Indian Nuclear Sector

Indian Nuclear Sector

This article deals with ‘Indian Nuclear Sector.’ This is part of our series on ‘Science and Technology’ which is important pillar of GS-3 syllabus . For more articles , you can click here

Aim of the nuclear research in India

• Peaceful use of the nuclear energy
• Power generation
• Applications in the agriculture
• Medical sciences, industrial application etc

Organisational set up

Department of Atomic Energy( DAE)

• Formed  in 1954
• Headquarters – Mumbai
• Directly under PMO
• Responsible  for the Nuclear energy including nuclear power and research

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board( AERB)

• Setup in 1983
• Under Atomic Energy Act ,1962
• For regulating nuclear sector

Some institutions running under DAE

1.R&D sector

BARC

• Bhaba Atomic Research Centre
• Headquartered in Bombay
• Formed in 1954 in Trombay (Mumbai)
• Involved in research and development (R&D) in the field of Nuclear Energy.
• Made  research reactors like Apsara (1956), Zerlina (1961) etc

IGCAR(Indira Gandhi Centre for Advanced Research)

• Headquartered in Kalpakkam
• Formed in 1981
• Made various reactors for producing energy   . Eg Tarapur (1969), Rawatbhata (1981) etc
• Currently working on PFBR (2nd Stage Reactor)

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology

• Situated in Indore
• Doing work in advanced technology like Atomic Energy , Nano Tech, robotics etc

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

• Situated in Kolkata

Atomic Minerals Division (AMD)

• Situated in Hyderabad
• Looks after availability of Nuclear Fuels in India 

2. Public Sector Undertakings

NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd)

• Situated in Mumbai
• Incharge of First stage of Nuclear Plants
• All 24 Nuclear Energy  Plants in India are working under it

BHAVINI 

• Bhavini = Bhartiya Nuclear Vidyut Nigam Limited
• Situated in Kalpakkam
• incharge of second stage -> PFBR operated by it

Uranium Corporation of India ltd (UCIL)

• Situated in Jaduguda
• Extract Uranium and process it to yellow cake

Indian Rare Earth ltd

• Situated in Mumbai

3. Industrial sector

Heavy Water Board	Mumbai
Nuclear Recycling Board	Mumbai
Nuclear Fuel Complex	Hyderabad
Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology	Mumbai

4. Aided institutions

TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental research)	Bombay
Tara Memorial Centre	Bombay
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics	Kolkata
Institute of Physics	Bhubaneswar
Institute of the Mathematical sciences	Madras

India and Atomic Bomb

• Indian Government formed Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) post independence which has conducted 2 successful Nuclear tests till date

1st	May 1974	Smiling Budha	Based on Nuclear Fission
2nd	May 1998	Shakti	Both Nuclear Fission and Fusion (Hydrogen bomb)

• Indian Nuclear Program is considered better than rest of nuclear powers of the world because
  • India has adopted ‘No First Use Policy’ .
  • Indian Atomic Bombs are under Civilian Government.
  • Indian Nuclear Bombs are of minimal capacity of destruction .