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New Delhi: India will begin negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today on a safeguards pact for 14 of its civilian nuclear reactors when atomic energy chief Anil Kakodkar holds talks with IAEA boss Mohammad Al Baradei in Vienna.
The negotiations with the UN nuclear watchdog will focus on fine-tuning an India-specific safeguards pact that will include fuel supply guarantees for the first time, given India's unique status as a state with nuclear weapons which is seeking global civilian nuclear cooperation.
As India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the safeguards pact will be unlike the ones applicable to the five official nuclear weapons states and will also be different from the one applicable to non-nuclear weapon states. The template for the India-IAEA pact will be INFCIRC 66, which involves putting reactors under permanent safeguards.
No timeline
"That is why it may take some time. But even when we take that into account, it won't take more than a few weeks to conclude the safeguards pact," a source in the department of atomic energy said.
The government has, however, not set a timeline for concluding a safeguards pact with the IAEA - a key step towards making the nuclear deal operational.
Kakodkar left last night for Vienna, a Department of Atomic Energy source said.
The DAE's strategic planning group director Ravi B. Grover, along with other officials, is part of Kakodkar's delegation. India's envoy at the IAEA in Vienna Sheel Kant Sharma has already spoken to Al Baradei about Kakodkar's visit.
Kakodkar's meeting with Al Baradei will take place a day ahead of the regular board meeting of the Vienna-based body.
Mumbai (IANS) By 2025, an estimated 3.5 billion people will live in areas facing severe water shortages - and providing them potable water would be a challenge that may be best met by nuclear-powered desalination.
This was one of the solutions presented at the recent Trombay Symposium on Desalination and Water Reuse here.
This and other solutions discussed at the symposium have been published in a special issue of the International Journal of Nuclear Desalination.
Rare and expensive
Climate change and desertification are already taking their toll on fresh water supplies. And in India, the rising population as well as rapid agricultural and industrial expansion will soon make water a rare and expensive commodity.
Calling for a holistic approach to cope with freshwater needs, Pradip Tewari of the Desalination Division at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre said: "The contribution of seawater and brackish water desalination would play an important role in augmenting the freshwater needs of the country.
Energy-intensive
"Desalination is an energy-intensive process. Over the long term, desalination with fossil energy sources would not be compatible with sustainable development," said Meenakshi Jain of Environmental Services and Positive Climate Care, a Jaipur-based company.
Jain emphasised a sustainable, non-polluting solution to water shortages.
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