India was one of the first countries to have a nuclear power program. It built its first research reactor in 1954. Today, India has twenty two reactors which provide about two percent of its electricity. Coal provides about sixty-nine percent and seventeen percent is provided by renewable sources.
Yesterday, I blogged about the addition of a new cruise missile to India’s nuclear arsenal. Today I am going to talk about Pakistan’s nuclear posture with respect to attacking India with nuclear weapons, its main regional rival and enemy. India and China have both stated that they will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.
India has approximately a hundred nuclear warheads and a triad of delivery systems. These weapons are intended for defense against two possible aggressors, China and Pakistan, both of which also have nuclear weapons. Recently, India began receiving fighter jets that will be able to fire nuclear cruise missiles.
A senior official of the Saudi Arabian government announced last Monday that Saudi Arabia is planning on mining and refining uranium domestically as part of the S.A. nuclear power program. Surveys of deposits of uranium in Saudi Arabia indicate that it has about sixty thousand tons of uranium ore.
When nuclear weapons are being developed, it is necessary to periodically test one to verify that the design works as intended. Since an international treaty was signed to prevent the testing of nuclear bombs above ground, nuclear armed nations have carried out nuclear tests underground. This is intended to prevent the leak of radioactive materials from the blast.
