Task force on Indias nuclear stand did not review 123-agreement, says Pranab

A task force which was set up to review Indias existing positions on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation issues has submitted its report to Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.

New Delhi, Nov 22 : A task force which was set up to review India's existing positions on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation issues has submitted its report to Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.

This was stated by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Rajya Sabha today.

The task force was assigned to make recommendation in the light of India's status as a nuclear-weapon state, country's security interests, present international realities and possible developments.

The Minister stated that it was not mandated to deal with the issues related to the 123 Agreement with the United States.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has stated that the country has formulated a three-stage nuclear power programme to optimally use its modest uranium and vast thorium resources to fulfil the increasing energy requirements of the country.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the PMO, Prithviraj Chavan said that large scale thorium utilization is contemplated in the third stage of this programme, where uranium - 233 bred in fast breeder reactors of the second stage, will be used together with thorium.

Chavan enlisted a number of steps taken by the Indian Government to develop appropriate technologies for the utilization of thorium that included, setting up the research reactor Kamini at Kalpakkam using uranium-233 fuel obtained from irradiated thorium, irradiation of thorium fuel bundles in research reactor at Trombay and in Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), and design and development of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) using thorium based fuel.

Pre-licensing safety review of AHWR has been completed by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), he added.

ANI