Raja Ramanna was an Indian nuclear physicist. He was the director of India's nuclear program in the late 1960s and early 1970s,which culminated in Smiling Buddha,India's first successful nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974.
Anil Kakodkar,is an Indian nuclear physicist and mechanical engineer. He was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India,he was the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,Trombay from 1996 to 2000. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan,India's second highest civilian honour,on 26 January 2009.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility,headquartered in Trombay,Mumbai,Maharashtra,India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment,Trombay (AEET) in January 1954 as a multidisciplinary research program essential for India's nuclear program. It operates under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE),which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India.
Ravi B. Grover is an Indian nuclear scientist and a mechanical engineer. He is the founding vice-chancellor of the Homi Bhabha National Institute,a member of the Atomic Energy Commission,chairman of the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences,a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering,and World Academy of Art and Science. He was the president of the Indian Society of Heat and Mass Transfer for the period 2010–2013. He has been awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 2014.
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is one of India's premier nuclear research centres. It is the second largest establishment of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE),next to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),located at Kalpakkam,80 km south of Chennai,India. It was established in 1971 as an exclusive centre dedicated to the pursuit of fast reactor science and technology,due to the vision of Vikram Sarabhai. Originally,it was called Reactor Research Centre (RRC). It was renamed to Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) by the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in December 1985. The centre is engaged in broad-based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering directed towards the development of fast breeder reactor technology in India.
The advanced heavy-water reactor (AHWR) or AHWR-300 is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that burns thorium in its fuel core. It is slated to form the third stage in India's three-stage fuel-cycle plan. This phase of the fuel cycle plan was supposed to be built starting with a 300 MWe prototype in 2016.
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is an Indian government department with headquarters in Mumbai,Maharashtra,India. DAE was established in 1954 with Jawaharlal Nehru as its first minister and Homi Bhabha as its secretary.
The Atomic Energy Commission of India is the governing body of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE),Government of India. The DAE is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.
The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a 500 MWe sodium-cooled,fast breeder reactor that is being constructed at Kokkilamedu,near Kalpakkam,in Tamil Nadu state,India. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is responsible for the design of this reactor,the Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Tarapur is responsible for MOX fuel fabrication and BHEL is providing technology and equipment for construction of the reactor. The facility builds on the decades of experience gained from operating the lower power Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). At first,the reactor's construction was supposed to be completed in September 2010,but there were several delays. The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is scheduled to be put into service in December 2024,which is more than 20 years after construction began and 14 years after the original commissioning date,as of December 2023. The project's cost has doubled from ₹3,500 crore to ₹7,700 crore due to the multiple delays. The construction was completed on 4th March 2024 with commencement of core loading of the reactor hence paving the way for the eventual full utilization of India’s abundant thorium reserves.
Nuclear power is the fifth-largest source of electricity in India after coal,gas,hydroelectricity and wind power. As of November 2020,India has 23 nuclear reactors in operation in 8 nuclear power plants,with a total installed capacity of 7,380 MW. Nuclear power produced a total of 43 TWh in 2020–21,contributing 3.11% of total power generation in India. 10 more reactors are under construction with a combined generation capacity of 8,000 MW.
India's three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha,the well-known physicist,in the 1950s to secure the country's long term energy independence,through the use of uranium and thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. The ultimate focus of the programme is on enabling the thorium reserves of India to be utilised in meeting the country's energy requirements. Thorium is particularly attractive for India,as India has only around 1–2% of the global uranium reserves,but one of the largest shares of global thorium reserves at about 25% of the world's known thorium reserves. However,thorium is more difficult to use than uranium as a fuel because it requires breeding,and global uranium prices remain low enough that breeding is not cost effective.
Padmanabhan Krishnagopala Iyengar,best known as P. K. Iyengar,was an Indian nuclear physicist who is widely known for his central role in the development of the nuclear program of India. Iyengar previously served as the director of BARC and former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India,he raised his voice and opposition against the nuclear agreement between India and the United States and expressed that the deal favoured the United States.
Thorium-based nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium-233 produced from the fertile element thorium. A thorium fuel cycle can offer several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle—including the much greater abundance of thorium found on Earth,superior physical and nuclear fuel properties,and reduced nuclear waste production. One advantage of thorium fuel is its low weaponization potential. It is difficult to weaponize the uranium-233 that is bred in the reactor. Plutonium-239 is produced at much lower levels and can be consumed in thorium reactors.
Dr. Sekhar Basu was an Indian nuclear scientist who served as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India,Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). He also served as the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),the Project Director of Nuclear Submarine Program,and later as the Chief Executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board at Bhabha Atomic Research Center. He was a recipient of India's fourth highest civilian honor Padma Shri in 2014.
Chaitanyamoy Ganguly is an Indian nuclear scientist and a former head of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),credited with many innovations in the field of nuclear material science. He was honored by the government of India in 2002,with the fourth-highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
The IPHWR-700 is an Indian pressurized heavy-water reactor designed by the NPCIL. It is a Generation III reactor developed from earlier CANDU based 220 MW and 540 MW designs. It can generate 700 MW of electricity. Currently there are two units operational,6 units under construction and 8 more units planned,at a cost of ₹1.05 lakh crore (US$13 billion).
Vasudeva Kilara Iya was an Indian nuclear scientist and the First Head of the radioisotope and radiation technology programme of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and a former Group Director at BARC (1974–1987).
The IPHWR-220 is an Indian pressurized heavy-water reactor designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. It is a Generation II reactor developed from earlier CANDU based RAPS-1 and RAPS-2 reactors built at Rawatbhata,Rajasthan. It can generate 220 MW of electricity. Currently,there are 14 units operational at various locations in India. It is sometimes referred to as a small modular reactor due to its modularization.
The IPHWR is a class of Indian pressurized heavy-water reactors designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The baseline 220 MWe design was developed from the CANDU based RAPS-1 and RAPS-2 reactors built at Rawatbhata,Rajasthan. Later the design was based on VVER technology which was scaled to 540 MW and 700 MW designs. Currently there are 18 units of various types operational at various locations in India.
The Indian Pressurized Water Reactor-900 (IPWR-900) is a class of pressurized water reactors being designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in partnership with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to supplement the Indian three-stage nuclear power programme.
