Issue Date: Apr 30, 2004
Uranium reserves almost over, little plutonium and chased away by people from digging new mines -- India's nuclear establishment is under tremendous pressure. By 2020, it has to prepare for the thorium-based third phase of the nuclear programme. If this doesn't begin on time, the programme would turn out to be a colossal waste of national resources since Independence. Thorium, the government says, is a boon.