1976
India is designated as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Board of Governors for the 20th year in succession since the inception of the Agency.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.132.

14 January 1976
In an address to the Pugwash Conference in Madras, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi rebuts criticism of India's 1974 nuclear explosion and says that that India will not give up further experiments in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 15 January 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 15 January 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

31 January 1976
US Senator John Glenn reports that the Senate Government Operations committee is looking into charges that the General Electric (GE) supplied Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), pose a major radioactive danger. Dr. Steven Hanauer of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) predicts that Tarapur is a candidate for major disaster.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstarcts, 31 January 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 31 January 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

1 February 1976
The total strength of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay is 10,854 (as of this date) and comprises of 2,840 scientific, 4,859 technical, 1,187 administrative and 1,968 general maintenance and auxiliary staff.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1975-1976," p.76.

8 February 1976
The Chairman of the Indian Atomic Power Authority, J.C. Shah, denies "radioactivity peril from the Tarapur power plant."
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 8 February 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 8 February 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

February 1976
The Unit-1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) is shut down due to problems in the low pressure turbine. The Unit was resynchronized to the grid just two months earlier in December 1975.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1975-1976," p.8.

10 March 1976
Canada agrees to resume nuclear aid to India based on a repeated Indian pledge that the three reactors to be supplied by Canada will not be used in developing an explosive device. An official source notes that the agreement does not prevent India from exploding a device after the nuclear aid project ends [It is ambiguous what the nuclear aid exactly refers to].
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 10 March 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 10 March 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

31 March 1976
A facility for reprocessing off-grade zircaloy scrap back to reactor grade zirconium sponge, adopting a pyro-metallurgical route is successfully commissioned at the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) in Hyderabad. As of this date, nearly 18.379 tons of scrap has been reprocessed. Recycling is not practiced by any of the known sponge producers abroad.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1975-1976," p.104.

3 April 1976
The US State Department continues to pursue "low-key" dialogue with the Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) regarding India's adherence to the London Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines covering exports of sensitive materials. Yet, as of the present time, India still has not responded to US Secretary of State Kissinger's private 1974 proposal for serious dialogue on nuclear exports.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.198.

12 April 1976
The Unit-1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) is recommissioned after a shut-down of nearly two months for the replacement of some blades in the low pressure rotor.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.120.

April-May 1976
A delegation from the German Democratic Republic visits India to identify areas for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to draw up a working plan.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.132.

April-June 1976
A total of 17.4 tons of depleted UO2 powder is produced by the Nuclear Fuel Complex's (NFC) Uranium Oxide Plant in Hyderabad and is supplied to the Ceramic Fuel Fabrication Plant (CFFP) for meeting the initial charge requirements of the Unit-2 reactor at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS). The CFFP has already fabricated and supplied around 700 fuel assemblies containing depleted UO2 for the start up of RAPS Unit-2.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.123.

April-August 1976
The Unit-1 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) operates at 180-190 MW during this time period.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.118.

18 May 1976
Canadian Foreign Secretary Allan MacEachen announces that Canada has decided to make permanent its suspensions of nuclear cooperation with India. The nuclear cooperation between the two countries was suspended in May 1974, when India exploded a nuclear device made from plutonium from a small Canadian-supplied pilot reactor.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 19 May 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 19 May 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com; The New York Times (1857-Current file) 19 May 1976, in ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The New York Times (1851-2003), 19 May 1976, http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb.

20 May 1976
India assails Canada for having "turned its back," on a long-negotiated settlement of nuclear matters between the two countries. Foreign Minister Yeshwantaro B. Chavan addresses parliament and says that his government is "disappointed that after two years of strenuous negotiations, when a detailed understanding had been reached, the Canadian government should have unilaterally taken the step to terminate nuclear cooperation."
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 22 May 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 22 May 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

20 June 1976
The Indian press agency- Samachar, reports that India is currently building two new plants for the purposes of recovering plutonium from nuclear reactor waste, and is also expanding its Plutonium Reprocessing Plant at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay. India wants to expand its capacity to produce plutonium for use in breeder power reactors.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 20 June 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 20 June 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

11 July 1976
The Chairman of the Indian Atomic Power Authority J.C. Shah suggests that India will have to consider alternative sources if the United States does not resume regular supplies of enriched uranium for the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) in accordance with the 1963 agreement. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has sent nine tons of enriched uranium, enough to last for six months. The shipments had been held up because of objections raised by environmentalists in the Tarapur area.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 11 July 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 11 July 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

27 July 1976
The Unit-2 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is shut down for its fourth refueling.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.118.

28 October 1976
US President Gerald Ford issues a major statement regarding a significant change in US nuclear policy. The change calls for halting reprocessing of spent fuel "unless there is sound reason to conclude that the world community can effectively overcome the associated risks of proliferation." Internationally, the United States will pursue strengthening of export controls, safeguards, and other measures to minimize the risks of proliferation. Thus, US nonproliferation policy will be tightened significantly.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) pp. 198-199.

October-November 1976
The Unit-1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) achieves a continuous outage-free operation during this time span. This is one example of the considerable improvement in the operation of RAPS Unit-1.
-Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.120.

9 December 1976
US officials report that the USSR has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it will sell India 200 tons of heavy water for use in its (India's) nuclear energy program. They also mention that the heavy water sold will be safeguarded.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 9 December 1976, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 9 December 1976, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

December 1976
The load on the Unit-1 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is reduced to a level of 135 MWe, due to the end-of-cycle fuel conditions.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.118.

1977
India is designated to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Board of Governors, for the 21st year in succession since the inception of the agency. India’s inclusion in the board is based on its position as one of the nine most advanced member-countries in the area of nuclear technology.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: "1977-1978," p.10.

1977
The Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) begins work on the 100-MW R-5 (Dhruva) plutonium production reactor at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay. This pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) is being built to supplement the smaller and aging Canadian-Indian Reactor, US (CIRUS) that produced plutonium used in the Pokhran blast.
--Geroge Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.201.

Early 1977
India seeks the remaining 75 percent of the 200-tons of heavy water that the Soviet Union committed to provide in September 1976. (Twenty-five percent was immediately shipped without a formal safeguards agreement.) The heavy water will help India start the second pressurized heavy water reactor at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS). The Soviet Union is demanding that India accept safeguards on the reactor in perpetuity, on any plutonium produced within it, and in whichever facilities this plutonium might be introduced. The aim is to ensure that the heavy water will not be diverted to help in the production of plutonium for explosive purposes.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley,CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.201.

February 1977
The Unit-2 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) achieves a monthly capacity factor of 94%, the highest in the last six years of operation.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.118.

3 February 1977
The Unit-1 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is shut down for its fourth refueling and maintenance.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.118.

28 February 1977
As of this date, the total strength of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay is 11,462. This total comprises of 3,007 scientific, 5,056 technical, 1,195 administrative and 2,204 general maintenance and auxiliary staff.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1976-1977," p.79.

24 March 1977
India’s new prime minister, Morarji Desai, addresses his first press conference in which he states that "...the government did not believe in nuclear weapons" and that he doubted "the necessity of peaceful nuclear explosions."
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.201.

29 March-23 April 1977
The Unit-1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) endures its first long shut down of the year. This shut down is due to the failure of moderator heat exchanger tubes.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.95.

April 1977
Prime Minister Desai tells a West German interviewer, "I will give it to you in writing that we will not manufacture nuclear weapons. Even if the whole world arms itself with the bombs we will not do so." He also says that if the internal pressure to build nuclear weapons became too strong, he would resign.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.201.

April 1977
India participates in the International Conference on Transfer of Nuclear Technology held in Shiraz, Iran. This conference is organized by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," pp. 10, 109.

20 April 1977
Prime Minister Desai says that India will sign the nonproliferation treaty only if present nuclear powers destroy their arsenals. He also holds that India has no nuclear arms and that its technology is devoted to peaceful purposes.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 20 April 1977, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 20 April 1977, http://web.lexis-nexis.com

20 April 1977
The Unit-1 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is put back online. The refueling outage that began on February 3 was completed in a record period of 76 days, the shortest time so far.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.93.

May 1977
US President Jimmy Carter instructs the new US ambassador to India, Robert Goheen, to tell Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai that "if India would restrain from developing atomic weapons and agree to discuss nonproliferation, he would clear the pending Tarapur fuel shipment. (The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding up the transfer on nonproliferation grounds.)
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) pp. 201-202.

14 May-1 October 1977
The Unit-1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) achieves an uninterrupted run of 140 days at normal outputs. This is among the longest runs for large units in the country.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.8.

16 May 1977
Prime Minister Desai declares that if a peaceful nuclear explosion were necessary, India would do it, but openly. "We will not do it in hide and seek manner. We will tell the people [what] we are doing and let them come and witness, and the use will also be open equally to others," says Desai. He also says that "atomic weapons are no good for defence at all...they can’t ever win a war."
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.201.

Summer 1977
The Desai government assents to the safeguards demand demanded by the Soviet Union earlier during the year as a precondition for the supply of heavy water.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.201.

Summer 1977
The Carter administration explores with India the possibility of purchasing excess spent fuel from Tarapur and returning it to the United States, which was allowed under the 1963 accord. However, logistical difficulties and opposition by US environmentalists doom this transaction.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press) p.208.

28 June 1977
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues an export license authorizing shipment of reactor fuel to India. This is a result of the assurances given by Prime Minister Desai to President Carter that India will engage in nonproliferation-related discussions with the United States. More specifically, the commission approves the export of 5,573 lbs of uranium to refuel the nuclear power reactor at Tarapur.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.202; The New York Times, The Information Bank Abstracts, 30 June 1977, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 30 June 1977, http://web.lexis-nexis.com

July 1977
US President Jimmy Carter sends Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher to India in order to keep the pressure on India to keep its promise to restrain its nuclear weapons program and to engage in the nonproliferation debate.
--Raj Chengappa, "Hello, Mr. Bomb," Weapons of Peace: The Secret Story of India’s Quest to be a Nuclear Power (New Delhi, India: HarperCollins Publishers India, 2000) p.221-222.

July 1977
The Unit-1 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) achieves a monthly capacity factor of 95.1%, which is the highest since the commissioning of the reactor in 1969.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.8.

2 July 1977
The Unit-1 reactor of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) is shut down for its annual maintenance. This is the second of two long shut downs of this unit during 1977.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," pp. 8, 95.

4 July 1977
Production of heavy water begins at the Baroda Heavy Water Plant in Gujarat.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.100.

13 July 1977
Prime Minister Desai participates in question time in the Lok Sabha [lower house of parliament] and denies that India has accepted full-scope safeguards and a ban on the reprocessing of spent fuel from all reactors, not only the two at Tarapur, in return for resumption of US fuel supplies.
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.202.

13 July 1977
The prime minister is also asked whether India pledged not to undertake further peaceful nuclear explosions. He responds to this question by saying that "the explosion that was made here for peaceful purposes¬---as it was claimed--has been misunderstood. And, therefore, it created all these difficulties. There is no question of any other explosion now for peaceful purposes. And this has been cleared out in our talks. Therefore, this is not going to arise now."
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.202.

Mid-August 1977
The load capacity of the Unit-2 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is reduced to about 65% capacity in order to stretch out the fuel cycles due to the shortage of spent fuel storage space. The reactor had been operating at over 90% capacity prior to this reduction.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.93.

September 1977
The Uranium Oxide Plant located at the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) in Hyderabad achieves full capacity. --Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.98.

8 September 1977
Employees of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) go on strike. The maintenance work being done on the Unit-1 reactor (began on July 2) is left incomplete.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.95.

3 December 1977
A series of explosions and fire cause closure of the Boroda Heavy Water Plant in Gujarat. The Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) says that 20 people are injured as a result of the explosions and fire and that the facility is closed indefinitely.
--The New York Times, Information Bank Abstracts, 5 December 1977, in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 5 December 1977, http://web.lexis-nexis.com; Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.8.

5 December 1977
The Unit-2 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) of the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) is shut down for refueling.
--Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, "Annual Report: 1977-1978," p.93.

22 December 1977
Prime Minister Desai continues his rejection of further nuclear explosions when he addresses the Rajya Sabha [upper house of parliament] and tells house members that India is committed "not to explode any nuclear device for peaceful purposes or make any nuclear weapons."
--George Perkovich, "The Nuclear Program Stalls," India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999) p.203.

	Updated November 2006