Government of IndiaDepartment of Atomic Energy

September, 2003

Atomic Energy in India:A Perspective

FUEL TUBE

BeO MODERATOR

BeO REFLECTOR

GRAPHITE REFLECTORREACTOR REGULATINGSYSTEM

HEAT PIPE

DOWNCOMER TUBE

INNER VESSEL

HEAT PIPES

UPPER PLENUMPASSIVE HEATREMOVAL SYSTEMREACTOR REGULATINGSYSTEMRADIAL HEAT PIPE

GAS-GAPSHIGH CONDUCTIVITYSHELLSSTART-UP HEATER

Core Cross Section

“... when nuclear energy has beensuccessfully applied for powerproduction, in say, a couple of decadesfrom now, India will not have to lookabroad for its experts, but will find themready at hand ...”

Homi J. Bhabha

The logo of DAE selected for its golden jubilee(August 2003 to August 2004) celebrations.

The reactor dome with greenery in the foregrounddepicts nuclear power as a clean and environment

friendly source; five human figures on the dome aresymbolic of growth and prosperity of the nationand enhancement in quality of life of the peopleaccrued from the research & development work

being pursued in the Department.

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In the early forties, atomic energy was the sun-rise technology, and the world was seeingatom as a future source of energy. Owing to the potential applications of atomic energy in manyareas of human activities, atom was also seen as a saviour of mankind.

To harness atomic energy for peaceful purposes, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)was formed in 1954. Since then, the it has been engaged in the development of nuclear powertechnology, applications of the radiation technologies in the fields of agriculture, medicine,industry, and basic research.

THE BEGINNING

“....... within the next couple of decades atomic energy would play an important part in theeconomy and the industry of countries and that, if India did not wish to fall even furtherbehind the industrially advanced countries of the world, it would be necessary to take moreenergetic measures to develop this branch of science.”

Homi BhabhaApril 26, 1948

THE ORGANISATION

ATOMIC ENERGYCOMMISSION

DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

ATOMIC ENERGYREGULATORY BOARD

R&D CENTRES INDUSTRIALORGANISATIONS

PUBLIC SECTORUNDERTAKINGS

SERVICEORGANISATIONS

Heavy Water Board,Mumbai

Nuclear Fuel Complex,Hyderabad

Board of Radiation &Isotope Technology,

Mumbai

Nuclear Power Corp. ofIndia Ltd., Mumbai

Indian Rare Earths Ltd.,Mumbai

Uranium Corp. of IndiaLtd., Jaduguda

Electronics Corp. of IndiaLtd., Hyderabad

Directorate of Purchase& Stores, Mumbai

Directorate ofConstruction, Services &

Estate Management,Mumbai

General ServicesOrganisation, Kalpakkam

Board of Research inNuclear Sciences

National Board of HigherMathematics

AIDE

DIN

STIT

UTI

ON

S

Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Mumbai

Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata

Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar

Institute for PlasmaResearch,

Ahmedabad

Harish-Chandra ResearchInstitute, Allahabad

Institute of MathematicalSciences, Chennai

Atomic Energy EducationSociety, Mumbai

Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre, Mumbai

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,

Kalpakkam

Centre for AdvancedTechnology, Indore

Variable Energy CyclotronCentre, Kolkata

Atomic Minerals Directoratefor Exploration & Research,

Hyderabad

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The Department, now an integrated group of organizations, comprises five Research Cen-tres, three Industrial Organisations, four Public Sector Undertakings, and three ServiceOrganisations. It has two Boards that promote, extra-mural activities by way of financial sup-port, research in nuclear and allied fields, and mathematics.

It also supports seven institutes of international repute engaged in research in basic sci-ences, astronomy, astrophysics, cancer research and education, etc., and a Society that pro-vides educational facilities to the children of DAE employees.

Within a decade of launching its atomic energy programme, India became one of the first tenmost advanced countries in this new and complex technology. The country achieved the distinc-tion of commissioning Asia’s first research reactor Apsara in 1956. This reactor was builtindigenously, excepting for the fuel elements which were suppplied by the United Kingdom.With the confidence gained from this achievement, Dr. Bhabha drew up a three stage long-termnuclear power programme for India. The objective was that nuclear power development shouldreach a level such that power from nuclear energy should contribute significantly to the electric-ity needs for industrial and agricultural growth of the country.

In the short span of a decade, India had established comprehensive R&D facilities for theentire nuclear fuel cycle – right from prospecting, mining and processing of uranium, fabricationof fuel, production of heavy water, design, construction and operation of power reactors, repro-cessing of spent fuel, fast breeder reactors using plutonium based fuel, to radioactive wastemanagement, and health and safety. India has also developed the technology of radioisotopesand their utilisation in agriculture, medicine and industry.

The Old Yacht ClubBuilding -- the birth

place of theDepartment of Atomic

Energy

! The first stage comprises setting up of pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) andassociated fuel cycle facilities.! The second stage envisages setting up of fast breeder reactors (FBRs) backed by repro-cessing plants and plutonium-based fuel fabrication plants.! The third stage will be based on the thorium-uranium-233 cycle. Uranium-233 is obtainedby irradiation of thorium.

NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME – STAGE IHigher Share for Nuclear Power

Competitive Capacity AdditionSustain and Improve Capacity Utilisation

Move towards Financing Capability through Internal Resource GenerationSustained Excellence in Safety Performance

!NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME – STAGE II

Commercial Demonstration of Fast Breeder TechnologyEarly setting up of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) and associated

Fuel Cycle PlantsAdvanced Fuel Cycle with Higher Breeding Gain

!NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME – STAGE III

Technology Demonstration for Large Scale Thorium UtilisationAdvanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)

Technology Road Map on Shaping the Third Stage

!RADIATION TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

Deployment Over Large ScaleDesalination of WaterNuclear Agriculture

Radiation Processing of Food, Industrial and Medical ProductsHealth Care and other Industrial Applications

!RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Broad based R&D in Nuclear Sciences and Technologiesinvolving scientific groups within DAE and outside including

Universities

!RESEARCH EDUCATION LINKAGE

Mutual strengthening of Education and Research inNuclear Sciences and Technologies and allied disciplines

Major Programmes

GULMARGHigh Altitude ResearchLaboratory (BARC)

RAWATBHATTA*Rajasthan Atomic PowerStation 1-4 (NPCIL)*Rajasthan Atomic Power Project 5&6 (NPCIL)*Heavy Water Plant-Kota (HWB)*RAPCOF (BRIT)

KAKRAPARKakrapar Atomic PowerStation (NPCIL)

NAVI MUMBAI*Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology (HQ)*Radio pharmaceutical Laboratories (BRIT)*Radiation Processing Plant (BRIT)*Beryllium Plant (BARC)*Electron Beam Centre (BARC)*ACTREC

KAIGA*Kaiga Atomic PowerStation 1&2 (NPCIL)*Kaiga Atomic PowerProject 3&4 (NPCIL)

CHAVARAMinerals Separation Plant (IRE)

PALAYAKAYALNew Zirconium Sponge Plant (NFC)

CHENNAI*Institute of Mathematical Sciences

KALPAKKAM*Madras Atomic Power Station (NPCIL)*Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research*PFBR Project (IGCAR)*Nuclear Desalination Plant (BARC)*Kalpakkam Fuel Reprocessing Plant (BARC)*General Services Organisation

MANUGURUHeavy Water Plant (HWB)

HYDERABAD*Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (HQ)*Nuclear Fuel Complex (HQ)*Jonaki Laboratory (BRIT)*Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration & Research (HQ)*Centre for Compositional Characterisation of Materials (BARC)

TALCHERHeavy Water Plant (HWB)

BHUBANESWARInstitute of Physics

CHHATRAPUROrissa Sand Complex /Thorium Plant (IRE)

DELHIRadio pharmaceutical Laboratories (BRIT)

NARORANarora Atomic Power Station (NPCIL)

ALLAHABADHarish-Chandra Research Institute

JADUGUDA/BHATIN*Uranium Corporation of India Limited (HQ)*Uranium Mill & Mines (UCIL)

NARWAPAHARUranium Mine (UCIL)

TURAMDIHUranium Mine (UCIL)

KOLKATA*Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre*Regional Radiation Medicine Centre (VECC)*Radio pharmaceutical Laboratory (BRIT)*Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

DIBRUGARHRadio-ImmunoassayCentre (BRIT)

Atomic Energy Establishments in IndiaSRINAGARNuclear ResearchLaboratory(BARC)

KASANSeismic Array Station (BARC)

MOUNT ABUGurushikher Observatoryfor Astrophysical Sciences (BARC)

INDORECentre for Advanced Technology

BARODAHeavy Water Plant (HWB)

AHMEDABADInstitute for Plasma Research

HAZIRAHeavy Water Plant(HWB)

TARAPUR*Tarapur AtomicPower Station (NPCIL)*Tarapur Atomic Power Project 3&4 (NPCIL)*WIP / SSSF (BARC)*Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant (BARC)*Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility(BARC)

MUMBAI*Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd.(HQ)*Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (HQ)*Heavy Water Board (HQ)*ISOMED Plant (BRIT)*Bhabha Atomic Research Centre*Radiation Medicine Centre (BARC)*BRNS / NBHM (HQ)*DPS / DCS&EM (HQ)*TIFR / TMC / AEES (HQ)

THALHeavy Water Plant (HWB)

NASIKKRUSHAK (BARC)

GAURIBIDANURSeismic Station(BARC)

MYSORERare Metal Plant (BARC)

BANGALORERadio pharmaceuticalLaboratories (BRIT)

KOLLAMLow Radiation ResearchLaboratory (BARC)

UDYOGMANDAL (ALWAYE)Rare Earths Plant (IRE)

TUTICORINHeavy Water Plant (HWB)

KUDANKULAMKudankulam Atomic Power Project (NPCIL)

MANAVALAKURUCHIMinerals Separation Plant (IRE)

ACTREC - Advanced Centre for TrainingResearch & Education in Cancer

AEES - Atomic Energy Education SocietyBRNS - Board of Research in Nuclear

SciencesDCS&EM - Directorate of Construction,

Services & Estate ManagementDPS - Directorate of Purchase &

StoresNBHM - National Board for Higher

MathematicsSSSF - Solid Storage Surveillance FacilityTIFR - Tata Institute of Fundamental

ResearchTMC - Tata Memorial CentreWIP - Waste Immobilisation Plant

BANDUHURANGUranium Mine (UCIL)

R&D Centres Public Sector Undertakings Industrial Organisations Service OrganisationsAided Institutions

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India has limited uranium but vast thorium reserves which are one of the world’s largest.The Indian Nuclear Power Programme is geared towards using these reserves. This 3-stageprogramme covers building of pressurised heavy water reactors, fast breeder reactors andthorium based reactors, on commercial scale. The programme also includes technology devel-opment relating to spent fuel reprocessing, waste management, safety and environment moni-toring.

DAE has achieved comprehensive capability in the design, construction and operation ofpressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR). The design of 220 MWe PHWR was standardisedlong back, and scaled to 540 MWe capacity. A fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) has beensuccessfully built and operated, and based on the experience gained from this, the manufactur-ing technology development of a 500 megawatt breeder reactor has been completed. Con-struction of the 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) is soon to commence. Strideshave also been taken towards the development of thorium based reactors.

Following is the profile of the Indian Nuclear Programme.

NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME : STAGE-1PRESSURISED HEAVY WATER REACTORS

The Indian Nuclear Power Programme took off in the sixties. PHWR was the reactor ofchoice for the first stage of the programme, however, to gain operational experience, initiallyan atomic power station consisting of two boiling water reactors, was set up at Tarapur,Maharashtra. This was a collaborative venture with the General Electric of USA. The station,commissioned in 1969, is still in operation.

The first two PHWRs, built at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan, commenced commercial productionin 1972 and 1980. These reactors were built partly with the Canadian collaboration. Subse-quently, the R&D endeavour of DAE orgnisations, with the support of the Indian industry, led tothe indigenisation of PHWR. This resulted in the successful commissioning of two 220 MWereactors at Kalpakkam near Chennai,Tamil Nadu in 1984 and 1986. Later, the design of the220 MWe PHWR was standardized and two reactors of this design were commissioned atNarora, Uttar Pradesh in 1989 and 1991. The design standardisation has markedly reducedgestation period of new reactors.

NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME

Construction work at the Tarapur project beganin October 1964 after the contract was signed

with M/s General Electric of US in May earlier.It was a turnkey contract with GE responsible

for the works. M/s Bechtel were the Archi-tect- Engineers. At the peak of construction

about 6,500 persons were at work at site.Americans numbered about 120.

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The indigenously developed technology of PHWR reached commercial maturity with thecommissioning of 2x220 PHWR at Kakrapar, Gujarat, in 1992 and 1995. In the years 1999 and2000, state-of-the-art 2x220MWe PHWR came online, each at Kaiga, Karnataka andRawatbhata, Rajasthan.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), a public sector undertaking ofDAE, is responsible for design, construction and operation of nuclear power reactors. Now, theCorporation is operating 14 nuclear power reactors, with a total installed capacity of 2720MWe. It has acquired an experience of over 200 reactor years of nuclear power plant opera-tion.

The growing experience of NPCIL in nuclear technology, has resulted in improving perfor-mance of its nuclear power plants. From a 3000 million units of electricity generation in 1981-82, the generation has reached to19,200 million units from April 2002to March 2003. The average capac-ity factor of the plants has also toucheda new high of 89%. The total gen-eration of the operating nuclear powerplants since the commencement oftheir commercial operations stands at1,85,640 million units till December2002.

When the Tarapur Atomic Power Station was commissioned in 1969, an Atomic PowerAuthority (APA) was formed to manage operating power stations. The Project Planning &Engineering Division (PPED), set up two years earlier, was entrusted with responsibility forthe PHWR programme. Each new power reactor project was placed under a board toorganise activities during the construction phase, while PPED looked after design, procure-ment and safety analysis. In 1979, APA was absorbed by PPED, which took over TAPSand all the later power stations under its wings. Subsequently, when rapid expansion of thenuclear power programme was under consideration, it was thought fit to establish a NuclearPower Board. In 1987, the Atomic Energy Act was amended to empower the CentralGovernment to develop atomic energy either by itself or through any corporation establishedby it. The Nuclear Power Corporation was then formed as a public limited company, whollyowned by the Government of India. Other than the first unit of Rajasthan Power Station, allother operating stations and construction activities came under NPCIL.

Madras Atomic Power Station, Kalpakkam

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New ProjectsA total capacity of 3960 megawatt is under construction.This comprises six PHWRs and

two pressurised water reactors.Based on the scaled up design, the first 2x540 MWe PHWR atomic power station (TAPP-

3&4) is under construction at Tarapur. The reactors are scheduled for completion by the year2005/2006. The construction works on 4x220 MWe PHWR atomic power stations at Kaiga(Kaiga-3&4) and Rawatbhata (RAPP-5&6) have commenced, with their first pours of con-crete on March 30, 2002 and September 18, 2002 respectively.

To provide a parallel stream for faster growth of nuclear power, India had entered into anagreement with the Russian Federation, for setting up an atomic power station comprising twopressurised water reactors of 1000 MWe capacity each, at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu.Construction of these reactors has begun with the first pour of the reactor concrete onMarch 31, 2002.

Plants under construction : An addition of 3960 megawatt to the present generatingcapacity

S.No. Project Location Scheduledcommercial operation

1 Tarapur Atomic Power Tarapur, TAPP 4:Apr. 2006Project 3&4 (2 x 540 MWe) Maharashtra TAPP 3 : Jan. 2007

2 Kaiga Atomic Power Kaiga, Kaiga 3: Mar. 2007Project 3&4 (2 x 220 MWe) Karnataka Kaiga 4: Sept. 2007

3 Rajasthan Atomic Power Rawatbhata, RAPP 5: Aug. 2007Project 5&6 (2 x 220 MWe) Rajasthan RAPP 6: Feb. 2008

4 Kudankulam Atomic Power Kudankulam, KK 1: Dec. 2007Project 1&2 (2x1000 MWe) Tamil Nadu KK 2: Dec. 2008

Kakrapar-1: World’s Best Performing PHWRAccording to the January 2003 issue of “COGnizant” , the monthly magazine published by

CANDU Owners Group (COG), KAPS-1 moved to first place at the end of September 2002on the basis of its Gross Capacity Factor (GCF) of 98.4% during the preceding 12 months.

The Unit-1 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Station was declared as the best performingpressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) among the 32 such type of reactors operating acrossthe world.

To set up PHWR reactors of still higher capacities, NPCIL has also completedfeasibility studies for setting up a 700 MWe PHWR.

DAE has now an ambitious nuclear power programme that aims at achieving aninstalled nuclear power capacity of 20,000 MWe by the year 2020.

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Narora Atomic Power Station,Uttar Pradesh

Kakrapar Atomic Power Station,Gujarat

Kaiga Atomic Power Station 1&2,Karnataka

Rajasthan Atomic Power Station 1-4,Rajasthan

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The Nuclear Power Programme has a number of ancillary operations, which form part ofthe Nuclear Fuel Cycle. The Front-End of the cycle includes mineral exploration, mining,milling and processing of ore, and fabrication of fuel, and the Back-End of the cycle coversreprocessing of depleted uranium fuel, and management of nuclear waste.

India has acquired comprehensive capability in the PHWR design, construction and opera-tion of associated plants/facilities covering the entire nuclear fuel cycle of the nuclear powerprogramme based on pressurised heavy water reactor. This includes production of heavywater.

The DAE organisations contributing to the Front-End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Programmeare the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Research and Exploration (AMD), Hyderabad (AndhraPradesh); Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), Jaduguda (Jharkhand); Nuclear FuelComplex (NFC), Hyderabad, and Heavy Water Board (HWB)-Mumbai. BARC and IGCARadminister the Back-End of the Cycle.

FRONT END OF NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLEHeavy Water Production

In PHWR, heavy water is used as moderator and coolant. The Heavy Water Board (HWB),Mumbai is responsible for building and operation of heavy water plants in the country.

To meet the heavy water requirements of the PHWR type nuclear power and researchreactors, 8 heavy water plants were constructed at Nangal (Panjab), Baroda (Gujarat), Talcher(Orissa), Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu), Hazira (Gujarat), Thal (Maharashtra), Kota (Rajasthan) andManuguru (Andhra Pradesh).

The Nangal Plant, owned by the National Fertilizers Ltd., was the first plant in the countryfor production of heavy water. After 40 years of operation, the plant was decommissioned inthe year 2002. The heavy water plants at Kota and Manuguru are based on indigenouslydeveloped hydrogen sulphide-water exchange process. The other heavy water plants useammonia-hydrogen exchange process.

Self-sufficiency has been achieved in the production of heavy water. Besides meeting thedomestic demand, 126 tonnes of heavy water has so far been exported to South Korea.

The first exchange tower for the Baroda plantwas of a mammoth size, about 30 metres long,had an outer diameter of 2.5 m and weighed 530tonnes. It was manufactured in France and hadto be transported all the way from there. It couldnot be brought in smaller sections and joinedtogether here, for the walls were about 30 cmthick and there was no equipment in India at thattime to check the joints after welding. A very spe-cial operation was mounted for its transportation from France. For the later plants, thetowers could be fabricated in India as the operating pressures were lower.

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The performance and safety records of allthe operating heavy water plants have remainedexcellent. The cumulative production achievedby the plants is surpassing the scheduled targets.Towards implementing energy conservationmeasures in all its plants, the multi-prongedefforts of the Heavy Water Board have resultedin continuous downward trend in the specificenergy consumption.

To delink ammonia based heavy water plants fromthe fertilizer plants, the Board has developed an energyefficient ammonia-water front-end technology whichis being deployed at Baroda Plant.

Nangal Plant, owned by the NationalFertilizers Ltd., was the first plant inthe country for production of heavywater. After 40 years of operation, theplant was decommissioned in the year2002(above). Manuguru HeavyWater Plant at Manuguru, AndhraPradesh (below). The plant is basedon indigenous technology.

Heavy Water being shipped to the Korea Electric PowerCorporation (KEPCO). So far, 126 tonnes of heavy water

has been exported by HWB.

Heavy Water UpgradingFor upgrading the degraded heavy water from research reactors, a heavy water upgrading

facility was set up at Trombay in 1962. Through continuing research, BARC has developedheavy water upgrading technology for use on commercial scale. This employs indigenouslydeveloped tower internals in vacuum distillation columns. Based on this technology, at present23 upgrading/final enrichment towers are in operation at various sites, and more are underconstruction.

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Surveys and ExplorationThe Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), Hyderabad is

engaged in the survey, exploration and evaluation of the country’s uranium, and delineation andresource-estimation of placer heavy minerals resources. AMD evaluates and recovers raremetal and rare earth minerals.

AMD has located uranium deposit at Domiasiat, Meghalaya. Sizeable uranium depositshave also been located at Wahkyn in Meghalaya, Lambapur-Yellapur and Tummalapalle inAndhra Pradesh, Turamdih, Bagjata, Kanyaluka and Mohuldih in Jharkhand, Bodal and Jajawalin Madhya Pradesh, and Rohil-Ghateshwar, Rajasthan and Gogi, Karnataka. Significanturanium mineralization has been identified at Koppunuru and Gandi in Andhra Pradesh, includ-ing new potential heavy mineral zones along the coastal tracts of Jagatsinghpur district, Orissaand inland placers in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu.

AMD has also established a number of beach sand mineral deposits of ilmenite, rutile,zircon, monazite, garnet and sillimanite.

Mining and Ore ProcessingThe exploratory efforts of AMD, over a period of time have led to the opening of uranium

mines at Jaduguda, Bhatin and Narwapahar, all in Singbhum (East), Jharkhand state. Thesemines, being operated by the UCIL, a public sector undertaking of DAE, have been meetingthe needs of the Indian Nuclear Power Programme. One more mine at Turamdih in Singbhumhas also started functioning.

The Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) was registered as a Public Sector Company onOctober 4, 1967, with head quarters at Jaduguda Mines, District Singhbhum (East) Bihar. TheCorporation went into commercial production in May 1968. The first consignment of magne-sium diuranate concentrate - known as yellow cake - was sent to Trombay in September 1968.

UCIL also operates a Uranium Mill for processing of uranium ores to produce yellow cake,which is further sent to NFC for fuel fabrication. A Uranium Recovery Plant at Mosabanirecovers uranium concentrate from copper tailings. In addition, the magnetite present in the

The Atomic Energy Act of 1948 vested the Gov-ernment of India with the sole right to prospect for,mine, and process naturally occurring minerals, con-taining ‘prescribed substances’ like uranium, thorium,beryllium and others as listed in the Act or as may benotified from time to time, as these were required forthe development of atomic energy. Accordingly a RareMinerals Survey Unit was set up under the Govern-ment in 1949, which was subsequently constituted asthe Atomic Minerals Division under the AtomicEnergy Commission, on October 3, 1950. In 1998, thisDivision was renamed as the Atomic Minerals Direc-torate for Exploration & Research.

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uranium ore is recovered as a by-product in the uranium process plant.There has been a progressive depletion of reserves at Jaduguda Mine due to exploitation of

ore over a period of time. To develop the ore body at deeper levels, III-stage shaft of theJaduguda mine has been commissioned.

A Uranium Ore Mining and Milling Project at Banduhurang in Jharkhand has been clearedby the Government recently. The project will have a capacity to process 2250 tonnes of dry orea day.

Under the projected demand of the nuclear power programme, UCIL is planning the exploi-tation of uranium deposits located in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya.

The research and development in the field of ore processing and uranium metal productionis done at Trombay. Recently, BARC has commissioned an augmented uranium metal produc-tion facility for production of uranium ingot.

During the period 1960-62, the Department had engaged a French expert and a team ofRussian experts to prepare project reports for the development of the Uranium Mine, atJaduguda.

The first stage shaft sinking work (upto 315 metres depth) was started in April 1964,and completed in March 1967. This was the first Mine Shaft in the country, having twomulti-rope friction winders installed on a concrete tower 45 metres above the ground.

Development work on the extraction of uranium from the Jaduguda ore had started in thelate 1950’s, and was pursued in the Engineering Hall VI at Trombay from 1959. In all, about40 tonnes of ore were treated in the pilot plant work, to obtain the ‘yellow cake’ concentrate.The results provided the basis for designing the process and equipment for the Mill at Jaduguda.It was a scale-up from a 1 tonne per day pilot plant to a 1,000 tonnes per day full scaleproduction plant.

Load Haul and DumpLoader in action atJaduguda Mine

Pachucas of the UraniumMill

Yellow Cake

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Nuclear Fuel FabricationNuclear fuel fabrication for power reactors and research reactors is done respectively at

the Nuclear Fuel Complex and BARC. In the development of new fuels, BARC and IGCARare engaged.

The Indian PHWR uses natural uranium based fuel. The indigenous efforts of conversion ofyellow cake to fuel grade uranium and fabrication of fuel elements for power reactors, hadachieved a major milestone, with the fabrication of the first fuel element at Trombay in 1959.

For industrial scale manufacture of nuclear fuel assemblies and zircaloy structural compo-nents for power reactors, the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) was set up at Hyderabad in 1971.NFC manufactures zirconium alloy-clad natural and enriched uranium oxide fuel assembliesfor the Indian PHWRs and boiling water reactors respectively, and zirconium alloy structuralcomponents for these reactors, including calandria tubes, coolant tubes and reactivity and shotoff mechanisms for PHWRs and square channels for pressurised water reactor. In addition,NFC produces seamless stainless steel tubes, hex cans and other structurals for fast reactorcore assemblies, and special alloy tubes. Here, seamless calandria tubes for the 540 MWePHWR have also been successfully manufactured.

The Nuclear Fuel Complex is unique in many respects. It is the only complex of its kindwhere uranium concentrates on the one hand and zircon mineral on the other hand areprocessed at the same location all the way to produce finished fuel assemblies and alsozirconium alloy tubular components, for supplies to the Nuclear Power industry. The complexalso symbolizes the strong emphasis on self-reliance in the Indian nuclear power programme.The advanced technologies for the production of nuclear grade uranium dioxide fuel, zirco-nium metal and zirconium alloy tube components and the manufacture of fuel bundles con-forming to reactor specification were developed through systematic efforts during the late50’s and the 60’s at Trombay.

Indigenously designed and fabricated au-tomatic pellet loading station installed atNew Uranium Fuel Assembly Plant, of theNFC

Indigenously designed and built High Temperature HighVacuum Heat Treatment Furnace at NFC

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The plants of NFC have been performing very well meeting their annual production targets.Some of the plants have crossed their plant capacities.

At BARC a wide variety of fuels have been developed and fabricated on industrial scale.For fabrication of indigenous mixed oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies for boiling water reactors atTAPS, the Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility (AFFF) was set up by BARC at Tarapur. TheMOX fuel produced here has given satisfactory performance.

A momentous step was taken when it was decided that half the initial charge of uraniummetal fuel elements for the Canada-India Research Reactor (CIRUS) project will be fabri-cated at Trombay, though the Canadians were willing to supply all the fuel requirement. Forthis purpose, alongside the Uranium Metal Plant at Trombay, a Fuel Fabrication Facility -called Project Faggots - was established.

The flowsheet for the production of the CIR fuel elements involved many steps, includingthe vacuum melting of the uranium ingots, supplied from the Uranium Metal Plant,Trombay.

The Indian team was responsible for the equipment selection for this plant and the pro-cess development, and it is to their credit that they could master this difficult technology andmeet the supply schedule for the CIR project.

When the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project was taken up, in the mid-1960’s, as the nextstage of collaboration between India and Canada, it was again decided that half the initialrequirement of the fuel bundles (about 1800 in number) will be supplied from India. The fuelelement design this time was a 19 rod bundle, each rod being a thin-walled zirconium alloytube, loaded with sintered uranium oxide pellets, and end-cap welded. The production of thehalf-charge for RAPP-I was undertaken and completed at Trombay.

PHWR fuel assemblies manufactured at NFC

Boiling Water Reactor Fuel Bundlefabricated at NFC

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A decision was taken in July 1958, tobuild a plutonium plant in Trombay.Known as Project Phoenix, it was to pro-cess the uranium fuel discharged fromCIRUS reactor, with a capacity of20 tonnes of fuel per year. It became oneof the most important landmarks in theIndian programme, as this plant wasentirely designed and built the by Indianengineers. With this, India became oneamong the five countries in the world (theothers being US, U.K., France and theformer Soviet Union) with demonstratedcapabilities in the advanced technology of nuclear fuel reprocessing, and the recovery ofplutonium. The first quantities of pure plutonium oxide and samples of plutonium metal wereproduced during 1964-1965.

The harnessing of plutonium extraction and plutonium metallurgy set the base for thelaunching of the fast reactor programme.

BACK-END OF NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLEFuel Reprocessing

The Indian nuclear power generation programme is based on a closed-cycle approach thatinvolves reprocessing of spent fuel and recycle of Plutonium-239 and Uranium-233 for powergeneration.

DAE, from the inception of its nuclear power programme, had commenced development offuel reprocessing technology. Today it has a Pilot Plant for reprocessing at Trombay and indus-trial scale plants at Tarapur and Kalpakkam. The plant at Trombay processes spent fuel fromresearch reactors while the other two plants process spent fuel from power reactors.

KalpakkamReprocessing Plant atKalpakkam (TamilNadu)

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Nuclear Waste ManagementThe radioactive wastes generated at various stages of nuclear fuel cycle are categorised as

low, intermediate and high level wastes. The plants for management of all types of radioactivewastes have been in operation at many nuclear facilities. The low and medium level radioactivewastes are treated in eco-friendly ways. The high level wastes, generated in very small quan-tities, are fixed in glass matrix. Vitrification, a complex technology possessed by a few nationsonly, has been successfully developed at Trombay. Based on this technology, two WasteImmobilisation Plants (WIPs) are in operation at Tarapur and Trombay. A similar plant is underconstruction at Kalpakkam.

Vitrified waste is stored in a specially designed solid storage surveillance facility for about30 years prior to its disposal in deep geological formation. The first such facility has been inoperation at Tarapur since 1999. For final disposal ofimmobilised high-level radioactive wastes, a programmeof siting a repository in suitable deep geological forma-tions is being pursued.

Waste Immobilisation Plant (WIP) at Tarapur

Storage vault of Solid StorageSurveillance Facility, Tarapur

Remote Welding of Vitrified WasteCanister at Waste ImmobilisationPlant, Trombay

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R&D SUPPORT TO NUCLEAR POWERThe programmes relating to nuclear power and the nuclear fuel cycle have been built on the

multidisciplinary R&D infrastructure of the Department. Thrust on indigenisation of equipmentand components, has led to the development of technologies for operation and maintenance ofpower reactors. The technologies that emerged from the research and development includeautomation, monitoring, inspection, and repair systems, equipment and gadgets. A number ofstate-of-the-art instrumentation and control systems for reactors and heavy water plants havebeen developed at BARC and IGCAR.

R&D has contributedimmensely to the plant lifemanagement. The strongR&D base built, has led to anumber of successes nota-bly repair of overpressurerelief device of RAPS-1,En-masse removal andreplacement of coolantchannels of RAPS-2; Man-agement of Calandria inletmanifold, End-shield repair;Steam generator hair-pinremoval, Development ofBARCIS system for in-ser-vice inspection of coolantchannels, and System torelocate garter springs incoolant channels. A numberof new technologies, such asservo-manipulators, image

processing based alignment system, and others have been developed. From KAPS-2 onwards,improved coolant channel material and modified channel design have been adopted for longerlife of the coolant channel.

Robotics is one of the major thrust area of R&D programme both at BARC and IGCAR.The Bilateral Master Slave Servo Manipulators, manufactured in collaboration between BARCand Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), Bangalore, have undergone field trials. A five-degree-of-freedom Robot for deployment in radioactive chemical laboratories, a six-degree-of-free-dom Robot and a mobile Robot have been developed at Trombay. At IGCAR, for automationof nondestructive evaluation, various devices have been developed. These include a MobileScanner (MOBSCAN), a Remotely Operated Power Manipulator (ROPMAN) and a Robotfor capping and decapping bottles.

To meet the stringent quality needs of the nuclear programme, several nondestructive test-ing techniques and equipment have been developed by BARC and IGCAR. DAE has beenpromoting technology relating to quality assurance. Over a period, this approach has paid divi-dends to the nation by upgrading quality levels of the Indian industry.

Remotely operated integrated garter spring repositioning system inoperation at Unit 2 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station

21

NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME : STAGE-IIFAST REACTOR PROGRAMME

The second stage of nuclear power generation is geared towards setting up of Fast BreederReactors (FBRs) backed by reprocessing plants and plutonium-based fuel fabrication plants.These fast breeder systems produce more fuel than what they consume. FBRs can increasefuel utilisation by about sixty times of what is possible with PHWRs. These reactors generateelectricity and build up fuel inventory. They match our needs as multiplication of fissile inven-tory needed to establish a large power generation with thorium in the third stage of DAE’sprogramme.

The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) of DAE, started fast breederreactor programme with the setting of a Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at Kalpakkam in1983. This reactor, operating with indigenously developed mixed uranium-plutonium carbidefuel, has achieved all its technology objectives.

The tenth irradiation campaign with 35 plutonium-uranium carbide fuel sub-assemblies wascompleted in September 2002. The reactor operated at a power level of 17.4 MWt and theturbogenrator was connected to the grid, feeding 1.2 million units of electricity. The fuel hascrossed a burn up of 100,000 MWd/tonne, that is four time larger than the originally designedvalue.

Based on the experience gained with this reactor and with cooperation of academia andindustry, detailed design and technology development of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast BreederReactor (PFBR) has been completed. Pre-project activities for PFBR have already com-menced at Kalpakkam. The PFBR Project has been cleared by the Government recently. Oncompletion, it will feed power to the Southern Grid.

The thrust of the R&D programme at IGCAR is oriented towards the design validation ofthe PFBR in the first instance, and subsequently, the design optimisation for future FBRs, toreduce the cost.

During the mid 1960’s, BARC had taken up the design of a prototype power reactor - anatural uranium oxide, heavy water moderated, pressurised heavy water cooled system, withprovision to experiment with organic coolants as an alternative.

The fast reactor section of BARC carried out design studies for different fuel cycles andvarious coolants (including liquid sodium and helium), and also installed and operated asodium loop, before the programme was shifted to Kalpakkam when the decision was takento build there a Fast Breeder Test Reactor with French collaboration.

Panoramic view of theIndira Gandhi

Centre for AtomicResearch, Kalpakkam,

Tamil Nadu

22

Fast Reactor Fuel FabricationThe Mark-I mixed carbide fuel core, with high

plutonium content, has been developed for the first timein the world. The fuel has performed well and hascrossed a burn-up of 100,000MWd/t. The tests havefurther established that the fuel can safely be taken tohigher burn-up.

Fabrication of Mark-II core is progressing atTrombay. A number of PFBR MOX fuel elements formaking experimental PFBR subassembly for irradia-tion in FBTR have been fabricated by BARC.

Fast Reactor Fuel ReprocessingFor reprocessing of fuel of FBTR, the Lead Mini

Cell, set up at Kalpakkam, is aimed at establishing thefast reactor reprocessing process flow sheet. Forreprocessing of fuel from fast breeders, IGCAR is set-ting up the Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant(FRFRP). A comprehensive procedure has also beenevolved at the centre for the recovery of uranium andplutonium and separation of the radioactive fission prod-ucts from the spent fuel solution.

Fast Reactor Technology DevelopmentUnder the technology development programme, IGCAR is pursuing engineering related

research & development such as, thermal hydraulic and structural mechanics studies, develop-ment of components such as control and safety rod drive mechanism and various test facilitiessuch as sodium water reaction test facility, and steam generator test facility. The Boron Planthas been successfully operated at Kalpakkam. A pilot plant facility to produce elemental Boronhas also been set up and operated successfully.

Schematics of Prototype Fast BreederReactor being developed by IGCAR

FBTR core loading in progress with dummy assemblies

Lead Mini Cell Fuel Reprocessing Plantat Kalpakkam

23

NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME : STAGE-IIITHORIUM BASED REACTORS

Thorium utilisation is long term core objective of the Indian Nuclear Power Programme.For providing energy security on sustainable basis. With this focus, the third stage of the IndianNuclear Power Programme is thus based on the Thorium-Uranium-233 cycle.

A beginning has already been made by introducing thorium in a limited way, in researchreactors and in pressurised heavy water reactors.

The research reactor KAMINI,operating upto a nominal power of30kW for neutron radiography of vari-ous materials, at Kalpakkam, uses Ura-nium-233 fuel which is derived fromthorium. This fuel is bred, reprocessedand fabricated indigenously.

Thorium Reactor SystemsAdvanced Heavy Water Reactor

BARC is engaged in developing300MWe Advanced Heavy WaterReactor (AHWR) for use of both theThorium-Uranium-233 and Thorium-Plutonium mixed oxide as fuel. Thedesign of AHWR incorporates severaladvanced safety features such asgravity driven water pool, tail pipetowers etc.. BARC has successfullyfabricated the fuel pellets by conven-tional powder metallurgy route.

The engineering development activi-ties related to AHWR are continuingat Trombay and the project report ofthe reactor is undergoing a peer review.

Compact High Temperature ReactorA Compact High Temperature

Reactor (CHTR) is being developedat BARC, to address specific applica-tion areas, such as electricity genera-tion in remote places, production ofalternative transportation fuel such ashydrogen, and refinement of low-gradecoal and oil deposits to recover fossilfluid fuel.

This reactor with 100kW thermalpower rating is based on the designguidelines such as use of thorium based

KAMINI reactor at Kalpakkam

Schematic of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor at BARC

24

fuels, compact design to minimize weight of thereactor, passive core heat removal, and passivepower regulation and shut down systems.

Accelerator Driven Sub-Critical SystemFor breeding fissile Uranium-233 from Thorium,

development of Accelerator Driven Sub-CriticalSystems (ADS) for nuclear reactor is the latestaddition to the Indian nuclear programme. This willalso help in reducing the technical complexities ofgeological repositories for storage of long-life high-level radioactive wastes.

In ADS, high energy proton beam generatesneutrons directly through spallation reaction in anon-fertile/non-fissile element such as lead. A sub-critical blanket further amplifies this external neu-tron source, as well as produce energy. Thisendeavour offers the promise of shorter doublingtime of fuel inventory with Thorium-Uranium-233systems, incineration of long lived actinides andfission products. Significant progress has beenmade in detailed analysis of this complex reactorsystem.

ADS can provide a strong technology base forlarge scale thorium utilization. As a first step

towards realization of ADS, DAE has launched development of proton injector. To carry outexperimental studies on sub-critical assemblies, a 14 MeV neutron generator has also beenupgraded with a higher current ion source.

Thorium MiningIRE is engaged in the mining and processing of mineral sands containing titanium, zirconium,

thorium and rare earths. The company has three mineral sands separation plants at

Schematic of Compact High TemperatureReactor

As early as in 1910, the beach sands of the west coast of South India had been exploitedfor monazite. The unbridled export of monazite continued till 1947 when the Government ofIndia realised the strategic importance of the mineral and placed an embargo on its export.One of the first tasks to which the Atomic Energy Commission addressed itself was thesetting up of a plant to process monazite, thorium and uranium.

The Indian Rare Earths Ltd. was incorporated on August 18, 1950 as a private limitedcompany under the Indian Companies Act, 1913, jointly owned by the Government of Indiaand the then Government of Travancore-Cochin. In 1963, the shares of the State of Travancore-Cochin were handed over to the Government of India and the Indian Rare Earths Ltd.became a full fledged central government undertaking of the DAE.

25

Manavalakurichi (Tamil Nadu),Chavara (Kerala) and OSCOM-Chhatrapur (Orissa). These plants pro-duce industrial minerals, namely ilmenite,rutile, monazite, zircon, sillimanite andgarnet. At OSCOM, there is a valueaddition plant, which produces syntheticrutile. In addition, the Rare Earths Plantat Alwaye produces rare earth chlorides.To meet the demand of ceramic indus-try, IRE has set up a Microzir Plant forproduction of fine zircon powder atChavara. At Manavalakurichi, zircon ischemically treated to zircon frit whichis supplied to NFC for further process-ing.

The Rare Earths Division (RED) ofIRE at Alwaye processes monazite forthe separation of thorium concentrateand rare earths. Part of the thorium con-centrate of RED is subsequently treatedat the Thorium Plant of OSCOM toyield mantle grade thorium nitrate. REDhas also set up PRYNCE plant atAlwaye for production of very pureneodymium oxide for making industrialmagnets.

IRE has launched first phase ofexpansion of capacity for mineralprocessing at its plants at Chavara andManavalakurichi, and has taken up otherprojects for productivity of zirconiumhydroxide and recovery of rare elements. In its project “Thorium Retrieval and Re-storage” atAlwaye, IRE envisages retrieval of thorium concentrate from the stock pile at the Rare EarthsDivision, and recovery of rare earths.

Thorium based Fuel FabricationA closed fuel cycle has been adopted for thorium fuel in Advanced Heavy Water Reactor.

Mixed Thoria-Urania and Thoria-Plutonia are the candidate fuels for the AHWR. The fuelpellets have been successfully fabricated by the conventional powder metallurgy route.

ReprocessingIn the thorium fuel cycle activities, separation of Uranium-233 is a vital link. For separation

of Uranium-233 from irradiated Thorium fuel on a plant scale, a Uranium-Thorium SeparationFacility has become operational at Trombay.

PRYNCE plant at Alwaye, Kerala

Mineral Recovery Plant at Chavara, Kerala

26

The safety operations through the entire nuclear fuel cycle, from prospecting and mining ofores to management of waste, encompass all the aspects of safety viz. radiological safety,industrial safety, occupational health, fire safety and environmental protection.

In all the nuclear installations, care is taken to protect operating personnel, public and envi-ronment. An independent body, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) monitors safety.The safety standards formulated by AERB are on par with those recommended by the interna-

tional bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) and the International Commission on RadiologicalProtection (ICRP).

NPCIL is a member of the World Association of NuclearOperators (WANO). The Association has conducted peerreviews of the atomic power stations at Kakrapar and Narora.From time to time, Indian experts have participated in peerreviews in a number of countries including USA, Japan andSouth Korea.

The International Safety Advisory Group (INSAG), theNuclear Safety Advisory Group (NUSAG) along with sev-eral committees of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), which prepare safety codes and standards, haveIndian scientists as members.

Safety surveillance inspections are regularly carried out,and comprehensive Emergency Preparedness and ResponsePlans to handle postulated emergency scenarios, are inaction at the DAE facilities.

BARC and the laboratories accredited by it, conduct coun-trywide personnel monitoring in about 3000 industrial,medical, research and DAE organisations which benefit over30,000 radiation workers annually.

Environmental radiation monitoring and environmental sur-veillance are the regular features of the environmental pro-tection programme of DAE.

At different sites, the Environment Sur-vey Labs (ESLs) of BARC continuouslymonitor environment, and collect site relatedmeteorological data. Sophisticated weathermonitoring SODAR systems are in opera-tion at Kaiga, Kalpakkam, Tarapur andTrombay.

SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT

SODAR systems forweather monitoring

Hand and Foot contaminationmonitoring

27

IREMON, a nationwide network of environmental radiation monitoring stations detectsradiation releases.

Environment around the nuclear sites is well conserved. Many of the nuclear power stationshave obtained Environmental Management System Certification under ISO 14001, and havebagged the AERB Green Site Award.

At the Low Level Radiation Research Labora-tory, Kollam, Kerala, the studies on the health andbiological effects of continuous natural radiation onhuman population are continuing. As a part of thenewborn survey, data on about 73,000 newborns hasbeen analysed. The analysis made so far does notshow any significant differences in these param-eters between the children born in high level naturalradiation area and normal level natural radiation area.

To educate the public living around nuclear powerplants, public awareness programmes by DAEorganisations are organised on a regular basis.

The DAE’s programme relating to radiation technologies & applications, covers buildingand operation of research reactors for production of radioisotopes, building of other sources ofradiation such as accelerators and lasers, and developing and deploying radiation technologyapplications in the field of medicine, agriculture and industry.

The commissioning of Apsara reactor marked the beginning of a series of developmentsin the processing of radioactive materials and the use of ionising radiation in a variety ofways. The scale of the activities was still small and there was no regulatory agency estab-lished yet. Nevertheless, at each step, radiation protection aspects received fullest attention.The approach followed in this period was one of self-regulation within the DAE.

Inside view of Mobile RadiologicalLaboratory

Mobile Radiological Laboratory at Trombay

An Environmental Radiation MonitoringStation

28

Research ReactorsThe research reactor programme of DAE provides R&D support to nuclear power

programme, produces radioisotopes, and extends research facilities and manpower training.The research reactors set up by DAE so far, are Apsara (1MW, Fuel: Enriched Uranium-

Aluminium alloy), CIRUS (40MW, Fuel : Natural Uranium), ZERLINA (Zero energy, Fuel :Natural Uranium), PURNIMA I-III (Fuel : Thorium based), DHRUVA (100MW, Fuel: Natu-ral Uranium) at Trombay (Maharashtra), and KAMINI (30kW, Fuel : Uranium-233-Al alloy)and Fast Breeder Test Reactor (40MW, Fuel : Uranium-Plutonium carbide) at Kalpakkam(Tamil Nadu). Of these research reactors, ZERLINA was decommissioned in 1984, andPURNIMA series made way for KAMINI reactor.

DHRUVA, CIRUS and Apsara are used for producing radioisotopes, besides their use inresearch and development relating to nuclear technologies and materials, applied and basicresearch, and training. KAMINI is used mainly for radiography of various materials, and FBTR isthe test bed for the development of fuel, blanket and structural materials

In the field of research reactor the new ventures include the development of a Critical Facilityat Trombay for reactor physics experiments relating to AHWR & 500 MWe PHWRs, and a20MWt Multi Purpose Research Reactor, a pool type reactor that will use low enriched uraniumfuel, and water as coolant and moderator.

RADIATION TECHNOLOGIES & APPLICATIONS

DHRUVA and CIRUS at Trombay Complex

29

APSARAOn March 15, 1955, the Atomic Energy Commission decided to build APSARA, a swim-

ming pool type of reactor. A formal agreement for the supply of the fuel was concludedbetween the UKAEA and DAE in October 1955. The reactor was brought to first criticality onthe afternoon of August 4, 1956.

The reactor provided a source of neutrons for physicists, chemists,and biologists to carry out experiments in nuclear physics, reactor phys-ics, radiochemistry, and materials science, and to study the effects ofnuclear radiation. It enabled the production of radioisotopes and thedemonstration of their application in medicine and other fields. And,more importantly, it provided a training ground for engineers to gainexperience and confidence in the safe operation of a nuclear reactor.

“ As I stand before you here, with thisSwimming Pool Reactor behind me and infront of you, I have in front of me the Is-land of Elephanta, not far away, which rep-resents something that happened about1300 years ago. ..... Well, 1300 years or solie in between these works in theIsland of Elephanta, and this Swimming PoolReactor which represents this middle of the20th century. Both, I take it, have their placeand any person who ignores either of themmisses an important element of life. I donot suppose humanity can live on reactorsalone. Presumably, they want something else,too. Certainly, they cannot live on Elephantaalone; something else is wanted. So, in asense, it is the combination of Elephanta andthe Swimming Pool Reactor — odd as itmay seem — that might produce a properbalance in life. Not Elephanta as it is butsomething that it may represent — theartistic values and cultural traditions whichhave lasted.”

Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru(Speech at the opening of AEET and naming of first swimming

pool reactor, APSARA at Trombay), January 20,1957

30

CIRUSThe requirement of 20 tonnes of heavy water for the reactor , was purchased from the US.

At the time of the agreement, the Canadians had offered to supply all the initial inventory of theuranium fuel elements (again to be paid for by India), but subsequently it was decided that halfof the initial fuel charge would be made in India.

The construction of CIR was completed by the first quarter of 1960 and heavy water wascharged into the reactor by April 1960. The reactor was brought to first criticality on July 10,1960. The reactor power was raised progressively and the rated capacity (of 40 MWt) wasreached on October 16, 1963.

For over thirty years, the Canada-India Reactor, renamed CIRUS in 1965, has been a majorexperimental facility in Trombay serving a wide range of users and applications. It has effec-tively supported research and development programmes in neutron physics, solid state physics,nuclear physics, reactor physics and engineering materials science, isotope production, radio-chemistry, radiation chemistry and biology. CIRUS has also been a base for training in opera-tion and maintenance of reactors and a good source of trained personnel in the initial stages ofthe nuclear power programme.

The commissioning of the CIRUS reactor gave a great fillip to the production of a varietyof radioisotopes – of medium to high specific activity – for applications in medicine, industry,agriculture and research. The regular supply of radioisotopes commenced in 1962-63.

CIRUS reactor at Trombay

Pandit Nehru, Bhabha and N.B. Prasad at CIRUS .

31

PURNIMA I-IIIPURNIMA, which stands for Plutonium Reactor for Neutron Investigations in Multiplying

Assemblies, attained criticality on May 18, 1972 ushering India into the realm of fast reactors.This was achieved with about 22 kg of plutonium oxide in the form of 177 fuel pins.

As the next step, a critical facility was designed in which the fission chain reaction could besustained without generating any power. A solution containing Uranium-233 in the form ofuranyl nitrate served as the core for the facility and Beryllium Oxide as reflector. This reactor,with the name PURNIMA II, reached criticality on May 10, 1984.

As a final part of the studies with Uranium-233, it was planned to build a low power (30kW)research reactor using Uranium-233 fuel in the form of thin plates and install it in the IGCAR.At Trombay, the mock up of KAMINI (Kalpakkam Mini Reactor), was performed in the samevault that housed PURNIMA I. This was named as PURNIMA III. Fuel of this reactor wasin the form of plates of an alloy of Aluminum and Uranium-233. Considerable time and effortwas expended in conversion of the uranyl nitrate solution used earlier, into the fuel alloy plates.Uranium-233 being a precious material, great care was taken to minimise losses in conversion.PURNIMA III became critical on April 29, 1992.

KAMINI reactor

PURNIMA reactor

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DHRUVAMany divisions in Trombay were involved in the design and construction of DHRUVA

(Initially named as R-5). Ground was broken for the R-5 Project at the site immediately adjoiningthe CIRUS reactor on May 17, 1974. The first batch of fuel for the reactor was supplied onAugust 12, 1983. The reactor was named as DHRUVA on September 7, 1983. Heavy waterwas added to the system on June 12, 1985 and the reactor brought to first criticality onAugust 8, 1985. The reactor has been in use for advanced neutron and solid state physicsresearch, for the increased production of radioisotopes, and as a training base and researchutility for the larger scientific and engineering community in the country.

DHRUVA reactor

Neturon scattering instrumentsinside Dhruva reactor hall.

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RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION & PROCESSINGThe radioisotopes produced at Trombay are also processed by BRIT. These products

include radiopharmaceuticals, labelled compounds, radiochemicals, radiobiomolecules,radiosources and a number of devices using radioisotopes. The radioisotope Cobalt-60 is pro-cessed in the Cobalt Facility (RAPPCOF) of BRIT at Rawatbhata, near Kota, Rajasthan.Radioisotopes are produced in the research reactors at Trombay, atomic power reactors ofNPCIL and the cyclotron of VECC at Kolkata.

India is a leading producer of radioisotopes in the world. Production of radioisotopes in thecountry had started with the commissioning of Apsara reactor in 1956. The production capabil-ity was augmented in 1963 with the commissioningof CIRUS reactor. Commercial operation of Dhruvain 1985 further strengthened this capability. Dhruva,one of the large research reactors in the world, pro-duces a wide spectrum of radioisotopes. Recently,Plutonium-236, the radiotracer useful in environmen-tal and biological studies, has been successfully pro-duced at Trombay. CIRUS has been refurbishedwhich has substantially added to its working life.

The accelerator at VECC, Kolkata producesradioisotopes such as Gallium-67.

BARC processes isotopes for medical use. Themajor isotopes processed by BARC are Iodine-131,Molybdenum-99, Phosphorus-32 and Samarium-153.

The radioisotope based products and services arenow commercially available through BRIT. BARC supplies radioisotopes and radionuclides formedical use. Some radioisotopes produced at Trombay, such as Mercury-203, are alsoexported.

Radiopharmaceutical production facilityat BRIT

Soon after the commissioning of the Apsara reactor at Trombay, in 1956, a small labora-tory was set up in one of the sheds in a temporary location at Cadell Road, Mumbai, for theextraction of small quantities of Iodine-131, Gold-198, Phosphorus-32, Sodium-24 etc fromsamples irradiated in Apsara reactor. The isotopes produced were purified and tested formedical use, with the help of the Pharmacology Department of K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai,first in animals and then in human trials.

In 1960, at the World Agricultural Fair in Delhi - where the USA had set up a TrigaReactor - as suggested by Bhabha, a complete Isotope Laboratory with glass walls, was setup so that visitors to the pavilion could see the operations from outside. The isotopes wereproduced in the Triga Reactor in the American pavilion, and processed in the Indian pavilion.Samples of Sodium-24 and colloidal Gold were supplied to the Vallabhai Patel Chest Instituteand the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. Sodium-24 was used in blood dilution studies andcolloidal gold in the treatment of cancer.

When the Fair was over, the Isotope Handling Facility was transferred to SafdarjungHospital and became the starting point for the establishment of the Institute of NuclearMedicine and Allied Sciences in New Delhi.

34

APPLICATIONS OF RADIOISOTOPESThe radioisotopes produced at Trombay find wide applications in the fields of agriculture

and food, medicine and healthcare, industry, and research. Based on these applications, follow-ing programmes have been established in the country.

Nuclear AgricultureRadiation technology is a potent tool in the development of high yielding seed varieties by

mutation, increasing shelf life of food by way of delayed ripening and sprouting, and pestcontrol by killing insects and pests – even those that hide within seeds.

The Nuclear Agriculture Programme of DAE focuses on the development of high yieldingcrop seeds, radiation processing of food items, fertilizer and pesticide related studies, and otherareas. All these technologies have been benefiting Indian farmers and traders.

Crop ImprovementFor decades, BARC, in collaboration with agricultural universities, has been engaged in

research and development in the field of crop improvement. This Centre has successfullydeveloped and released 23 high yielding crop varieties, including 9 groundnut, 10 pulse and2 mustard, and one each of jute and rice varieties.

During the year 2002-2003, thegroundnut and blackgram varietiesdeveloped at Trombay made up to 30%and 40% of national indent for breederseed. The groundnut variety TAG-24 hasbeen identified as national check vari-ety for Rabi/summer. The new largeseeded confectionary grade Trombaygroundnut variety TPG-41 has beenidentified for release for Rabi/summercultivation in the country, and is await-ing notification.

Ten promising cultures of groundnut,pigeon pea, mungbean, blackgram,soyabean and cowpea developed atBARC have reached ICAR-AdvancedVarietal Trials.

BARC has successfully appliedradiation induced mutation technique inthe development of a photo-period insen-sitive green manure crop – Sesbaniarostrata. The green manure productionusing this variety is now highly costeffective for small farmers.

CROP VARIETIES DEVELOPED AT BARC USINGMUTATION BREEDING

CHARACTERISTICSCROP NO.

GROUNDNUT 9

PIGEON PEA 2

4

4

1

2

1

BLACK GRAM

MUNG BEAN

RICE

MUSTARD

JUTE

High yielding, improvedquality

High yielding, diseaseresistant, early maturing

improved quality

High yielding,disease resistant

High yielding,disease resistant

High yielding,improved quality

High yielding,improved quality

High yielding, fibreyielding

35

Tissue culture is the process or technique of growing tissue artificially in a special, sterileculture medium. BARC has developed a tissue culture based protocol for rapid multiplication of12 commercial cultivars of banana. This technology has been transferred to the MaharashtraState Seeds Corporation.

Using micropropagation technology, BARC has standardised large-scale multiplication ofpineapple. Micropropagation protocol has also been standardized in three varieties of sugar-cane. The Centre has made good progress in developing hardened plants of Acacia Victoriae -a plant suitable for desert area.

A method has been developed for obtaining a starch-degrading enzyme (amylase) by solidstate fermentation of banana peels.

At Trombay, several insect pheromones have been synthesized and techniques for determi-nation of nutrients in soils have been developed.

For the control of cotton boll worm experiments using sterile insect technique (SIT) areundergoing at Trombay .

Even in pre-independence years, experiments in mutation breeding through exposures toX-rays were carried out in India. These experiments were exploratory in nature and thestudies covered sorghum, rice and wheat. Serious work was initiated however only in the latefifties in DAE and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Delivery of nuclear agriculture technologies With the objective to deliver the technologies developed in the DAE research centres, to the

people around the nuclear establishments, the Department has initiated the Neighbourhood WelfareProgramme. Under the programme, BARC is developing a 12 hectare Agriculture Research andSeed Farm at Tarapur in collaboration with the Tarapur Atomic Power Station. The crops developedin BARC will be grown in the Tarapur Farm to demonstrate to the local farmers, the use of theseimproved seeds in enhancing farm production. Knowledge will also be imparted to the farmers toencourage them to adopt newer technologies in modern agriculture developments.

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Food processingRadiation processing is indispensable for preservation of cereals and pulses, fruits and

vegetables, meat and meat products and seafood. This offers several advantages over conven-tional food preservation techniques.

Over three decades of the research done at Trombay, has established the advantages of foodpreservation by radiation processing of food items, and this technology has emerged as vital to

food security and export of foodproducts.

BRIT carries out radiationprocessing of spices and otherproducts at the Radiation Pro-cessing Plant, at Navi Mumbai.This plant, in operation sinceJanuary 1, 2000, is proving aboon to the spice exporters.

For radiation processing ofonions for sprout control andother low dose applications ofradiation in preservation of agri-cultural commodities, BARC hascommissioned a 10 tonne/hrfacility KRUSHAK (KrushiUtpadan Sanrakshan Kendra) atLasalgaon, district Nashik,Maharashtra. KRUSHAK, is atechnology demonstration plant.Farmers and traders of Nashikdistrict and surrounding areas arenow getting the benefit of thistechnology.

The Government of India hasapproved radiation processing ofcertain food items both forexport and domestic consump-tion. Two research and develop-ment Radiation Processing facili-ties, at Trombay and Jodhpur(Rajasthan), have been licensedfor radiation processing of fooditems.

Private sector is being encouraged to set up similar plants.

In the field of nuclear agriculture, some of the major ongoing activities are the following:

KRUSHAK (Krushi Utpadan Sanrakshan Kendra) Lasalgaon,district Nashik, Maharashtra.

Radiation Processing Plant, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra.

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An install-and-operate Radiation Processor, that is safe to operate and needs very smallspace, has been designed at Trombay. With a throughput of 4 tonne/day of frozen marineproducts at 5 kilogray radiation dose, this is a batch radiation processor. It can cater to all theproducts permitted for radiation processing, including frozen marine products which call for arigid control on dose uniformity ratio as well as maintenance of cold chain. It is planned to setup a prototype unit during the X-Plan period.

The research at BARC is focused on radiation processing for preservation of cereals andpulses, fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products, and seafood. In meat preservation, aprocess for preparation of shelf-stable intermediate moisture meat products using gammaradiation has been standardized. The effects of the combinations of radiation, packaging, andlow temperatures, extension of shelf-life of a number of fruits and vegetables and coffeebeans, are under extensive study.

Food items which can be radiation processed

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Nuclear Medicine and HealthcareBARC carries out production of radioisotopes and their radiochemical processing of for a

variety of applications in medical, industrial, and other fields. Other major activities of theCentre include development of new radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis and therapy, and sealedsources for therapeutic applications. For customers, service-irradiation in the reactors is alsooffered.

In the field of health care, at Trombay recent developments include myocardial blood flowimaging agent, Technetium-99m-MIBI (Methoxy Isobutyl Isonitrile) and technology transfer ofradiation-processed hydrogel for treating burn, wounds and leprosy.

BARC regularly suppliespolyclonal antibodies for thyroidhormones to BRIT. The centre hassuccessfully developed Holmium-166-Hydroxy Apatite (HoHa) andSamarium-153-Hydroxy Apatite(SmHa) radio-pharmaceuticalsfor treatment of arthritis, and radio-labeling of phosphonates withLuthinium-177 for internalised radio-therapy. Several batches of HoHaand SmHa for radiosynoviorthesishave been prepared at Trombay andused successfully in the treatment ofarthritis.

Presently, modernisation ofisotope processing facilities, and

development of selected radiopharmaceuticals for therapeutic application are carried out atTrombay.

Sealed radioactive sources are used for brachytherapy (local radiation therapy) of cancer.At BARC, Cesium-137 based brachytherapy sources are routinely produced. For treatment ofcancer of eye, radiation sources of extremely tiny size – of the size of rice grain–containing2-3 milli curie of Iodine-125, have been produced here recently.

A batch of sources is undergoing clinical trials at the Sankar Netralaya, Chennai. Thesesources find applications in the treatment of prostate cancer. For fabrication of Cesium-137brachytherapy sources, the Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore has developed a laserwelding system.

Tuberculosis is a major health problem in India. For detection of the disease infection, BARChas developed a sero-diagnostic test-kit that is now available for technology transfer. A multi-analyte assay technology using ‘antibody chips’ has also been developed. X-ray imaging usinga three dimensional cone-beam tomography, is another important development at Trombay.

Radiation synovectomy procedure using holmium basedradionuclide and the scintigraphic images of the injectedjoint

39

The Radiation Medicine Centre (RMC) of BARC in Mumbai, is involved in research anddevelopment in nuclear medicine and allied sciences. The centre offers diagnostic and thera-peutic services using radioisotopes, and promotes human resource development in nuclearmedicine. It is a regional referral centre of the World Health Organisation for South East Asia,and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Radioimmunoassays and related proce-

dures are sensitive methods used for measure-ments of hormones, enzymes, hepatitis virus, cer-tain serum proteins, some drugs and a number ofother substances. RIA is now one of the mostoften used and inexpensive analytical methodsfor diagnostic purposes in the country. RMC is amajor provider of RIA services in the country, tothyroid patients.

For diagnosis of diseases such as cancer, car-diac and neurological disorders, special radioiso-topes of very short life are required. To meet thisneed, BARC has established a medical cyclotronat RMC. This cyclotron is coupled to a positronemission tomography (PET) scanner forradioimaging.

RMC annually dispenses of 90,000mCi oftechnetium based radiopharmaceuticals, and

18F

β+

β-

p

χ

χ

11C

13N15O

2

110

20

101

2

3

511

511

18F

β+

β-

p

χ

χ

χ

χ

11C

13N15O

2

110

20

101

2

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511

1) Oxygen-15, Nitrogen-13, Carbon-11 andFluorine-18 nuclei emit a positron. 2) positronquickly collides with an electron from theneighbourhood. 3) The collision results in acollision photon p which sends out 511keVgammas 180 degree apart.

On a visit to RMC in 1963, E Pochin of theInternational Commission on RadiologicalProtection (ICRP) gave a talk describing theprofile counting methods, developed in his labo-ratory, for measuring the rate of absorption ofiodine by the liver. He found however that simi-lar measurements were already being used inRMC as a quicker and simpler diagnosticindex of thyroid overactivity compared to thethen existing methods.

In 1968, RMC recognised the importanceof the radioimmunoassay (RIA) technique fordiagnostic purposes. In this technique, a sample

of blood is drawn from the patient and the sample is subjected to a test with a radioactivelylabelled compound. At first, RMC established the procedure for RIA for human growthhormone, which allowed study of deficiencies of the hormone in malnutrition. In the earlyseventies, reagents were developed in-house for thyroid hormones to conduct thyroid func-tion studies. The inventor of the RIA technique, Rosalyn Yalow spent two months lecturingat RMC, in 1977 immediately after receiving the Nobel Prize. RIA procedure for detectionof TB was optimised in 1982. In the late seventies, BARC began making availablecommercialised RIA kits.

40

carries out 8000 radiodiagnostic investigations and 9000radioimmunoassays.

The accelerator at VECC manufactures radioisotopes,which are further processed for medical applications atthe Regional Radiation Medicine Centre (RRMC). Thiscentre meets the radiodiagnostic and radiotherapyrequirements of the Eastern region of the country. Annu-ally, around 7000 patients get the benefit of these ser-vices.

It was decided during 1988-89, to constitute a sepa-rate organisation -- the Board for Radiation and IsotopeTechnology -- to administer the production programmeon commercial lines. The Board started functioning fromMarch 1, 1989. BRIT supplies radiopharmaceuticals,brachytherapy wires, radio-immunoassay (RIA) kits,radiochemicals, radiolabelled compounds, luminous com-pounds, Technetium-99m generating kits and a host ofother products to medical centres, and offers radiationsterilization services to medical users across the country.

Annually, BRIT supplies 12,700 consignments ofradiopharmaceutical products, 42,500 cold kits to nearly120 nuclear medicine centres, and 7400 RIA/IRMA kitsof different hormones to 300 radioimmunoassay labora-tories in India.

The RIA Centres of BRIT at Bangalore and Dibrugarhconduct 6000 and 5000 radioimmunoassays annually.BRIT’s regional centres at Bangalore and Delhi processready-to-use Technetium-99m radiopharmaceuticals foruse in hospitals of their regions. The Delhi centre carriesout production, quality control/quality assay and supply ofTechnetium-99m radiopharmaceutical injections for clini-cal studies in patients.

For fabrication of sealed sources such as Iridium-192,Cobalt-60, Cesium-137, Scandium-46, Iridium-Platinumwire, and others, BRIT uses radioisotopes produced inresearch and power reactors. It supplies Cobalt-60 tele-therapy sources to 170 teletherapy units in 62 cities inIndia and Cesium-137 and Iridium-192 brachytherapysources for cancer treatment to medical users. Other sup-plies include Phosphorus-32 injections for pain palliationin severe cases of bone cancer.

The Jonaki Laboratory (of BRIT) at Hyderabad, pro-duces labelled nucleotides for research in modern biology, biotechnology and genetic engineer-ing.

In India, based on the products supplied by BRIT, an estimated 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh diagnosticimaging studies are annually performed and a few thousand patient treatments using radioiod-

Cobalt-60 Teletherapy for cancertreatment

Radiotherapy machine for cancertreatment. The machine has beendeveloped at CAT, Indore

41

ine, are carried out for thyroid disorders. About 5 lakh patientsample analysis are carried out every year using immunoas-say kits. The Board’s annual supplies of radioisotopes andallied products are valued at about Rs.21 crore.

Gamma irradiation of blood components is a safe andproven technology widely used in hospitals and blood banksthe world over, for elimination of various risks in blood trans-fusion. Blood is usually irradiated in standard blood bags inblood irradiators using Cobalt-60 or Cesium-137 radioactivesource.

For use in hospitals for blood transfusion, BRIT has devel-oped a dedicated Blood Irradiator (BI-2000) which houses aCobalt-60 source and provides a dose rate of about 11 Gray/minute approximately, inside a chamber. The device is equippedwith state-of-the-art electronic control system. The unit canbe installed in a room without any additionalshielding. Its design conforms to all the stan-dards and safety codes.

The biomedical research carried out inthe DAE research centres, has produced anumber of technologies and products.

Radiation processed hydrogels for treat-ment of burn injuries, skin patches for treat-ment of superficial cancers, and radio-labelled preparations are some of the inno-vative products developed at Trombay.

BRIT has recently introduced in the mar-ket new products including a kit for myo-cardial perfusion imaging and therapeuticcapsules for treatment of hyper-thyroidismand large dose thyroid scan.

Lasers have been developed at CAT fora number of medical applications such ascarbon dioxide laser based system for arange of surgical modalities. These systems have been supplied to various hospitals in thecountry.

Nitrogen laser radiation exposure has been found to help drug penetration in the lungs oftuberculosis patients, and accelerate burns healing. CAT has developed nitrogen laser unitswith fibre optic beam delivery systems. Some such units are in use in hospitals at Indore andPatna.

For early detection of cancers such as oral cancer, breast cancer and uterine cancer, a laserinduced fluorescence spectroscopy technique employing nitrogen laser, has given very encour-aging results.

The research findings at CAT may be useful for inactivation of antibiotic resistant strains ofP.aeruginosa causing burn and wound infections in hospitalised patients.

Blood Irradiator developed byBRIT

N2 laser used in diagnosis of cancer of variousorgans like oral cavity, breast, uterus etc., by studyof laser induced fluorescence of tissues

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Radiation SterilizationFor about three decades, radiation has been in use in India for sterilization of medical prod-

ucts, benefiting millions of hospital patients.It is a continuous and automated process, and costs far lower than steam heat sterilization.

The items can be sterilized in pre-packed condition practically for indefinite period.BRIT has been operating radiation sterilization plant ISOMED, now ISO-9002 accredited,

at Trombay. The plant provides radiation sterilization services to over 1500 users and sterilisesabout 12,000 cu mt of medical products annually.

In the past, over two million DAI (midwifery) kits and delivery packs were radiation steril-ized at ISOMED plant, and distributed for use in rural areas for preventing infection of mothersand helping to minimize infant mortality rate, through rural health programmes funded by WHO.The International Institute of Population Studies (IIPS) in its study has found that the infantmortality rate has fallen by 25-30 % in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and UttarPradesh as a result of distribution of the kits in these areas.

Similar to ISOMED, plants are also in operation at the Shriram Centre for IndustrialResearch, Delhi, and Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore. A plant for R&Dpurposes has been in operation at the Defence Research and Development Organisation,Jodhpur (Rajasthan).

Around 1970, it was the proposed to set up a radiationsterilisation plant for medical products, with possibleUnited Nations Development Program (UNDP) assis-tance. The plant was finally set up by 1972. This facil-ity, called ISOMED, turned out to be a very successfulexperiment introducing radiation sterilisation technologyfor the first time in India. Later, similar systems wereset up in Delhi at the Sri Ram Institute, in Bangalore atthe Kidwai Memorial Hospital and in Jodhpur.

Sterilizedmedicalproducts

Dai kits

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Cancer Treatment & ResearchIn the field of diagnosis, treatment and research in cancer as well as in training and

education, the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a grant-in-aid institution of DAE, is a leadingorganization in the country. The Centre comprises the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbaiand the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC),Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The erstwhile Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is now a wing ofACTREC.

Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), equipped with thestate-of-the-art facilities annually registers about 21,000new cases and issues over 11,000 referral cards for vari-ous medical investigations.

The Hospital also offers limb salvage services topatients where limb is affected by cancer. A joint replace-ment called the TMH-NICE — an artificial substitute ofthe leg bone, and replacements of elbow and hip, havebeen developed here. The range of motion of these arti-ficial limbs is similar to that of the imported joint. Thisendeavour has drastically brought down the costs of suchreplacements which uptil now were imported.

In the field of medical oncology, TMH has introducedmolecular cytogenetics. Haematopoietic stem cell trans-plants carried out at the hospital on 30 patients. Solidtumours and advanced cancers in the elderly receive the

Tata Memorial Hos-pital was set up by SirDorabji Tata Trust in1940, for treatment andcure of cancer. TheIndian Cancer ResearchCentre, which laterbecame the CancerResearch Institute, wasset up by Government ofIndia in collaborationwith the Tata Trust forpost-graduate researchand teaching in oncologyand allied subjects.Administrative control

of both these institutions was transferred from Ministry of Health to DAE in 1962. CRIhas now merged with the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education inCancer (ACTREC) set up by DAE at Navi Mumbai.

TMH-NICE — an artificial replace-ment of bone

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support and attention for service and research. TMH is alsorecognised as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Cancer Preven-tion, Early Detection & Screening. The first registered Tissue Bankin the country supported by the IAEA, operates at TMH. Thisfacility provides freeze dried, radiation-preserved allografts frombone, amniotic tissues and dura mater.

TMC is running the After Completion Therapy (ACT) Clinicwhich provides appropriate supportive care to the cancer survi-vors. The Rehabilitation Research Centre (RRC) offers a varietyof services and devices for improving the quality of life of treatedpatients.

Under a pioneering programme, the benefits of state-of-the-artdiagnostic expertise of TMC are reaching the doorsteps of the vil-lages around Barshi village (Maharashtra). A Telepathology Sys-tem for cross consultation of pathology slides, operating over a

stretch of 500 kilometres, employs the latest information-technology network for transmissionof slide images from Barshi to the expert team at the Tata Memorial Hospital. Diagnosticadvice thus reaches the remote areas almost immediately, saving precious lives.

In the field of radiodiagnosis of cancer, a surgical Gamma Probe that can localise sentinelnode for early breast cancer detection has been developed by BARC. The probe, which is animport substitute, has been undergoing performance evaluation at the Rajiv Gandhi CancerInstitute, New Delhi.

Water ManagementBARC has developed a number of desalination tech-

nologies based on multi-stage flash (MSF) evaporation,reverse osmosis (RO) and low temperature evapora-tion (LTE). Using these technologies, desalination plantshave been developed for providing potable water inrural areas and on ships, and water for industrial uses.

To utilize waste heat from nuclear reactors, BARChas been setting up a 6300 cubic metre/day combinedMSF-RO Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant atKalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. The plant will utilize seawa-ter, steam and power from MAPS for achieving costeffective desalination of sea water. The 1800 cubicmetre/day desalination stream of the plant, that is basedon reverse osmosis process, has been commissioned. Itis now producing potable water from seawater. TheMSF based stream is under construction. The hybridplant has a number of advantages such as production oftwo qualities of water, low energy requirements andlesser chemical treatment. The plant will meet the needsof the process water for the Madras Atomic PowerStation and the drinking water for the neighbouringpeople.

1800 cubic metres/day Sea WaterReverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plant build-ing and membrane modules. This is oneof the two streams of the NuclearDesalination Demonstration Plant atKalpakkam

The Picture shows brachy-therapy being given to apatient

45

A small (30 cubic metre/day) desalinationunit, based on low temperature evaporationtechnology, and using waste heat of CIRUS, isbeing set up at Trombay.

Environment Friendly TechnologiesBiogas Plant

For environment friendly disposal of solidurban waste, the concept of traditional biogasplant has been modified to employ bacteria thatthrive in hot conditions. Hot water required forthe purpose is made by using solar power. Basedon this approach, two biogas plants (named asNisarga-runa), of 1 and 4 tonne capacity each,which process kitchen waste and paper to gen-erate methane as fuel and high quality soil con-ditioner manure, have been developed and madeoperational at Trombay. These plants are fastbecoming popular with civic authorities manag-ing solid wastes, and large size eateries.

Hygienization of SludgeBARC has successfully established technol-

ogy for hygienisation of sludge generated bytown sewerage. A plant for sludge hygienisation(SHRI) set up at Baroda, has been operatingcontinuously for years. The sludge is hygienisedusing radiation.

RO Plant set up at Satlana village, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Sludge Hygienisation Research Irradiator(SHRI) facility at Vadodara, Gujarat

Nisarga-runa Plant at Trombay

Flow-sheet of SHRI

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Industrial applications of RadioisotopesRadiation technology covers a range of industrial applications. These

include radiography, gamma scanning of process equipment, use ofradiotracers to study sediment transport at ports and harbours, flowmeasurements, pigging of buried pipelines, hydrology and waterresource management, and many more.

BRIT processes over 500 kCi (kilo curie) of Cobalt-60 activity atRAPPCOF, Kota and manufactures radioisotope based equipment forindustrial and other applications, and provides radiation processing andhygienisation services to industry. For radiography examination ofindustrial components, BRIT supplies Iridium-192 sealed sources andremotely operated radiography cameras (ROLI-1) to industry, and blood

irradiator to blood banks. Over 700 consignments of Iridium-192 sealed sources, totaling about900 terra Becquerel (over 24,000 curies) activity, are annually supplied for radiography exami-nation of industrial components.

The Board also exports radioisotopes and related equipment to countries such as UnitedKingdom, Germany, Bangladesh, Egypt, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Syria and Tanzania.

For various hydrological investigations, BARC provides isotope related services such assediment transportation, gamma scanning leakage detection and others. These services haveled to considerable monetary savings to the nation.

The studies conducted at BARC have immensely contributed to the detection and rechargeconditions of ground water bodies. These include evaluation of the groundwater recharge con-ditions in the Delang-Puri sector of coastal Orissa, determination of the origin of thermalwaters in the geothermal areas in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Himalayas, and estab-lishment of the ancient course of the legendary ‘Saraswati’ river in Western Rajasthan.

Major activities relating to hydrology include evaluation of recharge measures at coastalfresh groundwater system of Thiruvadanai, Tamil Nadu; sustainability of deep ground watersat Kuttanad, Kerala; detection of fluoride contamination in ground waters of Karnataka; solu-tion of leakage/seepage problems of a few dams in Kerala and Rajasthan; origin of groundwa-ter along paleo-channels in Jaisalmer district, Western Rajasthan, and seepage and source ofsalinity in the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana Command Area, Hanumangrah, Rajasthan.

Studies conducted by BARC on sediment transport at almost all the major ports haveresulted in increasing the intervals between desilting campaigns which saved a huge cost ofdesilting operations. Studies on bed load transport at Kolkata and Karwar ports have helped inport-expansion programmes. A nucleonic suspended sediment concentration gauge developedat Trombay, has proved to be a useful tool of the dredging operation in ports.

Using radioisotope tracer techniques, a major study on the dilution and dispersion of thesewage disposed off into sea at the Colaba outfall in Mumbai, was conducted by BARC.

BARC’s expertise in gamma scanning is being used by major petrochemical industries fortroubleshooting in process equipment such as examining distillation towers and packed bedcolumns, detecting leaks in buried pipelines, industrial process controls etc.. Other major stud-ies carried out by BARC include detection of leakage points using Cobalt-60, in 350 km longnatural gas pipeline of the Gas Authority of India, and gamma scanning of distillation anddegasser columns for Mumbai and Baroda based companies.

Using radiotracing techniques, recently, leaks in the heat exchangers of the Indian OilCorporation’s Panipat Refinery, Haryana and Tamilnadu Petroproducts Ltd. Chennai, Tamil

ROLI-1 camera

47

Nadu were detected. These techniques were also used in the effective management of the oilfields of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission.

BARC’s radiotracing expertise is being used by the industrial units in many diverse ways.Gamma scanning is a non-destructive technique for solving online problems in industrial

process columns. Using this technique, recently BARC has successfully conducted investiga-tions on a depropaniser column of the Reliance Industries Ltd., Hazira, Gujarat, and carried outshielding integrity tests for different DAE facilities.

BARC’s expertise in gamma scanning has resulted in minimizing downtime and hence pro-duction losses, which could be of the order of several crore of rupees per day for such big units.

Leakage in pipe is being detected with the help ofradiotracer

Radiotracer studies on a trickle bed reactorof a factory

Radiotracer testing in action in a sugar mill

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Beam TechnologiesIn the fields of radiation technologies and services, Laser systems and Electron Beam (EB)

Accelerators are the areas where India is one of the front runners.DAE’s research organisations viz. Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT) in Indore, Madhya

Pradesh and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, are engaged in the devel-opment of a wide variety of applications based on unique properties of lasers. Expertise hasbeen developed in the areas of Laser systems, Electron Beam processes and facilities, andPlasma devices.

The industries which are beneficiary of the EB technology, are the heat shrink materials,diamond industry, rubber industry, irradiation of semiconductors, food preservation, medicalsterilization, radiation therapy, and radiography.

In view of the important role of electron beam in various fields, DAE had set up an electronaccelerator based experimental facility in 1987-88 at Trombay. The Department is currentlydeveloping electron accelerators for radiation processing of paints, wires, O-rings, pulp sheetsand other industrial products, agricultural produce and sterilization of medical products.

Radiation induced crosslinking of polymers improves properties of inexpensive commonthermoplastics. In view of the large demand potential in this area, BARC has been workingwith major cable manufacturers to indigenously develop electron beam crosslinked cables. Incollaboration with the Sriram Institute of Chemical Research, New Delhi, the Centre hasdeveloped a special formulation of PVC based material which on radiation cross-linking, leadsto a product that can withstand temperature upto 105 Celsius. To induce uniform crosslinking,a rotating multi-spindle conveyor system was designed at Trombay. The process has beencommercialised.

BARC has successfully developed a 500 keV Accelerator, now housed at BRIT Complex,Navi Mumbai. The accelerator has been in regular operation for surface modification studies.Industries such as M/s Reliance India Ltd. are using it for crosslinking of plastic sheetsand granules. M/s Hindustan Lever Ltd. are planning to irradiate its brand of wheat flour byutilising this facility. BARC and IIT-Madras, Chennai are pursuing radiation damage studies onmaterials.

The ILU-6 accelerator facility of BARC set up at BRIT Complex, Navi Mumbai hasrendered over 800 hours of radioprocessing during the year 2002-03.

CAT has developed a 750 keV accel-erator which will be a range of applica-tions where the required depth of irra-diation does not exceed 1-2 mm.

For commercial exploitation of elec-tron beam technology, BARC is settingup an Electron Beam Centre at Kharghar,Navi Mumbai. SAMEER (Society forApplied Microwave Electronics Engi-neering and Research), a society of theDepartment of Information Technology,is collaborating in the project.

The Centre will house 3 MeV and10 MeV electron beam accelerators andlaboratories. This facility will be the hubElectron Beam set up at Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.

49

of research and development in the area of industrial accelerators and their applications. To putthis technology on a strong footing, other institutions such as CEERI, Pilani will also be contrib-uting to the programme.

CAT has developed a 750 keV DC accelerator which can give 20kW electron beam power.This accelerator has applications in radiation processing of paper pulp, surface modifications,paint and resin curing and various other industrial applications.

In addition, a machine based on microtron for radiotherapy, and accelerators for radiationprocessing of agricultural products and sterilization of medical products, are being developedhere.

Single and multibeam carbondioxide lasers developed at CAT, have been given to differentinstitutes and industries for various material processing applications. High power lasers coupledwith CNC workstation, are being regularly usedfor cutting of metal and non-metal sheets, weld-ing, and surface modifications.

High Power Pulsed Electron AcceleratorsHigh power pulsed electron accelerators

are used in producing flash X-rays and highpower microwaves. These have a number ofapplications in the industry, nuclear power sec-tor and the strategic areas. BARC has beendeveloping two such accelerators namelyKALI 5000 and Linear Induction Accelerator(LIA). KALI 5000 is undergoing commission-ing trials and subsystems of LIA are in theadvanced stage of completion.

Laser Systems for Industrial ApplicationsBARC has developed a number of laser based devices. The recent ones include a laser

based projectile speed-measuring instrument commissioned at the Defence MetallurgicalResearch Laboratory (DMRL), Hyderabad, and Surface Profilometer for measuring rough-ness. For measurement of the equation of state of materials, various shock diagnostic systemsare being set up at Trombay.

CAT has also developed a number of laser systems having varied industrial applications.A 10 Gigawatt peak power Nd:glass laser is being used for laser driven shock studies in themega bar range. When focused on targets, this laser can produce an intensity of more than1013 Watts/sq cm.

At Indore, a transverse flow continuous wave carbon dioxide (CWCO2) laser, capable ofgiving 20kW output power has been developed and made operational. This is the highestpower industrial laser available in India so far. This laser is in use for the deep penetrationwelding of thick metal plates, laser surface hardening and laser cladding of engineering compo-nents.

A 3.5kW industrial CWCO2 laser developed earlier at CAT, has been in use for industrialapplications such as laser profile cutting of sheets to develop prototype magnets for accelera-tors, profile cutting of titanium sheets for sublimation pumps, welding of end plug of PFBR fuelclad tube, and others. A high repetition rate TEA laser and a 10kW CW CO2 laser developed

KALI 5000, undergoing commissioning trails atTrombay

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at CAT are used for paint strippingand concrete scabbling respectively.A Nd:YAG based fully computer con-trolled laser welding system, devel-oped at the Centre, has been in usefor many years, for welding of theheart pacemaker, by a private com-pany.

Several other systems such aslaser marker, micro-drilling system,diamond cutting system incorporat-ing Nd:YAG lasers, have also beendeveloped. Recently, an optical fibrecoupled Nd: YAG laser system hasbeen developed for remote cutting &

welding of nuclear components in radioactive environ-ment. Many laser based instruments have also beendeveloped. These include copper vapour laser for cut-ting and microdrilling in reflecting materials such as cop-per, laser fluorimeter to detect trace quantities of ura-nium in water samples; laser based non-contact dimen-sion measuring instruments, and projectile speed moni-tor and free space laser voice communicator. Units ofDAE are collaborating with M/s Bharat Electronics Ltd.(BEL) to produce some of the equipment on a commer-cial scale.

CAT has successfully done laser scabbling and drilling of concrete, which can have poten-tial applications in decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

Two-way Communication Equipment usingLaser Beam. This equipment, developed atBARC, generates telephone quality communi-cation.

Laser-based Speed Monitor Equipmentdeveloped at BARC

Plate cutting by laser developedat CAT.

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The research centres of DAE are engaged in basic research in the areas relevant to theprogrammes they are pursuing. In addition, the autonomous research institutes, supported bygrant-in-aid by DAE, are the centres of excellence in basic research that ranges from math-ematics to computers, physics to astronomy, and biology to cancers.

Mathematics & ComputationIn the field of mathematics and

computation science the frontlineresearch work is being pursued atvarious units of DAE. Tata Insti-tute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) carries out academicprogrammes in algebra, algebraicgeometry, Lie group, egodic theory,number theory, combinatories andtopology at Mumbai and applicationsof mathematics at Bangalore;Harish Chandra Research Insti-tute, Allahabad,UP, carries outresearch in advanced fields of math-ematics and theoretical physicsincluding astrophysics, high-energy physics, condensed matter physics and mathematical phys-ics, and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu is engaged in theresearch in theoretical physics, mathematics and computer science.

Since 1991, BARC has been engaged in the development of supercomputers using parellelprocessing. The Centre has developed a very high speed Anupam-Xenon/128 supercomputer.The computing speed of this supercomputer is observed to be higher than 340 giga floating-pointoperations per second (giga flops) on high performance unpack benchmark programme and isabout three times faster than the 64-node supercomputer developed in July 2002.

So far, 37 Anupam supercomputers have been commissioned at leading research anddevelopment, and educational institutes in the country.

In basic research in natural sciences such as physics & astrophysics, chemistry and biology,following are the major activities of DAE research organisations including its aided institutionsof DAE :

PhysicsThe Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa carries out research activities in condensed

matter and physics relating to high energy, nuclear, atomic physics and accelerators and otherrelated areas. Ion Beam Accelerator is a major experimental facilities at the Institute. Theresearch setup here is used by the researchers from within and outside the Institute.

At the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, the research in physics covers the work onunderstanding the ground state of open string theories, which possess tachyons. Supergravitysolutions with a positive cosmological constant are the other major areas of studies.

The National Facility for High-Field NMR at TIFR provides state-of-the-art services toresearchers. Studies have resulted in several advances in the mapping of biomolecules.

BASIC RESEARCH

Supercomputer Anupam

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BARC monitors seismic activities from the medium aper-ture array at Garibinanur, Karnataka, Delhi Seismic stationsand Trombay station. Seismic monitoring and data processingfacilities located at Mumbai, Gauribidanur and Delhi continueto function satisfactorily. These facilities are being upgraded.

In addition to routine seismic analysis, research is also car-ried out in surface wave studies, development of analysis soft-ware and other front line areas.

Superconductivity is the area which holds a great promisefor the future. A short sample test facility has been completedat BARC to characterize samples of super-conducting cablesat liquid helium temperature with a maximum current carryingcapacity of 1500 A. The required magnetic field in this set up isgenerated by the indigenously built Nb-Ti superconductingsolenoid. IGCAR has been working towards the developmentof SQUID based systems for material technology includingnon-destructive testing.

A Radiotelescope Array, set up in the Nilgiri Hills nearOotacamund, Tamil Nadu, has been in use for studies inradioastronomy for decades. It has been used in the studies ofdistant extragalactic radio-sources and interplanetary objects.

Another international class astronomy-research facilityGRACE is being set up by BARC at Mount Abu, Rajasthan.GRACE comprises four radiotelescopes namely the TACTIC,MACE, BEST and MYSTIQUE. The TACTIC array has beendeployed to observe the active galaxies and the Crab Nebula.The performance of this telescope is being optimized. The designand development of the other telescope facilities are progressing.

At Narayangaon, near Pune, Maharashtra, the Giant MetreWave Radio-Telescope (GMRT) with 30 gigantic parabolicdishes, is busy probing the universe. Set up by TIFR, the tele-scope, is a frontline research facility in radioastronomy and isworld’s most powerful radiotelescope in its range.

ChemistryBARC offers specialised analytical chemistry services to vari-

ous user organizations within DAE, and outside. The type of samples analysed cover a widespectrum of materials such as metals and alloys, organic and organometallic compounds, inor-ganic compounds, rocks and minerals, nuclear and strategic materials, high purity materials,environmental and biological materials and others.

To provide state-of-the-art analytical and chemistry related services to nuclear power plants,research reactors and heavy water plants and to carry out research in the frontier areas ofchemistry, the existing facilities have been augmented. BARC has developed a process fordiamond coating using indigenously designed equipment.

GRACE at Mount Abu,Rajasthan

Giant Metre Wave Radio-Telescope at Narayan-gaon, near Pune,Maharashtra

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BARC’s Centre for Compositional Character-ization of Materials (CCCM) at Hyderabad pro-vides high quality analytical services to variousdepartmental, governmental and private institu-tions. Many academic institutions such as univer-sities and colleges are supported for their spe-cific analysis requirementets.

BiologyAt Trombay, the research in bio-sciences is

directed towards evolving high yielding food crops,delaying or preventing post harvest losses byincreasing shelf life, developing newer modalitiesfor low dose cancer radiotherapy and employingmolecular and isotope techniques in basic biologyfor disease diagnosis and finger printing of indi-viduals and population.

The National Centre for Biological Sciences of TIFR at Bangalore has been working on anumber of new research initiatives in the frontline areas of modern biology.

The scientists at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkatta are engaged in researchelucidating the structure function correlation of biomolecules at the cellular and molecular level.They have been able to determine the 3D structure of different protease inhibitors. Spectro-scopic studies on protein and peptide structure, conformation and folding of enzymes and cyto-skeletal proteins have been done.

Cancer ResearchThe Tata Memorial Centre,

Mumbai has set up the AdvancedCentre for Treatment, Research andEducation in Cancer (ACTREC) atNavi Mumbai. The Centre thatcomprises the basic and clinicalresearch wings and an educationalcomplex, will carry out mission ori-ented research and development oncancers prevalent in the Indian sub-continent. The research investiga-tions at ACTREC are nowfocused on cutting edge technologyof genomics, proteomics, moleculargenetics, bio informatics and genetherapy to find solutions to problems of common cancers relevant to India.

The construction of the Clinical Research Centre at ACTREC has been completed. It willbe fully equipped to carry out Phase-I / Phase-II clinical trials of new anti-cancer drugs devel-oped nationally and internationally, including the emerging areas of cancer therapy.

Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education inCancer (ACTREC), Navi Mumbai.

STEP Zeeman Atomic Absorption Spectrometerat the Centre for Compositional Charactri-zation of Materials, Hyderabad

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This centre will develop research programmes in partnershipwith the Tata Memorial Hospital, and will also conduct educa-tional programmes and human resource development.

Accelerators in Basic ResearchDAE has established capability in design, construction and

operation of particle accelerators used in nuclear research, iso-tope production and radiation processing. The Variable EnergyCyclotron (VEC) at Kolkata, 14MV Pelletron Accelerator atMumbai, Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) Indus-I at Indore,Folded Tandem Ion Accelerator (FOTIA) at Trombay, are themajor accelerator facilities in the country. Indus-II at Indore andSuperconducting Cyclotron and Radioactive Ion Beam accel-erator facility at Kolkatta are under construction.

Synchrotron and its UtilizationThe Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT) is constructing

Synchrotron Radiation Sources (SRS) for basic and appliedresearch. Indus-1, comprising a 20 MeV microtron, a 450 MeVbooster synchrotron and a 450 MeV storage ring, has been inregular operation. The construction of 2.5 GeV Indus-2 is in

progress. Only a dozen countries have the capability in designing and construction of suchcomplex accelerators.

Folded Tandem Ion Accelera-tor (FOTIA) at Trombay

In the mid-fifties, a Cockroft-Walton generator, for 1 MeV pro-tons, was available at TIFR,Mumbai, to produce high energy neu-trons and study their behaviour.A 5 MeV Van de Graaf generatorwas installed in Trombay in 1961 andbecame the main facility for study-ing nuclear reactions.

The Variable Energy Cyclotron(VEC) at Kolkata, was one of thelargest engineering projects under-taken by physicists in the country.More than ten major public and pri-

vate sector industries were involved in equipment and machinery supplies for the project. Thelargest component manufactured in the country, was the giant H-shaped electromagnet, weigh-ing in all 262 tonnes, about six meters long, over two meters wide, and nearly three metershigh.

The cyclotron delivers beams of high energy particles - protons of energies between 6-60MeV, deuterons between 12-65 MeV and alpha particles between 25-130 MeV.

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Current was stored in Indus-1,for the first time, in April 1999. Sincethen, Indus-1 has been operatingroutinely. The two beamlinesnamely, the Reflectivity Beamlinesdeveloped by CAT and the AngleIntegrated Photo Electron Spec-troscopy Beamline developed bythe Inter-University Consortium ofUGC, are in use by the researchersfrom DAE units, academic institu-tions and national laboratories.Recently, BARC has also commis-sioned a beam-line for AngleResolved Photoelectron Spectros-copy.

The source designs for variousbeam-lines for Indus-2 have been evolved.

Cyclotrons & Other AcceleratorsThe Variable Energy Cyclotron (VEC), set up by BARC in 1977 in Kolkata, provides

protons, deuterons and alpha particle beams for research in nuclear fields and production ofradioisotopes. The cyclotron is running with Oxygen and Neon beam for the experiments.Sulphur and Nitrogen Beams have also been developed. The Cyclotron is utilized by 36 nationallaboratories and universities. The Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source at VEC isa unique facility for research with heavy ions. The heavy ion accelerator programme hassucceeded in providing the heavy ion beams beyond 6 MeV/ nucleon. For the study of exoticnuclei, an indigenously designed and fabricated Isotope Separator-On-Line (ISOL) system hasbeen set up.

Currently, VECC is constructing a K500 Superconducting Cyclotron and a RadioactiveIon Beam (RIB) facility for accelerating radioactive ions.

For providing light and heavy ion beams for use in basic and applied research in nuclear,atomic and material sciences BARC had commissioned a Folded Tandem Ion Accelerator(FOTIA) in April 2000 at Trombay. Recently, facilities for Rutherford back scattering havebeen established at the accelerator and a new facility of coincidence Doppler broadening havebeen added to it.

The BARC-TIFR Pelletron Accelerator Facility at Mumbai,that has been operating forover a decade, has made an impact internationally, in the field of nuclear research. To furtherincrease the beam energy of Pelletron, a superconducting linear accelerator (LINAC) hasbeen set up. The LINAC has been completed and in its phase-I operation, ion beam ofSilicon-13(+) of 85 MeV energy was accelerated to 130 MeV from the Pelletron accelerator.

Fusion & Other Plasma TechnologiesThe Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Ahemdabad is operating Aditya Tokamak for the

studies on high temperature magnetically confined plasmas. The studies conducted on thistokamak have yielded important information on the nature of particle transport.

Synchrotron Radiation Source Indus-1 set up atCAT, Indore

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To address physics and technology issuesrelated to advanced tokamak configurations, theIPR is developing a Steadystate Superconduct-ing Tokamak (SST-1). The components andequipment for this Tokamak are undergoing test-ing for integration.

Material SciencesIn the area of material science, efforts are

directed towards the development of materialsfor pressure vessels, clad and control elements,multiphase alloys and structural intermetallics,refractory metals and alloys, preparation ofradiation sources, ultra high purity metals, andother special applications.

National SecurityOn May 18, 1974, India conducted a peaceful underground nuclear experiment at Pokhran

in Rajasthan desert. Here, after twenty four years, on May11 and 13, 1998, India successfullyconducted five nuclear tests. These included a thermonuclear device, a fission device andthree sub-kiloton nuclear devices. The Department is continuing implementation of necessaryresearch and development as well as manufacturing activities to meet the national policy ofcredible minimum nuclear deterrence.

The sketch showing relative positions ofvarious components in SST-1 vessel

Full scale prototype of Steadystate Supercon-ducting Tokamak (SST-1) cryostat andvacuum vessel

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Technology Transfer & Collaborative Programme From the inception of the Nuclear Energy Programme in India, the Indian industry has

been DAE’s partner in progress. The vendor development programme of DAE has led toimproving capability of Indian industry in the field of high technology. In turn, the close interac-tion between DAE and Indian industry, has resulted in the PHWR programme reaching a stageof maturity and attaining self-reliance in all the facets of the programme.

The multidisciplinary research activities carried out in DAE research centres, have beengenerating, as a spin-off, several technologies that are transferred to industry, and providetechnical services that have been benefiting industry. These technologies include various mate-rials and alloys, equipment, tools and techniques, mutation induced seeds, tissue culture andfood preservation technology, lasers and accelerator based systems for medical and industrialapplications.

Electronics & InstrumentationTo meet the hi-tech instrumentation needs of the nuclear technology, a strong R&D base

was created in electronics and instrumentation, first at TIFR and later at BARC. The kno-whow and the products developed at Trombay in the area of electronics had led to the settingof the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL) at Hyderabad in 1967. During 70’s and80’s ECIL pioneered the television revolution in the country by bringing out indigenous black &white and colour television sets and also rural rebroadcast systems.

ECIL, that pioneered the electronics and computer revolution in India, has now developedinto a multi-product and multi-disciplinary organisation providing key technology inputs, systemintegration and system solutions in the areas of information technology, strategic electronics,communications, control and automation, instrumentation and components.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Instrumented PipeInspection Gauge(IPIG)

developed at BARC

It was at TIFR that activities in the field of electronics were housed and built up in theinitial stages. Early interest was mainly in the context of the instrumentation needed forexperiments in nuclear physics and cosmic ray research. BARC initiated a precision com-ponent programme in 1960. Eventually, a wide range of components and equipment such ascarbon resistors of superior quality, zener diodes, thermoelectric junctions, oscilloscopesand the like, which were not yet produced in the country, were made at Trombay.

In 1967, about 300 young scientists and technicians moved from Trombay to Hyderabadto form the nucleus of the various production divisions of Electronics Corporation of IndiaLimited (ECIL). In many areas in electronics, the Corporation developed impressive capa-bilities that India did not have either in the private sector or in other Government institutions.In the field of strategic electronics, ECIL is still the leader.

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Software expertise of ECIL has contributed to automation in the banking sector, controlroom and dial-100 automation for the police, message switching systems for defence andtelecom sectors, management information systems for the ports, municipal corporations andmarket yards and others. The company has provided countrywide SPC telex networks, mes-

sage switching networks and maintenance systems for telephoneexchanges, and has contributed to the technology solutions, inthe areas of command, control, communications, computers &information / intelligence systems. Nuclear and thermal powerplants, steel plants and process industries are equipped with ECILcontrol systems developed through in-house R&D.

The DAE research centres are engaged in the developmentof sophisticated electronic systems, instruments and compo-nents for nuclear power programme and various other applica-tions.

This synergistic interaction with the universities and the insti-tutes, the research centres of DAE directly interact with them,and the synergy created by this interaction is proving very fruit-ful both to DAE and these academic institutes.

Under its collaborative programme with the academia, DAEresearch centres have signed a number of memoranda of under-standing (MoU) with institutions, including educational institutes,universities, IITs and others. Recently, BARC has signed a MoUfor the development of prototype mobile robot with IIT-Kanpur,and mathematical models, analysis and optimisation of magneticcircuit of magnetic jack machines and inductive proximity sen-sors, with IIT-Delhi. The antenna platform unit for Multi-modeRadar of light combat aircraft is under development jointly byBARC & ECIL, for Aeronautical Development Authority(ADA).

Under the scheme, BARC has funded research at IIT-Bombay for Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), and

IGCAR has funded IIT-Madras for some of the R&D jobs of PFBR.

Research-Education LinkageDAE has always supported synergistic interaction amongst the national laboratories and the

university systems through a number of mechanisms such as Inter-University Consortium,grant-in-aid to institutes of national eminence, funding of extra-mural research and others.

Utilisation of DAE’s research facilitiesDAE and the University Grants Commission (UGC) had signed a MoU in 1989 for setting

up Inter-University Consortium of DAE Facilities (IUC-DAEF) at Indore. The Consortiumfunctions under the control of UGC. Under the programme, DAE research facilities such asresearch reactors at Trombay, Cyclotron at Kolkata, Indus-1 at Indore, and facilities at othercentres, are made available to researchers from universities, institutes and other places.

Control Room of Kaiga AtomicPower Station set up by ECIL

Doubly curved Antenna manu-factured by ECIL, for strategicapplication

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Academic ProgrammesThe research centres of DAE are recognized by the universities of their region, as the

centres for research leading to postgraduate degrees. A number of scientists and engineersare recognized as post-graduate teachers by the respective universities. The employees areencouraged to register and obtain research degrees based on the work done in these researchcentres. In addition, BARC and CAT have arrangements with some universities under whichDAE scientists along with the university faculty, select research scholars for pursuing researchleading to Ph.D. in basic sciences.

Grant-in-AidDAE has been extending grant-in-aid to seven institutes of national eminence engaged in

basic and applied research ranging from natural sciences, mathematics and astronomy tofusion research. During the financial year 2002-2003, the grant-in-aid of over Rs. 310 crorewas provided by DAE to these institutions.

There has been a growing synergy between these research institutions and the researchand development centres of the Department. Several joint projects were undertaken betweenthe DAE units and the aided Institutions.

DAE funds cancer hospitals in the country which support primarily small projects and radia-tion related equipment for cancer treatment. The financial support provided in this regard dur-ing 2002-03, was to the tune of Rs. 4.24 crore.

The Department has signed a “Tripartite Agreement” with the North-Eastern Council andthe Government of Assam, for revitalization of the Dr. B. Barooah Cancer Institute (BBCI),Guwahati. This hospital is a regional centre for cancer treatment and control in the North-Eastern Region.

Funding of Extra-Mural ResearchDAE encourages and promotes scientific research in

universities, institutes and laboratories in the areas of rel-evance to the Department. This is done through the Boardof Research and Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) and theNational Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM) both atMumbai, .

BRNS supports high quality R&D projects and laysemphasis on collaborative programmes amongst DAEorgnisations and the organizations outside the Department.Financial assistanace is also provided to organize sympo-sia/conference/workshops on topics of relevance to DAEprogrammes.

To initiate young persons in a research career, BRNSawards projects under the DAE-Young Scientists ResearchAward Scheme. The Board also awards Dr. K S KrishnanResearch Associateship to talented young scientists andengineers. Recently, DAE-BRNS Senior Scientists Schemehas been instituted to utilize the expertise of retired scien-tists/engineers who were involved, during their servicecareer, in high quality research in DAE units, national labo-

Structural Integrity Testing andAnalysis Centre(SITAC) Building76 x 2 ton actuators

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ratories, universities, or institute. BRNS has also launched “DAE Graduate Fellowship Scheme”.Under the scheme, the Department selects upto 50 students from those already selected byIIT’s for admission to M.Tech programmes. After completion of their M.Tech., the studentsundergo orientation programmes for four months at Trombay and are subsequently absorbedinto DAE units as Scientific Officer-C.

During the year 2002-03, BRNS approved 69 new projects and renewed 183 on-goingprojects. It provided financial support to about 100 conference/symposia.

DAE has entered into collaborative programmes and has set up major centres in the aca-demic institutions. These include collaboration with agricultural universities for propagation ofmutant varieties developed by BARC, funding the development of shielding window glass bythe Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata, and of industrial tubes bythe Central Electronic Engineering Research Institute (CEERI) Pilani; setting up of a LINACat the University of Pune for fast kinetics research, and the Centre for Software Design andVerification at IIT-Bombay.

Recently, DAE has approved setting up of “Advanced Seismic Test Facility at the StructuralEngineering Research Centre, Chennai”, and the “Application of Radiation and RadiotracerTechniques in Agricultural Research and Multi-location Testing of BARC Crop Varieties atJawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalay, Jabalpur”. A gamma scintillation camera has beeninstalled at the Bombay Veterinary College, Mumbai. This centre will provide diagnostic facilityfor various animal diseases.

DAE, through the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) is engaged in promot-ing excellence in higher mathematics, education and research in the country. The Board imple-ments programmes which include development of mathematical centres, scholarships toresearch fellows at doctoral and postdoctoral levels, travel assistance to young mathematiciansfor attending conferences/seminars etc., support to mathematics libraries, assistance to confer-ences, monitoring mathematics olympiads, and others.

In collaboration with the International Mathematical Union, NBHM has also initiated schemesfor making mathematical literature accessible through electronic-communication.

Science & Mathematics OlympiadsThe National Board for Higher Mathematics selects and prepares Indian students for par-

ticipation in the International Mathematics Olympiad. During July 7-19, 2003, the Indian team ofsix students participated in the International Mathematics Olympiad at Tokyo, Japan. Five of thesix students won 4 silver and 1 bronze medals.

International Research CollaborationDAE is sharing its experience with other nations, in the areas of nuclear agriculture, nuclear

medicine, radioisotope technology and specialised services. The Department offers trainingfacilities, fellowships, scientific visits, etc. to foreign scientists, and provides the services of itsscientists for expert assignments to other countries both through IAEA and to the countrieswith which India has bilateral agreements for cooperation in the field of peaceful uses ofatomic energy.

DAE is pursuing collaborative research programmes under Indo-German, Indo-French andIndo-Russian bilateral agreements and other schemes.

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The research centres of DAE have been partici-pating in a number of International Research Collabo-rations. The Department had signed an agreement withthe European Organisation for Nuclear Research,CERN to contribute initially in kind USD 25 million tothe Large Hadron Collider (LHC). LHC is world’slargest particle accelerator under construction. Theunits of DAE collaborating with CERN are makingin-kind contribution by providing sophisticated equip-ment, developing software and providing experts. Theitems to be supplied by DAE to LHC include super-conducting corrector magnets, quench protection sys-tems, precision mangnets positioning jacks, and oth-ers. CAT has developed superconducting correctormagnets, transferred technology for the manufactureto industry, and supplied magnets to CERN. The otherunits of DAE, such as the TIFR, SINP and IoP arepartners in the several experiments planned at CERN.

For installation at the Brookehaven National Labo-ratory (BNL), USA for its STAR experiment, VECC,alongwith four other research groups from the Insti-tute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar and universities atChandigarh, Jaipur and Jammu, is concentrating onthe development of PhotonMultiplicity Detectors(PMDs). The Centre had earlier developed a PMDfor the ALICE experiment of BNL.

For the COSY accelerator in Germany, BARChas fabricated a state-of-the-art scintillation detectorsystem ENSTAR.

MANAS chips on cathode pad chambersfabricated at SINP under CERN-INDIAcollaboration

Breaker Electronic Panel supplied by theElectronics Corporation of India Ltd.(ECIL) to CERN

One of the superconducting sextuplecorrector magnets (MCS magnet assembly)supplied earlier by CAT to CERN

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Human Resource DevelopmentTo nurture human resource, the Department runs a well structured training programme for

its scientists/engineers; programme under the inter-university consortium, for utilisation ofDAE research facilities; Enrichment of higher science education through interaction of itsexperts with university system, and training facilities/fellowships extended to countries throughIAEA or under the bilateral agreements.

As a part of human resources development, a number of training courses, seminars, sym-posia and workshops are regularly conducted by the DAE units. The Training School at Trombayand its affiliates at CAT, Indore, NFC, Hyderabad and NPCIL, conduct specialised training inmultidisciplinary nuclear and allied technologies.

As a part of continuing collaboration between India and Vietnam in the field of nuclearsciences, BARC set up Vietnam-India Nuclear Science Centre (VINSC), at Dalat, Vietnam,and supplied several equipment and instruments to the Centre.

To generate manpower for various information technology based projects and programmes,ECIL, a public sector undertaking of DAE, imparts training to students and corporate bodies invarious areas relating to information technology, including various IT enabled services. Thistraining is imparted through ECIL’s training centres and its franchisees.

International RelationsIndia has been a designated member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic

Energy Agency ( IAEA) since its inception. In September, 1994 the country was elected asthe Chairman of the Board of Governors of IAEA for one year.

India offers training facilities, fellowships, scientific visits, etc. to various countries. It alsomakes available the services of its scientists as experts, to various countries under the IAEAtechnical co-operation schemes, and the countries with which we have bilateral agreements.

BARC takes an active part in the Regional Co-operative Agreement (RCA)/IAEAprogrammes.

The Indian scientists/engineers regularly participate in international symposia, workshops,conferences and meetings held under the auspices of various international/multinationalorganisations and the IAEA.

The three units of DAE viz. the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), NuclearFuel Complex (NFC) and the Atomic Mineral Directorate for Research and Exploration (AMD)are the members of the World Nuclear Association (WNA), a global non-governmental tradeorganisation concerned with nuclear power generation and all other aspects of the nuclear fuelcycle.

In 1957, when the programme objectives were getting clearer, the need for a regular inputof manpower was foreseen, it was decided to recruit on a regular basis a certain number ofscience and engineering graduates, expose them to a one year training course (in areasrelated to nuclear science and technology), before they were assigned to work in the variousR&D programmes. For this purpose a Training School was started in 1957.

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DAE is an active member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) andparticipates in peer reviews in a number of countries including USA, Japan and South Korea.IGCAR has also played an active role in the International Working Group on Fast Reactors.

The World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) has so far completed peer reviewof four atomic power plants at Kakrapar, Narora, Kaiga and Rawatbhata. These peer reviewsenable the Indian plants to compare their performance with the world wide best industry prac-tices. A large number of NPCIL engineers have participated in the WANO peer review car-ried out at various plants in the world.

Last year, on a request from IAEA, India participated in the Agency’s programme forsearch of orphaned radiation sources in Georgia. The Indian experts team joined IAEA toGeorgia, to ascertain situation regarding the radiological emergency. India also supplied medi-cines costing about Rs. 1,00,000/-, and supplied GM Survey Meters and Aerial GammaSpectrometry equipment to IAEA costing approximately Rs.3,00,000/-.

CONCLUSIONThe PHWR technology developed indigenously, is a commercial success, and the nuclear

technology has reached the state of self-reliance. The nuclear power plants are working welland have achieved high capacity factors comparable with the international nuclear power gen-erating utilities. The PHWR design has been scaled up. The successful research and develop-ment of fast breeder technology has given the confidence to DAE to embark on an ambitiousprogramme based on fast breeders. Towards thorium utilization, the technology developmentendeavour has motivated the Department to take the challenge of design and development ofAdvanced Heavy Water Reactor.

The technologies developed at DAE organisations promise better quality of life to the peopleof India. Applications of radiation technology to health-care are reaching lakhs of people alle-viating their miseries, even in remote areas of the country. Nuclear agriculture is contributing toincreasing the agricultural output and preservation of food. It has strengthened post-harvesttechnology and food processing, benefiting both the farmers and the agro-product exporters.Radioisotopes and tracer techniques have added to the productivity of industry and commercein many ways.

Because of DAE’s wide-ranging capabilities in nuclear technology, India is now a nuclearweapon state.