Technology transfer
I always believe that “A little knowledge is dangerous”. Looking at only one side of the deal is not enough, for short term we have got 60 tonnes of Uranium as soon as the deal was signed which we needed badly (If some of you know that India’s two Nuclear Reactors were critically short of Uranium supply). Everybody is selfish so why can’t we, what are our priorities. Being a developing country we need energy: cheap, clean (The volume of U-235 used in the first atomic bombs could be held in your hands. The result was an explosion equivalent to 40,000 conventional bombs.)and continious. One thing I know that conventional sources are not going to help so we have following options 1) Solar energy (costly) 2) Wind energy (Needs space) 3) Nuclear energy.
Now look at developed countries, all of them have nukes but how they are using it. If I am right for Energy, Nuclear ships and Submarines. And I can predict that in near future they will be using them for space ships and transportation. That’s what India needs for the short term. Why to bring US into the picture, more than US we need fuel from Russia and Australia. I think it will be great if we can use US to serve our purpose.
As Vibha says “Plutonium Reactor” better called FBC(Fast Breeder Reactor) I want to point out that it is nothing new, infact India has FBC’s but the thing is we don’t have fuel for them. Till now the deal with US says that NSG will supply fuel for Nuclear plants under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and India will have to use their own Uranium for other Reactors. This is good because India can use that Uranium for FBC’s which inturn can be used to process Plutonium and Thorium. Another promising technological prospect is the development of the reprocessing of used uranium to obtain plutonium, which, when recycled as fuel in nuclear reactors can reduce the need for primary uranium by 30%. It is thought by some people that with the generalization of the breeder-reactor and reprocessing, the developed countries will no longer need to import natural uranium within three or four decades
Even more FBC’s gives fuel, which can be used to build Nuclear Submarines etc.
At liftoff, an orbiter and External Tank carry 835,958 gallons of the principle liquid propellants: hydrogen, oxygen, hydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, and nitrogen tetroxide. The total weight is 1,607,185 pounds. Critical mass for Uranium is roughly 5 kgs and for plutonium is 16 kgs. So if one can use nuclear fuel how light a Space shuttle will be?
One last thing which hardly anybody recognized that India has second largest reserve of Thorium in the World (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.htm) and with little help of technology there will be no stopping for India.
Now look at developed countries, all of them have nukes but how they are using it. If I am right for Energy, Nuclear ships and Submarines. And I can predict that in near future they will be using them for space ships and transportation. That’s what India needs for the short term. Why to bring US into the picture, more than US we need fuel from Russia and Australia. I think it will be great if we can use US to serve our purpose.
As Vibha says “Plutonium Reactor” better called FBC(Fast Breeder Reactor) I want to point out that it is nothing new, infact India has FBC’s but the thing is we don’t have fuel for them. Till now the deal with US says that NSG will supply fuel for Nuclear plants under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and India will have to use their own Uranium for other Reactors. This is good because India can use that Uranium for FBC’s which inturn can be used to process Plutonium and Thorium. Another promising technological prospect is the development of the reprocessing of used uranium to obtain plutonium, which, when recycled as fuel in nuclear reactors can reduce the need for primary uranium by 30%. It is thought by some people that with the generalization of the breeder-reactor and reprocessing, the developed countries will no longer need to import natural uranium within three or four decades
Even more FBC’s gives fuel, which can be used to build Nuclear Submarines etc.
At liftoff, an orbiter and External Tank carry 835,958 gallons of the principle liquid propellants: hydrogen, oxygen, hydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, and nitrogen tetroxide. The total weight is 1,607,185 pounds. Critical mass for Uranium is roughly 5 kgs and for plutonium is 16 kgs. So if one can use nuclear fuel how light a Space shuttle will be?
One last thing which hardly anybody recognized that India has second largest reserve of Thorium in the World (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.htm) and with little help of technology there will be no stopping for India.
posted by Gaurav at 1:40 PM
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