India expands nuclear weapons site: US think tank

Published December 5, 2013
— File photo
— File photo

WASHINGTON: India has expanded a secretive site that could be used to enrich more uranium for nuclear weapons, a US think tank said Wednesday, citing satellite imagery.

The Institute for Science and International Security, a private group opposed to nuclear proliferation, said that India appeared to be finishing a second gas centrifuge facility at its Rare Materials Plant near the southern city of Mysore.

“This new facility could significantly increase India's ability to produce highly enriched uranium for military purposes, including more powerful nuclear weapons,” the institute said in a report that analysed an image taken in April.

The institute said that India started building a second centrifuge plant near Mysore in 2010, but it was unclear whether it was a replacement for the first facility at the site or a supplement.

If it is a new facility, “India could have more than doubled its enrichment capacity, if the original building continues to function as an enrichment plant,” it said.

India closely guards its nuclear sites and says little about them publicly.

In the past, India has complained about footage of sensitive infrastructure taken by commercial satellite services such as Google Earth.

Indian officials have reportedly said that highly enriched uranium from Mysore would fuel its new nuclear-powered submarines.

India's nuclear weapons program has traditionally been based on plutonium, not uranium.

India carried out nuclear tests in 1998, and historic rival Pakistan quickly followed suit.

India's program is not subject to international restrictions or inspections as it is one of the few nations, along with Israel, North Korea and Pakistan, to reject the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which New Delhi says is discriminatory.

However, India's international isolation ended through a 2008 cooperation deal with the United States, where both President George W. Bush and his successor Barack Obama have agreed that the world's largest democracy is a responsible nuclear power.

Opinion

Editorial

Time to deliver
Updated 11 Nov, 2024

Time to deliver

Pakistan must display a serious commitment to climate change adaptation and mitigation at home.
Smaller government
11 Nov, 2024

Smaller government

THE IMF bailout programme has put the government under pressure to curtail its spending, especially current...
Unsafe inheritance
11 Nov, 2024

Unsafe inheritance

DESPITE regulations, the troubling practice of robbing women of their rightful inheritance — the culprits are ...
Quetta bombing
Updated 10 Nov, 2024

Quetta bombing

THERE appears to be no end to the stream of violent incidents occurring in Balochistan, indicating a clear failure ...
Burdened courts
10 Nov, 2024

Burdened courts

ACCORDING to recent reports, the new chief justice has set about implementing a recently adopted plan for clearing...
Playing in Pakistan
10 Nov, 2024

Playing in Pakistan

MOHSIN Naqvi, Pakistan’s cricket chief, has shown a brave face. Now he has to be unrelenting and put the onus on...