04-14-2010, 06:23 AM
I read parts of Bharat Karnad's book "India's nuclear policy"...This is a very interesting book. There was an interesting excerpt on fissile production. He cites responsible sources who tell him that from about 2001 onwards, many CANDUs were used for low burn mode Pu production - and that this led to a drop in the power they supplied to the grid. This is very interesting. Apparently this practise seems to have continued in the MMS regime. If true, it means that the NPA estimates of India's WGPu production go for a six: BK says that by 2010-2012, fiss. mat. for 200+ warheads is to be accumulated. He repeated cites 200 + reserves as the force that will be fielded by 2012. This is consistent with 5-7% of CANDU output being used for this purpose.
The book also remarks that this was done to hedge against early FMCT. Which means that soon, the main issue will be testing to perfect a TN. BK writes in the book that in spite of the N-deal, the issue is not if - but when. What do you say, Arunji ?
The book also remarks that this was done to hedge against early FMCT. Which means that soon, the main issue will be testing to perfect a TN. BK writes in the book that in spite of the N-deal, the issue is not if - but when. What do you say, Arunji ?