SCIENCE &

TECHNOLOGY

CLASSNOTES

BY AYAZ KHAN SIR

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ENERGY

Energy

Nuclear Non-Nuclear

NCA Fusion Basic NCA Governance Nuclear Nuclear CTBT NLA Fusion Power
2010 Power N.Deals strategy Power weapon FMCT
123 Agreement program program Zangger committee
Miscellaneous

Isotopes:

Protium 1 H1 O H2 O Light water

2 O
H Deuterium 1 D D2 O Heavy water

Tritium 1 T
3
Radioactive

233
U
235
92 U U Fissile
238 Fertile
U

Steam-E-NR
x Steam Electricity
n 233/235 + 3n + heat
U Kill-NW
y Kill-NW (Nuclear Weapon)

n 238 239
U Fissile
Pu

n 232 U233
Th

U235 - 0.7%
Natural U
99.3%

Elements having the same atomic no. but a different mass number are called Isotopes.
Hydrogen has 3 isotopes - protium which forms light water deuterium forms heavy water
&the third is radioactive tritium.
Uranium has got multiple isotopes but three are significant.
(a) U233
(b) U235
(c) U238

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The first two are fissile –which means they undergo nuclear fission to produce two lighter
nuclei along the with 3 neutrons & heat. 𝑈𝑈 238 is fertile instead of undergoing fission, it changes
into another element i.e. 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃239, which is fissile. In the same way, Thorium(𝑇𝑇ℎ232 ) is also fertile.
Before being used it has to be converted into𝑈𝑈 223 . The conversion of U 238 into
plutonium.(Pu232 ) & Th232 to U 233 is followed by reprocessing of the spent fuel rod. For that
technology, India is trying for the membership of NSG, that has been opposed by China &
other countries.

Uranium Enrichment:
Along with re-processing, enrichment technology represents the most vital part of the nuclear
program, naturally occurring Uranium is comprised of two isotopes 1.
U235 (0/7)/2. U 238 (99.3) with the fissile isotope being just (0.7/) & the remaining is the fertile
one. In Uranium enrichment, the percentage of the fissile isotope is enhanced by using
centrifuge through isotopic separation. Inside the centrifuge moves on its axis, and the heavier
isotope diffuses out from the semi-permeable membrane. Enriched Uranium is of two types
1. LEU (Low Enriched Uranium :) – when the % of U 235 is equal to or less than 20, it is called
LEU. It is used as fuel in Nuclear reactions. E.g., – the boiling water reactors at tarapore
requires 2.5-3.5% EU as the fuel. The Jaitapor NR supplied by France uses 5% EU. A
country can export low EU to another country but the recipient has to ensure that it will
only be used for civilian/peaceful rise & the facilities where the imported uranium has
been used should be open for inspection by IAEA. This is called Safeguard Mechanism Its
purpose is to ensure that imported material & technology is not diverted for military
purpose.
2. HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium):- The percentage of U 235 is greater than 20: when it is
more than 90% that is weapon-grade uranium. INS – Arihant of Indian navy use 40% EU,
Under Aukus US & UK will give submarine to Australia with 80% EU fuels.
Nuclear Co-operation Agreement:
As a part of energy security one of the targets was to produce 63,000 MWe from the nuclear
sector by 2032. Later on, this target was scaled down to 27,000 MWe but the challenge was
only 20% of the required fuel can be produced domestically: At present such agreements have
been signed with Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Namibia, Russia,
S. Korea, UK, US, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Bangladesh & Srilanka, under these agreements 3
items were promised:-
• Nuclear fuel
• Nuclear Reactors: Russia, US & France have agreed to supply India 24 NR.
• ENR (Enrichment &Reprocessing) Technology. Reprocessing is the extraction of useful
elements from the spent fuel rods. This has yet not been transfused.

Includes obligations:-

1) Separation plan & Safeguard Agreement: As India is not a signatory of NPT, it was asked
to adopt. Separation plan, which requires the separation of the nuclear facility into civil &
military. Those in the civilian list should be brought under IAEA inspection through
Safeguard Agreement in 2006, when separation plan was adopted there were 22 NR 14 of
them were brought in the safeguarded list & remaining are military. India is the only
country other than those S Nuclear weapon state which can officially maintain military
nuclear reaction. Somewhere it is recognised as a Nuclear weapon country. IAEA
(International Atomic Energy Agency)

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2) Additional protocol: In 1990’s IAEA adopted the 93+2 program in the wake of the
weaponization attempts by Iran, Iraq & N. Korea, it culminated in the additional protocol,
it’s objective is to increase the presence of the IAEA in the nuclear program of the non-
nuclear weapons state, the scope of the additional protocol is broader than the safeguard
agreement because it covers both declared and undeclared sites whereas under safeguard
only declared sites are inspected India refused to sign the additional protocol adopted by
the other non-NWS’s, rather it negotiated a new one with the following commitments:-
a) If it will export thorium to non-NWS, that will be communicated to IAEA;
b) If Uranium is exported to non-NWS, then also IAEA will be informed.
c) To bring civilian NR under IAEA safeguard.
3) Self-Imposed moratorium on Nuclear Tests
It is a part of India Nuclear Doctrine, adopted in 2003. Basically it is a voluntary restriction
on the nuclear testing.
4) To define liability in case of Nuclear Accident, a law was passed in 2010 with the tilte
civilian Liability for Nuclear Damages Act, popularly known as Nuclear Liability Act,

123 Agreement:
Indo-US nuclear cooperation was signed as per section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954
This section says if a country has signed NPT with that country the US president is satisfied
then Nuclear technology can be shared, in 2006 Hyde Act was passed to exempt India from
the requirements of NPT. As per the agreement:-
1) US will help India to have strategic reserves of nuclear fuel. i.e at least 1-year fuel is to be
supplied in advance for the safeguarded reactors.
2) US will export NRs to India.
3) US was not willing to allow the representing of the spent fuel; they were insisting that it
should be transported back but India refused to accept it. Finally, it was included in the
agreement with the condition that there should be a safeguarded centralized reprocessing
facility.
4) Us was trying to link Nuclear testing & deal termination means in the eventuality of India
going for a Nuclear explosion the deal will be terminated. This was later changed. As per
the text of the agreement “If India will conduct the nuclear test then US will try to
understand the circumstances”. Followed by the talks b/w the 2 countries which should
be concluded within a year
5) Any of the two countries can terminate the agreement by giving one year notice in
advance.

Significance of the 123 Agreement

1) It has broken India’s nuclear isolation.
2) India retains the right to conduct the Nuclear test & enhance its Nuclear arsenal.
3) There will be transfer of technology.
4) It has de-hyphenated India –Pakistan relations since then the relation of both these nations
are on different trajectories.
The biggest criticism is that it has been more than a decade but not even one NR has been
built because there were differences over the Nuclear Liability and there are protests by
the local residents against the NR.

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India – Japan Nuclear Deal:

India is the only non-NPT country with whom Japan has signed Nuclear cooperation
Agreement, Nuclear Deal with Japan was important for 2 reasons:-
1) Japan along with Russia & China enjoys the monopoly over steel rings manufacturing
required for the core of the NR
2) Hitachi, Mitsubishi & Toshiba companies from Japan having the controlling stake in the
general Electrics, Areva & Westing House, in the absence of a deal with Japan, Similar
agreements with the US & France would also have failed to materialize. For the first time,
two sets of documents were signed one was Notes on views & understanding that
included 2 commitments from India i.e. no-first-use & self-imposed moratorium on
nuclear testing There is a difference between the 2 countries regarding the nature of the
above two commitments according to India they are merely explanatory in nature & non-
binding. Whereas Japan has taken a stand that they are binding Basically Japan is trying
& to pacify its citizens it is highly unlikely that they will undermine India’s position if at
all we conduct Nuclear Test. Because the trigger for such an action by India will be some
serious threat from china given the fact that China is probably a bigger threat to Japan,
they will adopt a conciliatory approach. The second document is Nuclear Cooperation
Agreement. AS per that, Indian & Japanese organizations will form joint ventures to built
NR’s in India that will result in technology transfer. India will reprocess the spent fuel for
Japan This is how we have made Japan a stakeholder in the process of getting the
membership of NSG because some of the countries opposing India’s entry have good
relations with Japan. Indirectly they can be convinced to change their stand.

Governance structure: -
At the PMO there is a Dept. of Atomic Energy headed by a secretary, it controls the operator
who is responsible for the construction, operation & the maintainence of the reactor in case of
accident, they will have the primary liability. There are two operators NPCIL & BHAVINI
(Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam). The Atomic Energy commission mainly sets the target,
the secretary to the Dept. of Atomic Energy, is the Ex-officio CM of AEC. As per the provision
Atomic Energy Act, 1962, safety Regulator was created in the form of Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB) which is under the administrative control of Atomic Energy
Commissions This arrangement has worked remarkably will as there have been no major
nuclear accidents like 1979-3 mile Island etc but critics have red-flagged following concerns –

1) Conflict of interest :- The same individual is controlling the operator & Safety regulatory.
Their role is antagonistic to each other, acc. IAEA convention on Nuclear safety this
should be separated ;
2) AERB is not an autonomous body but all the governments at the centre have maintained
that it enjoys functional autonomy but the critics are asking for dejure autonomy but the
crities are asking for desire autonomy.
3) It is not mandatory for AERB to notify all the nuclear incidents & accidents within the
country.
4) From time to time, AERB constitutes export committees to review the safety aspects, 95%
of the members are from the department of atomic energy means it doesn’t have its
workforce which further reduces its autonomy. Following the fukushima accident in 2011,
protests started against the reactors at Kudankulam. In those circumstances, nuclear
Safety Regulatory Authority bill was drafted & presented. It will introduce some new

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dimensions for better governance like nuclear safety regulatory to notify all the nuclear
incidents & accidents within 15 days There will be Council for Nuclear safety under the
Prime minister to review the nuclear safety policies to be implemented By NSRA.

Nuclear Power Programme: -

Stage Fuel Reactors Operators Status Indegenous
Import
1 U 235 BWR NPCIL COMMERCIA IMP &
PHWR LIZED IND
PWR-NCA
2 Pu239 FBR BHAVINI Technology IND
Demonstration
3 u233 AHWR, CHTR R&D IND.
MSR, ADS

The Nuclear Power programme was announced in 1958 with the objective of balancing the
scarcity of uranium & the abundance of Thorium, experience was gained through research
reactors, in 1954, and APSARA was built. It was the first reactor of Asia, In 1960, Cirus was
required from Canada under Atoms for peace programme. Then DHRUV was built & it is still
working it is the largest supplier of plutonium for Nuclear weapons. BARC has also built
PURNIMA 1, 2&3 along with ZERLINA & APSARA-U AS of now only DHRUV & APSARA-
U are working. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research has built the following.

1) KAMINI for the utilization of Thorium

2) Fast Breeder Test reactor
3) Prototype fast breeder Reactor

FIRST STAGE: -

The fuel is U 235 with three types of reactors, In 1962 General Electric of USA agreed to supply
two Boiling water Reactor. Both of them were installed at Tarapur but the American supplier
demanded the exemption from Nuclear liability which was granted. The fuel was supplied
by USA, they used light water as the moderator & coolant but these reactor were having
frequent shut down due to exercise vaporization of light water. That was the reason BWR
were not pursued, the fuel is 2.5-3.5 of enouned uranium.

In 1965, Atomic Energy Canada Limited agreed to supply PHWR also known as CANDU
(Caradin Deuterium Uranium) like General Electric , Candian supplier was also exempted
from Nuclear liability . These reactors use heavy water as the moderator & coolant circulated
under increased pressure, the fuel is natural Uranium. PHWR forms the backbone of Nuclear
Progaramme. Out of 24, 19 are of this type, all the 8 identified as military reactor under
separation plan are PHWR. Out of 14 which are sfefuarded with IAEA, 10 are PHWR.
Recently, 16 IPHWR have been announced. They are 3+ generation each with a capacity of 700
MWe one is completed at karkrapar. The sites identified for iPHWR are :-

• Gorakhpur (Haryana) – 4
• Mahi- Baswara (Rajsthan) – 4
• Chutka (MP) – 2

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• Kakrapar ( Gujarat) – 2
• Kaiga ( Karnataka) – 2
• RAwatbhata ( Rajsthan) – 2

India has NCA with Srilanka, Bangladesh. Vietanam, in future IPHWR technology can be
exported to them as a part of Neighbourhood first policy & to help these countries in having
a smooth transition towards. Non- fossil furel based electricity. If will help India to claim
leadership position when the world will be in the transition stage to achieve net – zero
emission tangets.

PWR, also known as light- water reaction, 3+ gen, NR which signifies inherent safety
mechanisms. They are considented as one of the safest reactors in the world. The fuel is
enriched uranium but light water is the moderator & coolant . Under NCA, Russia has agreed
to supply 12 Voda Voda Energy reactor 1000( VVER-1000), France will give 6 EPR-1650
(Evolutionary pressurized Reactor- 1650) & US will transfer 6- AP-1000 (Advanced-
Pressurized - 1000) .

VVER-1000 :-

• Russian supplier Rosatomtroyexport will share the technology for 12 of these reactors.
6.of them will be built of kundankulam & the Remaining 6 at Andra Pradesh. As of now
2 are built, both safegauarded. Since 2011, locals have been protesting on the grounds of
safety, loss of livelihood & displacement. In 2011, petition was filled in Supreme court, SC
permitted the operato with the contidition that AERB has to carry out regular safety audit
& submit report to the Apex court.

EPR – 1650 :-
• French Company Areva will give 6 reactors for Jaitapur (Mah). These reactors will require
5% EU but they are also witnessing opposition due to safety concerns, environmental
impact due to waste disposl & the demand for land as the compensation.

AP -1000:-
• US Supplier Westing House will transfer them for kovvada in Srikakulam district, AP.
They are also opposed by citing safety concerns lack of rehabilitation & the possible
heatlth hazards due to the disposal of Nuclear waste .

STAGE 2

The fuel is Plutonium239 & fast breeder reactors are used. They are called breeder reactors
because they produce more fuel then they consume, by using Pu239 , U 238 is converted into
the fissile element which is again Pu239 . They are also capable of transforming Th232 into U 233
which is the fuel for the third stage compared to consumption, the production is at least 20%
extra moreover, the Pu obtained is of weapon grade, this was the reason FBR were developed
indigenously.
There is no moderator, therefore called fast Neution reactor, Liquid Sodium Is the coolant
therefore also called light metal fast breeder Reactor. In future like PHWR, FBR will also be
classified into civil & military categories, those in the civilian list will be safeguarded with
IAEA as they will be using the Pu obtained from the centralized reprocessing facility. These
FBR will emerge as a bedrock for Credible Minimum Deterrence by supplying the Pu to

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configure Nuclear Warheads. The first FBR with the capacity of 500 MWe has been built at
kalpakkam but it has not yet started the operation due to lack of Pu stocks.

Stage 3. :-
The long term objective is the utilization of Th found in the form of monazite in the sands of
southern coast especially Kerala. The use of The offer the following advantages-
1.) It is abundant than Uranium .
2.) Per unit mass gives more energy than Uranium
3.) The waste generated in less harmful.

BARC is pursuing different technologies for the utilization of Th_232.

1.) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor: The capacity is 300 Mw. Heavy water will be the
moderator. Light water will be the coolant.
2.) Compact Height Temp. Reactor: Its primary objective is to produce Hydrogen from
the splitting of water molecules. It will aslo carry out desalination of water & electricity
generation.
3.) Molten Salt Ractor: China became the first to have Th based reactor. It is basically using
fuel, coolant & moderator in the molten form comparatively they are safer because the
molten material will solidify as soon as it comes in contact with air if it is spilled out
compared to PHWR&LWR, they require less pressure but more temperature to keep
the fuel, moderator & coolant in molten condition.
4.) Accelerator driven system : BARC & fermilab of USA are jointly developing this type
of reactor with the name HISPA (High Intensity Super conducting Particle
Accelerator) & These are subcritical reactor originally designed to convert harmful
waste into stable elemnts, in them the neutron lost are more than the neutrons
generated.

Proton released from the particle acceleration will strike heavy metal like lead (Pb) to
cause the release of neutron through the process of spallation. The neutron then carries
out the fission.

Nuclear Weapon Programme: -

In 1974, the nuclear tests were conducted under the name operation Buddha Smiling. PM Mrs
Gandhi described them as Peaceful Nuclear Explosion, There were 3 tests, all were fission
devices using Pu, Out of them one was a kiloton device-means the yield is more than 1 KT
with respect to TNT ( tri-nitro tolerene). Remaining two were sub KT with yields less than 1
KT. The former test are the basis of Strategic Nuclear Weapon whereas the other one is
employed for Tactical Nuclear weapon.
After these test SLV-3 programme was started to develop the technology for intermediate
Range Ballistic Missile which culminated in Integrated Guided Missile Development
Programme to have missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
In 1975, a meeting was held in London to create an informal grouping in the form of Nuclear
Supplier Group. In its early days it was called London Club. It’s purpose is to control the
transfer of Nuclear technology. Its decisions are taken through consensus. If a country has to
receives the technology from its member, it is required to fulfil 2 condition:–
1. Full scope Safeguard:- All the present & all the future facility to be brought under IAEA
inspection .

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2. Sign NPT:-
Regarding membership, there are 5 requirements:-
a.) In a position to export nuclear technology.
b.) Compliance with the guidelines of NSG.
c.) Strengthening the International mechanism to prevent nuclear proliferation.
d.) Create domestic checks & balances to control proliferation.
e.) Sign NPT or any one of the five nuclear weapon-free- zone treaties;
1.) Treaty of Pelindaba: It has declared Africa nuclear weapon-free.
2.) Treaty of Semipalatinsk :- for making central Asian region as nuclear – weapon free.
3.) Treaty of Bangkok for south east Asia as nuclear weapon free
4.) Treaty of Tlateloco to declare Latin America as free of nuclear weapons.
5.) Treaty of Rarotonga to make South Pacific nuclear Weapon Free.

When India started singing NCA, a simple question was, why will NSG permit its members
to share the technology with India (Non-NPT country).

In Sept 2008, the, then external affairs ministers. Mr Pranab Mukherjee addressed the
members of NSG (45) & gave two commitments –

1.) No first use.

2.) Self imposed moratorium on nuclear testing Immediately, US brought a solution which
stated that India should be exempted from the requirments of NPT & full safeguard. That
was supported by all the 45 members including China (became member in 2004) . This is
how India got “ special clean waiver”, the only country to get this type of an exemption in
the history of NSG. In 2010, India passed Nuclear Liability Act & differences started
emerging b/w India & US. Simaltaneously, NSG chairman wrote a letter to IAEA asking
that all those countries receiving the nuclear technology without fulfilling the condition
must do so. From here onwards, the narrative shifted towards acquiring the membership.
The liability issue was resolved in 2015 when Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool was created
to covers the liability of the operator & the supplier. when NSG meeting took place in
2016 in seoul, S.korea; claim for the membership was made, that was opposed by China &
9 other countries. The Chinese stand was India has not signed NPT & why the rules should
be changed always for one country .India responded that instead of criteria based there
should be “Performance “ based assessment regarding its membership claim. After that
China came with the two step formula proposal for the membership of the non- NPT
countries like India, Israel, N. Korea & Pakistan.
China is looking to bring Pakistan into NSG so that it can export the nuclear reactors to
ensure a better future for CPEC which is a flagship corridor under BRI which is the most
ambitious project taken up by Xi-Jin- Ping to emerge as a leader on par with Mao Zedong
but many members of NSG refused to agree for Pakistan’s entry because of its
proliferation record.
India has adopted a multi-pronged strategy which involves asking friendly countries like
USA, France, Japan to convince some of those opposing its membership. Another option
is to isolate China in NSG which has less probability of being successful. Besides that there
have been attempts to improve the bilateral relations.
• The membership will help India to export Nuclear technology & pursue nuclear
diplomacy in Asia & Africa.
• It will help in importing the fuel from Namibia it is signatory. They are a signature of
treaty of Palendaba which restricts them to export nuclear fuel to India

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• India will have access to cutting-edge Nuclear technology which will push the Nuclear
power programme towards the commercialisation of third Phase using Thorium as a
fuel.
• Now with the commitment of Zero- emission by 2070, all the options of non- fossil fuel
based energy have to be fast tracked including nuclear. The membership will help in
doing so.
In 1998, 5 Nuclear tests were conducted under operation Shakti, 4 of them were fission
devices & I was thermo nuclear device but U S & other countries said that thermo
nuclear test failed. Indian stand was that the expected yield was 43 KT which was
obtained. Few days later, Pakistan conducted the Nuclear Test, to convey a message
to the global community that the purpose is not to attack but to deter the others from
attacking. Mr. K. Subramanium of National Security Advisory Board was asked to
draft Nuclear Doctrine (made public 1999) which was adopted in Jan 2003. The
components of the doctrine are:-

No first use. when the doctrine was in the discussion phase, there were 3 schools of
thought- Rationalists in favour of NFU, Maximalist asking for first use, and
Rejectionist – as per the situation we will decide. In the end, no first use was adopted.
It says India will not be the first to start nuclear war but if attacked it will carry out
massive strikes to cause unacceptable damage. This is known as Second Strike
Capability which requires nuclear triad i.e. army, navy, airforce should have the
capabilities to carry out nuclear strikes especially navy must have a sub-marine
capable of firing ballistic missile fitted with nuclear warhead. The Triad was
completed. When INS-Arihant which is a nuclear powered ballistic sub-marine fitted
with Sagarika missile was complete inducted in the Indian Navy. Very soon INS
Arighat, INS Aridhaman will also be inducted. India is having talks with France for
CS nuclear sub- marine to strengthen the Nuclear triad.

As per the doctrine irrespective of the fact whether a country is a nuclear weapon state
or non-nuclear weapon state, if it uses biological or chemical weapon, on India or
Indian interest then retaliation will be through nuclear weapons. In 2010 the then
National security Advisory Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon said ‘Nor first use’ is a pledge
only towards non-nuclear weapon states.

Merits of NO- first Use: -

a) If a countries have NFU policy, then the chance of Nuclear war is minimum. On the
contrary, if they have first use policy then the chances of Nuclear war becomes maximum.
By adopting NFU, a country avoid the participation in Arms race because to sustain first
use, the one who has initiated the attack must possess more nuclear warheads, missiles
etc.
b) No First use saves the political leadership from unnecessary psychological pressure.
c) For the transition from NFU to FU, there should be structural charge in the nuclear arsenal
So that the negative fall- out should not enter our territory.
d) NFU was an important factor behind special clean waiver from NSG & Nuclear
cooperation Agreements signed with the other countries.

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e) If NFU will be changed then China& Pakistan will come further close, given the power
structure in Pakistan it is quiet possible that some of the nuclear warheads might reach
the terror organisation as suspected by Barack Obama when he was the president.
India & China are the only two countries with NFU. Small countries like N. Korea &
Pakistan can not afford to have NFU policy because of the fear of anihlation by a bigger
adversary even in a conventional war. UK & France also have first use Policy. Soviet Union
changed from NFU to FU in 1983 that has been continued by Russia because their
conventional (non-nuclear) warfare capability decreased over time. USA also follows FU.
For them the reason is NATO & the security treaties with Japan & South Korea. IF US will
move to NFU, then Japan & S. Korea for their security reasons will try to develop Nuclear
weapons, that will start a chain reaction which may not be in India’s interest. Instead of
changing NFU to FU, we should strengthen Nuclear triad, & anti-ballistic missile system.
The arguments given in favour of first use are:-
a) In terms of no. of weapons, China has numerical advantage over India. Therefore,
there is a thought that through first use their advantage can be neutralized.
b) The numbers (missiles weapons) with India in 2022 are better compared to 2003.
Therefore FU can be sustained.
c) Pakistan has adopted terrorism as an instrument of state policy also called Proxywar-
way that can be addressed through FU.
d) Name of the Indian PM Since 2003 has said even once that govt. is contemplating a
change in NFU policy rather the latest is that India is still committed to NFU.
I. India will not use nuclear weapons against non- nuclear weapon states.
II. Self imposed moratorium on Nuclear testing.
III. Credible minimum difference. The will always be a certain minimum no. of
nuclear weapons to cause unacceptable damage, to work out what is
unacceptable. it is important to understand the economy, polity, defence, & the
society.
8. For decision making, there is Nuclear Command Authority which includes Political
Council headed by the Prime Minister, Executive Council under National Security
Advisor, the National Security Advisory Board & Strategic forces command under the
officer of the rank of Air Marshall. It is one of the two tri service command, the other
being Andaman & Nicobar command. The final decision lies with the Political Council
to be executed by Strategic Forces Command, it has the nuclear weapons, missiles, air
crafts, at its disposal.

Fusion power: -
Nuclear fusion also known as thermonuclear reactions occurs at a very high temperature
when the hydrogen atom combines to form Helium. In 1985, USA, Soviet Union, European
Union & Japan came together to harness fusion to produce power. Later they formed a
consortium named ITER (International Thermo Nuclear Experimental Reactor) Which is
coming up at Cadarache in South. France, India, S. Korea& China are the other members. This
was the first international scientific project which India joined as full fledged partner. It is
represented by BARC. (BHABHA Atomic Research Centre), Institute of Plasma Research &
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (Kolkata)

ITER is based on magnetic continement of plasma, which is the fourth state of matter obtained
when the atom disintegrates into charged particles. The underlying principle is wherever a
charge particle enters a magnetic field charged particles moves either clockwise or anti-

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clockwise. For magnetic control cylindrical device called TOKAMAK fitted with super-
conducting magnets has been used. Insides the tokamak,hydrogen isotopes will be heated by
using 50 Mw to form Plasma which will form a ‘doughnut-shaped’ structure to eventually
undergo fusion to give 500 Mw .

At ITER the target is to achieve the temp. which is 10 times the temp. at the core of the sun.

ADITYA: -

ADITYA is Indian TOKAMAK developed by Institute of Plasma Research,Ahmedabad.

K-STAR: -

Korean- Super conducting TOKAMAK Advanced Research It is aslo based on ITER, became
the first to achieve 100mn. temp

EAST: -

(Experimental Advanced Super- conducting TOKAMAK) Also known as Artificial Sun. The
operating principle is the same as that of ITER. It has achieved the temp. more than 10 times
the temp. at the core of the sun.

LIFE: -

(Laser Inertial Fusion Energy). It is a lazer based fusion project of USA. In one of the
experiments, the output was almost 10 times the input .

JET: -

Joint European Taurus- Culham (Britain)

→ Same mechanism as that of ITER.

 Evaluation of fusion power:-

• Fusion power production doesn’t require specific resources like Uranium, Plutonium
nor even the membership of International bodies like NSG. It requires only
Deuterium & Tritium.
• If these reactors have to be commercially successful then the output should be greater
than input, in some of the experiments, the energy obtained from the fusion was
found to be greater than the energy used as input
• The half-life of the waste generated is hardly one week & that too, it is gaseous in
nature whereas the fission-based reaction generates solid waste with a half-life of
centuries.
• Fusion power reactor will help in phasing out Fossil fuel based energy production
system.
 CRITICISMS: -
1.) One of the goal in to acheve the temp which 10 times the temp. found at the core, the
question is how that will be attained & sustained.
2.) The technology is highly elitist means only a handful of countries can think of using
fusion to generate electricity as they have the capital & technological competence.
 IRAN-NUCLEAR DEAL: -

Also known as JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) signed b/w P5 + 1 & Iran in July
2015. During cold war, Iran was a close ally of the USA. The Atoms for Peace program was

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started & US President Dwight. Eisen Hover promised nuclear technology which was
eventually shared in 1960s, in 1979, there was islamic revolution in Iran that removed the king
& brought democracy.

When Israel attacked Iraq’s nuclear installations, the enrichment programme was restarted by
Iran. In Early years of 2000, the enrichment process came to light which is distributed at
following places.

• Saghand – Main Uranium production centre.

• Natanz :- It is the enrichment center to produce LEU, Natanz is the first eg. of where
super weapons were used in the form of STUXNET by US & Israel
• FURDOW / FORDO: - At this place LEU is converted into highly enriched Uranium.
• Bushehr: - At this place, Russia has built, Irans first Nuclear Reactor, it is a PWR but Iran
can not reprocess the spent fuel.
• Arak: - At Arak, Iran is building its heavy water reactor .
• QOM: - At this place , they have shifted the critical nuclear infrastructure underground.

When the enrichment programme got exposed, the international community asked Iran to
allow the visit of IAEA, when they refused, economic sanctions were imposed. India voted
against Iran in IAEA in 2005, 2006& 2009, Obama administration brought a law CISADA
(Comprehensive Iran Sanction & Accountability Divestment Act) Which tried to restrict the
commercial engagement with Iran. At this juncture India took a position only those sanctions
passed by UN will be accepted following that Iran was asked to open an account in an Indian
Bank so that the payment for oil can be made. When Obama became the president for the
second time, USA was looking for the alternative of Saudi Arab in west & he wanted to leave
a legacy. As a result, the talks started b/w Iran & P5 + 1. The dialogue was focussed on –

• Iran should restrict its enrichment activities.

• The sanctions imposed will be eased.

The highlights of JCPOA are –

Iran will not have any stock of Uranium enriched beyond 20 %.


Of the 7500 Kg LEU, it can only keep 300Kg remaining has to be shipped out.

It can enrich only up to 3.67%.

It has to bring down its centrifuge no’s to 30%, for the next 15 years it will neither develop

nor acquire any enrichment technology.
 The proposal of P5 + 1 countries was that the construction of Arak reactor should be
stopped. According to them the spent fuel can be reprocessed to obtain Plutonium. But
they allowed Iran to continue with following restrictions –
• Change the design of the core, so that there is little conversion of Uranium into
Plutonium.
• Ship out the spent fuel of the reactor.
• Iran will never develop the re processing technology
 Israel & Saudi Arab were unhappy with this deal, US Presidential. Candidate Donald
Trump promised the withdrawal which eventually happened in 2017 on the following
grounds: -
 In future, Iran can acquire the nuclear weapons.
 Iran is working on ballistic missiles.

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 It is supporting terror organizations in the region

 It is influencing the countries in west Asia.

In 2018, US Congress passed CAATSA (Counting Americas Adversaries through Sanctions

Act), which has a provision of secondary sanctions, if a country will engage Iran, Russia, N.
Korea for energy & defence related activities. It became effective form Nov. 2018. But India &
few other countries were exempted from the sanction for 180 days which were over in May
2019, Since then India has stopped oil imports from Iran.

Connectivity related Implication for India: -

For India, one of the challenge is that it lacks direct physical connectivity with Afghanistan &
central Asia. In May 2016, an agreement was signed b/w the two countries, under that India
will not only built the port, it will also lay down a railway line to connect it with Iran-Afghan
border & eventually it will be connected with Zaranj-Delaram highway in Afghanistan. One
of the plan was to extent it up to Tajakistan.

Chabahar is just few Kms (140 km) from Gwadar, which is a part of Belt & Road Initiative
representing the intersection of maritime & terrestrial component. Indian strategy is that it
will join all the connectivity projects expect the BRI led by China. Another imp. Dimension is
to provide Afghanistan on Pakistan Karachi Por. India has joined ASHGABAD agreement
which is for connecting land-locked Central Asian Republics with the ports of Iran & Oman.
One of the 3 ports of Iran included in this agreement is Chabahr & from Oman, one of the
three is DUQM which is used by Indian Navy. Since 2001, India, Iran & Russia are working
on International North-South Transport Corridor to connect the Arabian Sea with Russia. It
will reduce the transportation route length of Indian exports to half thereby, enhancing the
competitiveness.

Chabahar will be vital for importing nuclear fuel on Kazakistan & Uzbekistan (NCA) as well
as importing Natural gas. Along with DUQM & the islands of Seychelles & Mauritius,
Chabahar will be vital for Inida’s role as a Net Security Provider in Arabian Sea. That is why
Chabahar is described as India’s, Golden Gateway for Afghanistan which is a negative
security space means the absence will have security related challenges.

Energy Related Aspcets: -

India is having multi- dimensional energy cooperation with Iran Including: -

a.) Upstream Investment: - As a part of India’s energy security, strategy, the focus is
on diversification of energy resources & diversification in terms of importing
hydrocarbon which included moving away from buyer-seller model Instead
interest is shown in acquiring oil & gas fields to start the production. It will help
in avoiding supply shock & price-shock. Some of the upstream Hydrocarbon
projects are – Sakhalin in Russia, the Greater Nile Oil Project (Sudan). San
cristabello (Venezuela), Satpayev (kazakistan), South China Sea 1&2 (Vietnam).
India & Iran were negotiating the FARZAD-B gas field but it did not materialized.
b.) Liquefied Natural Gas: -
Oman is liquefying Natural Gas for Iran, Mumbai Based South Asia Gas Enterprise
has submitted a detailed project report for an undersea pipeline to bring LNG to
the Indian shore.

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c) Gas- swap: -
It involves India, Iran & Turkmenistan, under that Turkmenistan will supply gas
to Iran & Iran will give that much extra to India.

d) Buyer- seller Relationship: -

India was importing around 11 % of its oil from Iran. Many refineries were making
petrochemical to export.

Nuclear Liability Act, 2010

Also known as civilian liability for Nuclear damages act, 2010. Its purpose was to
operationalize Indo-USA Nuclear deal, because in the absence of a liability regime in India,
American suppliers were reluctant to supply the nuclear reactors The Indian law was
criticised by USA, Russia & France that it is against International Nuclear Liability which was
shaped by those countries who have traditionally been the supplier of nuclear reactor in order
to safeguard the interest of their supplier, the liability was transferred on the operator.

The International Nuclear Liability regime is Comprised of: -

a) Paris convention or OECD convention on Nuclear liability 1960.
b) Vienna convention or IAEA convention on Nuclear Liability–1963.
c) Convention for suplementar compensation, 1997: Its objective is to have a worldwide
liability regime & increase the compensation for the victim, India became its member in
2016. The requirements of its membership are-
1) A country should be the member of either Paris or Vienna convention. Or both; its law
should be in compliance with the provisions of CSC
2) Liability of the operator is absolute
3) Liability is limited in time & amount or there should be an insurance pool.
4) When this law was passed India became eligible to be the member.
All the conventions related to NL (Nuclear Liability) are based on 4 common principles –
a) Liability of the operator is absolute
b) Liability is exclusively channelized to the operator
c) Liability is limited in amount.
d) Liability is limited in time.
The important provisions of Indian Law are: -
A) In case of accident the liability of the operator shall not exceed 1500 crore, if that amount
fall short then Govt. of India will pay 300 mn SDR (Special Drawing Rights). If that is also
insufficient then we will have access to the funds under CSC.

B) To facilitate the payment of compensation, Claims Commissioner are appointed. The

victims of the accident can ask for compensation in 2 categories: -

1) Damages to the property: The time period available is 10 years.

2) Damages to the health: The time available to claim the compensation is 20 years.

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C) Right to Re-course: This was the point of contentium b/w India & the reactor suppliers. It
says, irrespective of the fact whether the defect was latent or patent, if that is responsible for
the accident then the operator can sue the supplier for 1500 crores. US criticized it on the
ground that it is against the liability provisions in the International conventions & they will
not supply the nuclear reactor. To Russia, India proposed that those units at kundankullam
which have not yet been constructed, they should be brought under the liability law which
was refused by the supplier.

In 2015, Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool was created with a corpus of 1500 crore to cover the
liability of the operator & the supplier the GoI & remaining half by the half of the amount will
be contributed by the Insurance companies. In future, GoI will reduce its and Insurance
companies will increase their share if they fail to do so then Nuclear Liability Fund can be
activated by imposing a Nuclear Power Cess.

Significance of Insurance Pool: -

1) It fulfilled the condition for the membership of Convetion for Supplementary

Compensation.
2) It has settled the Nuclear liability issue affecting Indo-US relations.
3) It will facilitate access to Nuclear technology
4) Somewhere it ensured US support for India’s NSG membership
FMCT (Fissile Material Cut–off Treaty)

It is still in the process of deliberation. If a country will sign this treaty then they cannot
produce weapon-grade nuclear material which includes Plutonium & Highly Enrich Uranium
(HEU).

The background of the treaty is that on 1 April 2010, US & Russia signed the New start Treaty
to reduce the no. of Nuclear weapons to 1550 & the number of launchers to 800. The process
of verification is to be completed by the end of 2021.

France & Britain have announced a moratorium on their nuclear arsenal, in such a situation,
US was worried that at some point of time, India& China will surpass it, that is why during
the tenure of Barack Obama, there was an emphasis on the adoption of FMCT. AS of now, 3
drafts have been submitted one each by the US, Green Peace (NGO) & International Panel on
fissile material which is an independent body with 17 members to assist IAEA in addressing
Nuclear proliferation. But due to differences over the following issues, FMCT has not been
finalized –

1) What should be the definition of the fissile material, According to some, only Uranium &
Plutonium should be included while others are asking for including tritium, U 237 etc.

2) What should be the scope of the treaty almost all the countries with nuclear weapons are
in favour of freezing the future production of the fissile material but those without Nuclear
weapons are asking for covering the existing stocks as well. India is in a complicated
situation because of two neighbors with nuclear weapons it is in favor of stopping the
future production & to retain the existing stock because India& China are the only two
countries with No First Use, therefore, the chance of nuclear war is minimum, at the same
time, it will retain an edge over Pakistan. One more issue for India in singing FMCT means
that the credible minimum deterrence will become redundant.

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3) What should be the nature of the inspection regime? The P5 countries were supporting
the continuation of inspection regime under NPT with IAEA having limited powers to
inspect their Nuclear programme, but others want a uniformity that will only be possible
if the existing stocks are also brought under FMCT.

CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty): -

It was adopted in 1996 but it has not yet come into force because there is “force into entry
clause” which says all the 44 countries with nuclear programme must sign & ratify. Out of
them 36 have signed & ratified out of the remaining 8, China. Egypt, Iran Israel & US have
signed but not ratified whereas India, Pakistan & North Korea have neither signed nor
ratified. The reason given by India is that it violates sovereignty because the treaty cannot be
imposed. As per CTBT, a country cannot conduct nuclear test in air, on land & water neither
underground, nor under water. It has created CTBT that has put in place International
Monitoring System to detect possible nuclear activities through the sensors in air, or land &
under water.

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