Indian nukes open to theft, sabotage

Naveed Miraj Updated on 11/9/2001 12:17:20 PM

ISLAMABAD: India could become the first country to give concrete form to the threat of nuclear terrorism, as its assets are prone to become accessible to terrorists, suggest a study carried out by Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad.

The study carried out by the Institute’s chairman Dr Shireen Mazari and researcher Maria Sultan take into account a number of factors that play a role in making nuclear assets unsafe and prone to falling in the hands of terrorists.

Study says that although terrorism has become an increasing concern within international society but so far there has been less focus on one particular aspect of the problem - that is nuclear terrorism.

Yet, within the context of South Asia this is of special significance, given the number of insurgencies and freedom struggles with trans-national linkages, and the nuclearisation of this region since 1998.

Of all the South Asian states, India’s nuclear facilities are perhaps the most vulnerable to nuclear terrorism, given India’s expansive nuclear programme, much of it not subject to IAEA safeguards.

In addition, the vulnerability of India’s nuclear facilities is further aggravated by its thriving underworld and over a dozen insurgencies going on within the Indian states, as well as the freedom struggle in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

To examine the case of India within these parameters, the study identified three dimensions to it: One, nuclear theft; two, leakage at nuclear facilities; three, hazards prevailing at the base of the nuclear cycle, e.g.

uranium mining.

The study reveals that India’s nuclear programme has developed too quickly and without being assimilated within proper safeguards.

The problem has been further aggravated because of India’s rejection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

Other than a total lack of accountability, the wide dispersal of un-safeguarded nuclear facilities within India exposes that many population centres to the hazards arising out of radiation leakage from faulty structures and mechanisms, in addition to the wilful misuse of stolen nuclear material and crudely made nuclear devices, for sabotage purposes.

The lack of safety features In the uranium mining ventures has endangered a whole chunk of Indian citizens.

The fact that they happen to be Dalits is highly destabilizing within the Indian political context.

Again, the lure of financial rewards seems to have allowed some in the nuclear scientific community to be led astray - hence the threat of saleable expertise in India, to any group or country willing to pay the price, has become acute.

Given the on-going insurgencies within the Indian state - especially in the northeast - and the political violence in states like Bihar, the nuclear cycle components in these regions become prone to becoming accessible to terrorists - not only as sources of theft of radioactive materials but also as targets of sabotage.

The study suggests that India really needs to go in for IAEA safeguards on its civilian facilities.

It also needs to take stock of the prevailing problems in has faced in its nuclear installations and mining enterprises, so that a more viable system of protection from terrorism is put in place, before it embarks on future ventures.

The study finally concludes that, it is also becoming increasingly evident that the existing international conventions on nuclear safety do not deal with problems of safety, of the design of reactors, of minimum safety conditions to govern mining of radioactive substances, and the possibility of nuclear theft.

Yet it is these issues that may add to the threat of international terrorism becoming ever more lethal.

In the case of India, the danger to the region from its unstable, un-safeguarded nuclear facilities makes the nuclear threat more acute -not only in terms of a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India, but also in terms of nuclear terrorism from national or trans-national groups based in India and relying on clandestine material stolen from these Indian facilities.

of this region since 1998.

Of all the South Asian states, India’s nuclear facilities are perhaps the most vulnerable to nuclear terrorism, given India’s expansive nuclear programme, much of it not subject to IAEA safeguards.

In addition, the vulnerability of India’s nuclear facilities is further aggravated by its thriving underworld and over a dozen insurgencies going on within the Indian states, as well as the freedom struggle in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

To examine the case of India within these parameters, the study identified three dimensions to it: One, nuclear theft; two, leakage at nuclear facilities; three, hazards prevailing at the base of the nuclear cycle, e.g.

uranium mining.

The study reveals that India’s nuclear programme has developed too quickly and without being assimilated within proper safeguards.

The problem has been further aggravated because of India’s rejection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

Other than a total lack of accountability, the wide dispersal of un-safeguarded nuclear facilities within India exposes that many population centres to the hazards arising out of radiation leakage from faulty structures and mechanisms, in addition to the wilful misuse of stolen nuclear material and crudely made nuclear devices, for sabotage purposes.

The lack of safety features In the uranium mining ventures has endangered a whole chunk of Indian citizens.

The fact that they happen to be Dalits is highly destabilizing within the Indian political context.

Again, the lure of financial rewards seems to have allowed some in the nuclear scientific community to be led astray - hence the threat of saleable expertise in India, to any group or country willing to pay the price, has become acute.

Given the on-going insurgencies within the Indian state - especially in the northeast - and the political violence in states like Bihar, the nuclear cycle components in these regions become prone to becoming accessible to terrorists - not only as sources of theft of radioactive materials but also as targets of sabotage.

The study suggests that India really needs to go in for IAEA safeguards on its civilian facilities.

It also needs to take stock of the prevailing problems in has faced in its nuclear installations and mining enterprises, so that a more viable system of protection from terrorism is put in place, before it embarks on future ventures.

The study finally concludes that, it is also becoming increasingly evident that the existing international conventions on nuclear safety do not deal with problems of safety, of the design of reactors, of minimum safety conditions to govern mining of radioactive substances, and the possibility of nuclear theft.

Yet it is these issues that may add to the threat of international terrorism becoming ever more lethal.

In the case of India, the danger to the region from its unstable, un-safeguarded nuclear facilities makes the nuclear threat more acute -not only in terms of a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India, but also in terms of nuclear terrorism from national or trans-national groups based in India and relying on clandestine material stolen from these Indian facilities.

http://frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=3&date1=11/9/2001

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 09, 2001