was bought by the scrap dealers,” said Kashyap. The harmful radiation claimed a life on Monday while condition of two others is said to be serious.



The Joint Commissioner said that the scrap dealers in order to resell it, dismantled the equipment and in the process, the lead covering on the radioactive substance pealed off leading to radiation exposure. “The equipment was in use till 1985 and after that it was lying in a room unused. In February, a committee of the Chemistry Department decided to sell it and the Mayapuri scrap dealers bought it through auction,” he said, adding that the four workers who were admitted to city hospitals were shown photographs of the equipment and one of them identified it.



Notably, gamma irradiator is an instrument used for the irradiation of electromagnetic gamma rays for sterilisation or decontamination, especially those of medical equipment. According to experts, the most common source of gamma rays for irradiation processing comes from the radioactive isotope Cobalt-60. It is manufactured specifically for the gamma irradiation process.



Gamma rays are the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation and also have significant effects on properties of polymers and polymer-containing composites.



Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal said that during investigation, it was found that the harmful substance was auctioned by the university authorities on February 26 this year. “It was bought by one Harcharan Singh Bhola having scrap shop at D2/80, Mayapuri, Phase-II. He removed the iron part from the cell and sold the lead part to one Giriraj Gupta. He got it dismantled and sold the lead to some other scrap dealers. However, the iron part found embedded in lead was kept by him,” he said. Apparently, part of the iron scrap of gamma cell removed by Haracharan Singh Bhola reached Deepak Jain through Rajinder, who suffered the maximum radioactive exposure and died.



Aggarwal said that on sustained interrogation of Giriraj from whose shop two sources were recovered, disclosed about purchasing the bulk quantity of lead from Harcharan Singh Bhola. Thereafter Bhola was thoroughly interrogated to know about the source of lead sold to Giriraj. “Bhola disclosed about purchasing a big machine having bulk quantity of lead in auction from the university. On verification, it was confirmed that the machine referred by Bhola was actually gamma cell which was sold in auction to Harcharan Singh Bhola,” the DCP said, adding that they would examine if the guidelines were properly followed while selling the equipment.



On April 8, Mayapuri came in the grip of Cobalt-60 radiation, when five persons were admitted to hospitals after they were exposed to the radioactive material. A worker in the scrap shop from where the Cobalt-60 was discovered has died due to exposure to radiation. At one stage of the investigation, it was suspected that the scrap material came from abroad. Some reports even suggested that the scrap originated from medical waste from a city hospital. Eleven sources of radiation were detected in the Mayapuri scrap market. Experts from Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) had scanned all the 800 shops in the scrap market and said that the locality was radiation-free.



What’s Gamma irradiator?



Gamma irradiation is a means of sterilisation or decontamination, especially those of medical equipment. In a gamma irradiator, the products or substances are exposed to gamma rays



It is also known as a ‘Cold Process’ as the temperature of the processed product doesn’t significantly increase. It is not dependant on humidity, temperature, vacuum or pressure



The most common source of gamma rays for irradiation processing comes from the radioactive isotope Cobalt-60. It is manufactured specifically for the gamma irradiation process.

Quote:BARC conceptualised and carried out the detailed design of the fuelling machine head and subsequently entrusted the task of manufacturing the prototype to MTAR. The 65-foot machine weighs 40 tonnes and is a vital component of the AHWR.



Praising the engineers of MTAR, BARC and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) for completing the challenging task, Mr. Banerjee said this was the first time that such equipment was made for a thorium-based reactor anywhere in the world.

Quote:http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/03/stories/2010050352591000.htm

“In military affairs, you have to judge not intentions but capabilities,” Mr. Lavrov

Quote:Experts decontaminate radiation hotspots

pioneer.com

IANS | New Delhi

A team of experts from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Sunday started the process of decontamination of radiation hotspots in Mayapuri area of west Delhi, officials said.



The team has visited Mayapuri following reports that radiation exposure was still high in the area.



"The team began the decontamination process Sunday afternoon," said a spokesperson of the environment organisation Greenpeace.



The experts held a meeting late Saturday with the scrap dealers of Mayapuri where the first radiation leak was reported last month. One person died due to radiation exposure.



Greenpeace in its investigation Friday found that Mayapuri was "not a safe zone for human beings".



"The investigation has identified hotspots with more than 5,000 times natural background radiation," an official said.



The Greenpeace team observed that it was a matter of concern that the identified six hotspots remained despite AERB having declared the area safe.



Police said the source of the leak last month was a radioactive Gamma Cell containing Cobalt-60, auctioned as scrap by Delhi University's chemistry department over two months ago.



Six people exposed to the radioactive Cobalt-60 are still undergoing anti-radiation treatment in a hospital.

Quote:TNN, Jun 29, 2010,



NEW DELHI: By signing a new civil nuclear agreement, Canada and India have sought to wipe off a history of strained relations that goes back to India's 1974 nuclear test that resulted in Ottawa freezing nuclear cooperation with New Delhi.



As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper signed the ninth civil nuclear agreement that India has concluded since the Nuclear Suppliers Group gave it a waiver in 2008, [color="#0000ff"]Canada is getting ready to supply India with 2,000 tonnes of uranium to power India's existing and future reactors[/color].



The MEA said the Canada agreement would provide for cooperation in "design, construction, maintenance, sharing of operating experience and decommissioning of nuclear reactors, supply of uranium, projects in third countries, nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste management."



Singh and Harper said there were [color="#0000ff"]sufficient mechanisms in the new trade deal to prevent Canadian nuclear fuel or technology from being used to support India's military nuclear program.[/color]



"We did engage in extensive negotiations to deal with those issues and the Indian side was very forthcoming with the safeguards as we require to have absolute confidence in (such) matters," Harper said.



"There is absolutely no scope whatsoever of the nuclear materials or nuclear equipment in India being used for unintended purposes," Singh declared.



It is not clear whether India will be able to access enrichment and reprocessing technology as part of the agreement. India is keen to access new reprocessing technology and has already committed more than one civilian-dedicated reprocessing facility for the purpose. But apart from France, no other country has so far offered this technology. And a global regime, led by the US, is pushing nuclear supplying countries to restrict such transfers.



Hailing the agreement, Congress party spokesperson Manish Tiwari said [color="#800080"]Canada's actions should be a cue for Australia to amend its rules regarding uranium exports to India.[/color] Canada's CANDU reactors are familiar in India, being the first ones to be imported by India.



But India is on a different level today, and just as Canada exports its CANDU technology, India is keen to market its pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) to other countries. The PHWR that India touts is a development of how it used the designs of the original CANDU reactors, so there should be greater synergy between the two technologies. Ideally, it should provide Indians an opportunity for joint marketing.



The MEA statement said, "Taking into account their respective strengths with regards to PHWRs and CANDU reactors, there is considerable scope for joint work between the two countries."



For Canada, the deal is important because it allows its nuclear industry to expand into India's market, just like the French and Russian.



India is building a new set of PHWRs over the next few years, and given the similarities, will be able to import equipment and materials [color="#0000ff"]more quickly[/color]. With Australia still holding off supplying uranium to India, Canada is likely to emerge as one of India's major suppliers.

Quote:Prime minister Naoto Kan declared a nuclear emergency as his trade minister admitted that a radiation leak might occur at the Fukushima power plant.



The reactor’s cooling system failed after the 8.9-magnitude tremor hit northern Japan at 2.46pm local time. Pressure in the reactor was rising despite the US Air Force flying extra coolant to the plant.



Japan's massive earthquake caused a power outage that disabled a nuclear reactor's cooling system, triggering evacuation orders for about 3,000 residents as the government declared its first-ever state of emergency at a nuclear plant.

Reports were also emerging of a second atomic plants in an earthquake-hit area was experiencing reactor cooling problems.