NUCLEAR SECURITY IN INDIA

INDIA SCORES LOW ON NUCLEAR SECURITY: US STUDY

The Economic Times, January 15, 2012

NEW DELHI: Weeks ahead of the nuclear security summit in Seoul, India has been dealt a blow on its famed nuclear reputation. In the first-ever index of security of nuclear materials, India almost brings out the rear - just above Iran, Pakistan and North Korea.

The index, compiled by a US nuclear think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), "is the first Nuclear Materials Security Index, a rating and ranking of the security framework in 32 nations that possess one kilogram or more of weapons-usable nuclear materials."

In its summary, the study says this index "is not a facility-by-facility review of "guns, guards, and gates". Instead, the authors of the study say they assessed each state on "publicly available indicators of a state's nuclear materials security practices and conditions". The index is an embarrassment as India is hosting the sherpas for the nuclear security summit in New Delhi on Monday. India takes a leading position on nuclear security issues, and is also scheduled to establish a centre of excellence for nuclear security in Haryana.

While many in the Indian nuclear sector may scoff at the index, it is being used as a pressure point - the think-tank is even asking Australia to reconsider its decision to sell uranium to India because of New Delhi's score. Australia and the UK have the highest scores in the index.

Countries were scored on the following indicators: quantities and sites, which included material production and transportation; security measures, particularly on-site protection; accession to global norms, including taking on voluntary commitments; domestic commitments and capacity.

The last may prove to be a trifle controversial because it judges countries on "societal factors", which include political instability and corruption.

(...) [artículo aquí]