nbsp   Did India use a CANDU reactor in the 1970s to make an atomic bomb?
[A. CANDU Technology] [B. The Industry] [C. Cost/Benefit] [D. Safety/Liability] [E. Waste] [F. Security/Non-Proliferation] [G. Uranium] [H. Research Reactors] [I. Other R&D] [J. Further Info] This is a prevalent misconception. The issue is a 1974 atomic test explosion by India, which led to an immediate severance of international cooperation in India’s nuclear technological development that exists to this day, except for maintenance and operational issues related to safety. Similar sanctions were placed on Pakistan as well. The plutonium used in this explosion was manufactured in a small research reactor near Bombay, India, which Canada supplied as part of a larger “technology-transfer” program in the late 50’s, early 60’s. The Indian research reactor, CIRUS, was based on Canada’s NRX design, a heavy-water-moderated, light-water-cooled research reactor commissioned in 1947 at AECL Chalk River Laboratories (2 hours west of Ottawa). The main role of the NRX, which was decommissioned in t
