The Hindu : India needs a credible nuclear deterrence: Ramanna

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 21, 2002

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India needs a credible nuclear deterrence: Ramanna

New Delhi April 20. Eminent nuclear scientist, Raja Ramanna, today said nuclear deterrence was a problem that India would have to face, particularly in the context of the threat by Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf.

Delivering the sixth `Anuvrat Trust Endowment Lecture' on the `Future of Nuclear Power' Dr. Ramanna, a Rajya Sabha member, said India needed a credible nuclear deterrence to counter the threat from military dictators, including President Musharraf, and stop them from doing whatever they liked.

He, however, said he was not sure whether India could deter military rulers from using the nuclear bomb. ``What kind of effect does this deterrence have on Generals...I have my doubts although earlier I believed in deterrence,'' he said.

``Deterrence is a problem and we have to face it, for how long I do not know. Can some of my friends tell me,'' he asked pointing out to some people sitting in the audience.

Suggesting non-use of weapons of mass destruction, he said India was against using such weapons as these would destroy the user also. ``Some countries were advising us to give up nuclear weapons but they themselves possessed these. In fact President (George) Bush had said the U.S. may have to resume testing.''

``We have developed nuclear weapons not for offensive purposes but only for defence, and we have conveyed to the world that we will not use these against anyone.''

He said India would have to shift from use of uranium to thorium in nuclear power and the world would have to construct zero-error nuclear power stations.

On the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the then Soviet Union, Dr. Ramanna said the nuclear station broke down because it was being used for dual purposes — making weapons and producing power.

``You cannot link the two. Either you produce weapons or you produce power,'' he added. — UNI

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When divinity comes to his mind

NEW DELHI APRIL 20. Raja Ramanna today said he was reminded of the divinity whenever he went to Parliament as he found no Parliament. Commenting sarcastically on the way the country's Parliament functioned, he said ``though there is no place for divinity in physics, divinity comes to my mind in Parliament.''

``I go to Parliament, and there is no Parliament,'' he said. The country was too great and too intelligent to take all this, he said hoping it would not go on for long.

Stating that Jain philosophy had a strong scientific base, he said ``we should not depend on political considerations for taking decisions but rely on powerful philosophies that make a great State.''

He said nuclear power generation had now become profit-making in the country, but political considerations sometimes spoiled the gains as provision of free or cheap electricity cut into the profits. This hinders the further development of nuclear power plants, he said.

He said India could not do without atomic energy as it was very short of electric power. While hydro resources were almost exhausted, coal resources were of very low quality with an ash content of 30-40 per cent.

Besides, the mines were in restricted areas and coal needed to be moved over long distances to get it to the fire stations in the industrial areas, he said. There were also implications on environment and health due to pollution by coal burning, he said. — PTI

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