The device unveiled on Thursday has no hard disk, using a memory card instead, like a mobile phone, and can run on solar power, according to reports. Mr Sibal said the Indian tablet, said to run the Linux operating system, was expected to be introduced to higher education institutions next year. But there was disappointment after the "Sakshat" turned out to be a prototype of a handheld device, with an unspecified price tag, that never materialised. To develop its latest gadget, the ministry said it had turned to the elite Indian Institute of Technology, and the Indian Institute of Science, after a lacklustre response from the private sector.
Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, said the device was feasible because of falling hardware costs. Safety assessments of the PFBR design started in Construction finally started in October in a prominent function involving then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiling a foundation stone. With the start of construction, the mood was jubilant.
That was the last time there was any announcement about successfully meeting a scheduled deadline. Instead, what we have seen are announcements that are a bit like a strip tease, with promises of imminent project completion moving forward a little at a time. It is almost like the officials are worried that the public cannot handle the truth, as Jack Nicholson was to tell Tom Cruise in the movie, A Few Good Men.
So, they push the date for completion forward, little by little. Below is an incomplete, but yet long, list of such announcements. It is somewhat repetitive, but is worth reproducing in such detail only because it makes obvious the evident falsehoods, contradictions, and misleading promises made by officials:. Doubtlessly, in , we will see more such announcements of the imminent criticality and commissioning of the PFBR. And although one of these announcements will eventually come true, the history so far is sufficient to demonstrate the extent of the trustworthiness of the DAE.
The official answer to why the PFBR been delayed has shifted over time. After that phase, there was a round of pointing to the Fukushima accident or incident , the euphemism used to make the meltdowns of multiple reactors seem like a minor event. An enduring theme has been the idea that the PFBR was the first of its kind reactor and thus there were many slippages in industries delivering various components which brings up an obvious question: was it not known that it was the first of its kind when they started?
A more recent set of revelations suggest that there were problems that had to do with the molten sodium used to cool the reactor, specifically the pumps used to circulate the sodium. The lack of finance has been ruled out as a reason for the delay. As of November , the sodium loaded into the reactor was being drained out. The reactor cannot be started till this has been reloaded and the pumps operated successfully. The problems of sodium should have been foreseen.
There is a long history of sodium cooled reactors suffering from various operational difficulties ; such difficulties can be expected to continue in the case of the PFBR even after the reactor has been made operational.
There is another reason, or set of reasons, that must have played some part in causing the delay: problems with plutonium or converting it into the special mixed oxide fuel that is used in the PFBR. But this is not openly talked about, and needs some reading between the lines. For a reactor that was supposed to have come online in , being allocated fuel years later sounds like the admission of a problem with fuel availability. Note the absence in these announcements of the critical word: plutonium.
Could the delay in the PFBR be a result of putting plutonium to other uses for the material? We will likely never know.
To better contextualize this question, one might go back to a interview with Anil Kakodkar, then-secretary of the DAE, when the US-India nuclear deal was being fiercely debated. A central demand from U. In an unprecedented step, Kakodkar gave a series of media interviews where he intervened in policy issues being negotiated by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Ministers Office. One of these interviews is with senior journalist Pallava Bagla:.
What Kakodkar was saying, in essence, was that the PFBR is linked in some fashion to the nuclear weapons programme. The only logical connection from a technical standpoint is the possibility that the PFBR, and breeder reactors like it, can be a source of plutonium, once it is operational. Article IV The Government of India undertake to bear claims, if any arise, against the Japanese director and teaching and technical staff resulting from, occurring in the course of, or otherwise connected with the bona fide discharge of their functions in India covered by this Agreement.
Article V 1 The Government of India undertake to provide at their own expense: a an Indian director and requisite Indian technical and administrative staff, as listed in Annexure IV; b requisite buildings as listed in Annexure V as well as land and incidental facilities required therefor; c raw materials, replacements of machinery, equipment and tools, and any other materials necessary for the operation of the Centre; d suitable furnished accommodation and transportation facilities for the Japanese director and teaching and technical staff.
Article VI The Japanese director shall be responsible for the technical matters pertaining to the functions of the Centre referred to in Article 1, while the Indian director shall function as his counterpart in these technical matters and shall in addition be responsible for the administrative matters pertaining to the functions of the Centre. Article VII Both Governments agree that there shall be mutual consultation for the purpose of advancing the objectives of the Centre and of successfully promoting Indo-Japanese cooperation in operating the Centre.
New Delhi, the 25th January, Sir, I have the honour to refer to the Agreement concern the r Small Establishment of Prototype Production and Training Centre FOR SMALL SCALE industeries between the Government of Japan and the Government of India signed today and to confirm the following understanding reached between the representatives of the two Governments concerning the articles referred to in Article III of the Agreement hereinafter called "the Articles" : 1 The Government of Japan will take necessary measures to vest in the Government of India as a free gift, the ownership of the articles,, when a legislation which will enable such transfer of ownership, will come into force.
Accept, Sir, the assurances of my high consideration. Accept, Mr. Ambassador, the assurances of my high consideration.
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