NEW DELHI, JUNE 1: The Atomic Energy Commission has removed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), from the purview of the watchdog Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). The order announcing the change was issued on April 25, but was kept under wraps, fuelling speculation that the move is aimed at giving the BARC a free hand in going ahead with its programme of developing nuclear weapons.The speculation has gained further currency with the Department of Atomic Energy's latest annual report for 1999-2000 admitting for the first time that the DAE is pursuing R&D and manufacture of nuclear weapons.The section in the report on national security said a decision to this effect had been taken in the wake of the 1998 Pokharan tests.Removing the BARC from AERB's scrutiny is in keeping with the practice followed in most other nuclear weapon states, where the defence nuclear weapons establishment is not placed under any regulatory authority.This bifurcation would permit the civilian nuclear programme to allow for international safeguards and peer group reviews, without compromising the country's nuclear weapons programme in any manner.There has been a long-standing demand to keep the civilian nuclear activities apart from the military ones, in order to facilitate international cooperation in the civilian nuclear programme.The BARC would have its own parallel committee to monitor adherence to safety norms and guidelines equivalent to those prescribed by the AERB.AERB officials have said that though BARC would be outside the purview of the public watchdog body, it would stick to stringent safety and radiation exposure limits.
