PUBLISHED BY THEDEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAVOL. 39/NO.5-6/Nov.-Dec. 2005

Genetic improvement of crop plants through induced mutagensis to benefit the farming community is

in progress at BARC. In this endeavour, so far, 26 varieties have been released for commercial cultivation

of which 10 are Trombay groundnut (TG) varieties. Among the 10, TAG-24 and TG-26 varieties

became very popular and extensively cultivated in several states in the country. BARC is supplying seed

of TG varieties for conducting front line demonstrations in the farmer’s fields in general including Adivasi

areas. Above : A woman farmer in Sattupally village, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, proudly

exhibiting the harvested groundnut TG-26 from her field.

Trombay Groundnuts bring prosperity in Tribal Area

(more on page 20)

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The Fast Breeder Test Reactor(FBTR) at Indira Gandhi Centre forAtomic Research, Kalpakkam hascompleted twenty years of operationon October 18, 2005. Conceived as atest-bed for the irradiation of fuels andmaterials for the fast reactors and atraining ground for mastering thechallenges of sodium technology andfast reactor operation, FBTR was builton the lines of the French Rapsodie-Fortissimo reactor. Built and operatedwith little external assistance, FBTRhas proved to be a symbol of IGCARresilience, self-reliance and ingenuity.

FBTR is a 40 MWt, sodiumcooled, loop type fast reactor, withtwo primary/secondary sodium loops,four steam generator modules anda 13.5 MWe turbine generator. Thebasic design of the nuclear systemswas obtained from CEA, France andwas adopted with modifications whichinclude the incorporation of steam

FBTR TURNS TWENTY

generators in place of sodium-air heatexchangers and an unique, low power(13 MWe), high pressure (125 bars)and high temperature (480°C) turbineof indigenous design. In addition tosupplying the design, the Frenchtrained a few personnel in Rapsodieon operational aspects and alsotransferred the manufacturingtechnology of some important nuclearsystem components.

Even at the conceptual stage,FBTR was proposed to be builtindigenously. The indigenouscomponent of FBTR was more than80%–no mean achievement consi-dering the state of the Indian industriesin the seventies and eighties. Civilconstruction started in 1972, and civilworks were completed by 1977.Unlike pressure vessels, fast reactorcomponents are thin walled, long andslender, with stringent dimensionaltolerances.

Since nuclear systems of fastreactors cannot be flushed with waterduring commissioning to removeconstruction debris, the assembly ofcomponents at the works and erectionat site had to be done with meticulouscare under nuclear clean conditions.The Department and the Indianindustries successfully took on thechallenges. All the components exceptsteam generators were installed by1984. Sodium was procured in theform of bricks from an indigenoussource, purified in a small facility inthe Engineering Hall at IGCAR,transported to the reactor in a specialtanker and charged into the reactorwithout any hitch – no mean task,considering that the experience till thenwas only limited to handling sodium inlaboratory scale or in small loops. Itwas a credit to the meticulous totalquality management adopted duringconstruction that uninterrupted sodium

P. V. Ramalingam

Director, ROMGFast Breeder Test Reactor

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

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flow could be established immediatelyin all the loops, with sodium purityunimpaired-less than 10 ppm ofoxygen and plugging temperature ofabout 125°C.

FBTR core was originallyconceived with 65 fuel subassembliesof MOX fuel with 30% PuO

2 and 70%

UO2, with the uranium enriched to

85%. It was originally thought thatenriched uranium would be obtainedfrom France, but in parallel, thefeasibility of MOX fuel with 70% PuO

2

was studied. The limited studiesindicated problems of compatibilitywith sodium and difficulties infabrication of fuel to the requiredspecification. Due to non-availabilityof highly enriched uranium, a bolddecision was taken to go in for highPu carbide fuel. Extensive out-of-pilestudies indicated that this fuel wouldwork. Being an unique fuel withoutany international irradiation experienceor data, another bold decision wastaken to use the reactor itself as a selfdriven irradiation facility for this fuel.This resulted in lowering the core sizeto 23 subassemblies and reducing the

reactor power to 10.6 MWt, to beginwith.

The first criticality of FBTR onOctober 18, 1985 signalled the startof the second stage of India’s nuclearenergy programme and catapultedIndia into a select club of nations withfast reactors, viz. USA, France,Russia, UK and Japan. Steamgenerators were put in sodium servicein November 1989, after connectingthe steam generator modules to thesecondary sodium loops. In January1993, water was valved into the steamgenerators after commissioning thesteam water system and the steamgenerator leak detection system,which is very critical for mastering thesteam generators of fast reactors. Thereactor reached the rated power of10.5 MWt for the small carbide corein December 1993. Superheatedsteam with conditions sufficient forrolling the turbine was produced inJuly 1997 and the turbo-generator (TG)was synchronized to the grid. With this,FBTR fulfilled all its missions as a fullfledged power plant.

Reflection of Fuel Handling

Sodium Jet from Siphon Break PipeGuide Tube in Sodium

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In 1994, a decision was taken to go infor a 76 subassembly core of slightlydifferent composition (55% PuC +45% UC), that will take the reactorpower to 37 MWt. Subass-embliesof this composition were inducted in1996, surrounding the MK-I fuel.FBTR power has since beenprogressively raised, with the reactorpower reaching 17.4 MWt in 2002.

FBTR has completed 12 irradiationruns so far. It has so far operated for36,000 hours and generated 2,45,000MWh of thermal energy and 5 millionunits of electrical energy. Performanceof the safety critical and safety relatedsystems has been excellent. Thesteam generators, which are criticalfor the success of fast reactor prog-ramme, have operated for 20,000 hwithout any leak. It may be noted thatthe steam conditions viz. pressure andtemperature, in FBTR are the highest

among all the reactors in India. TheTG has been in service for 5000 hours.Each sodium pump has operated formore than 1,20,000 h without anyproblem. Sodium purity is so wellmaintained that when viewed insidethe reactor through the periscope, itshines as a mirror, so much so thatmany of the reactor internals could beinspected from their reflections insodium. Fuel pins removed from thereactor after 18 years of residencetime retain their shining appearanceand even the identification numbersengraved on the pins could be easilyread in the hot cells during post-irradiation examination.

Perhaps, the most gratifyingperformance is that of the uniquecarbide fuel. Being an untested fuel, itwas initially rated for a linear powerof 250 W/cm and burn-up of 25,000mega watt days/tonne. Based on post-

irradiation examination of the fuel atdifferent stages, we have been ableto raise its linear power to 400 W/cmand target burn-up to 155,000 Megawatt days/tonne. The fuel has crosseda burn-up of 150,000 Mega watt days/tonne without any pin failure.Indications are that the fuel willwithstand burn-up levels of even upto170,000 Mega watt days/tonne alandmark performance by any fastreactor fuel.

The maximum annual activityreleased to atmosphere so far is aminiscule fraction of the permittedrelease. Cumulative occupationalexposure so far is only 50 man-mSv(5 man-rem). During the past 20 years,there has been no significant event ofabnormal radioactivity release,personnel or area contamination orpersonal exposure, thus confirming thatsodium cooled reactors areecologically way ahead of other typesof reactors.

Several experiments related toreactor physics and reactor safetyunder postulated incidents have beenconducted, all of which have confirmedthe inherent safety features of FBTRdesign.

With its neutronic flux one orderhigher than PHWR’s, FBTR wassuccessfully utilised to study theirradiation creep behaviour of theZr-Nb alloy developed indigenously forPHWR. About 100 days of irradiationwas carried out, to simulate 1000 daysof operation in PHWR, and theindigenous alloy was found to conformto international standards. The presentmission of FBTR as an irradiationfacility is to irradiate the MOX fuel ofPFBR composition at its design linearheat rating. For this, the test fuel hasbeen enriched in uranium by addingU233 recovered at IGCAR byreprocessing J-rods from CIRUS. ThePFBR test fuel has so far seen a burn-up of 52,000 Mega watt days/tonneas against the target of 100,000 Megawatt days/tonne.

Fuel Pins Taken out of the Fuel Subassembly for Post-Irradiation Examination

Photo-micrographs of Carbide fuel at 25, 50 & 100 GWd/t Burn-up

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The significant benefit that accruedby the operation of FBTR is that itproduced the full complement ofpersonnel, fully competent in theoperation and maintenance of fastreactor systems covering the entiregamut of reactor technology, namelyfast reactor physics, operating sodiumsystems, operation and maintenanceof sodium equipment, sodiuminstrumentation, sodium handling,sodium fire fighting etc. The initialbatch of ten engineers was trained inRapsodie and Phenix reactors inFrance. They in turn trained the entireFBTR personnel. Just as operation andmaintenance personnel of PHWRwere initially trained in CIRUS reactor,FBTR is a cradle for training thepersonnel of future fast reactors.Already the training of first batch ofshift engineers for PFBR is in progressat FBTR.

The road to success need notalways be smooth, especially in anascent technology that is being builtindigenously. Build on our own. Therehave been two major incidents, fromeach of which FBTR returned, fortifiedwith knowledge. During an in-pile fueltransfer for performing a low-powerphysics experiment in May 1987, amajor fuel handling incident took place.A sturdy tube called the Guide Tube,which guides fuel into the reactorduring fuel loading, got bent by about320 mm and could not be removedfrom the reactor. The heads of 18nickel and stainless steelsubassemblies in the core also got bent.The Guide Tube was cut below a setof equalisation holes using a speciallydesigned remote cutting machine, andwas removed in two pieces. All carewas taken to ensure that the cuttingchips do not fall into the reactor.Damaged reflector subassemblies inthe path of rotation were identifiedusing periscope with sodium drainedto uncover the subassembly heads, andremoved using specially designedgrippers. Reactor operation could beresumed only in May 1989. This

incident led to the development ofnovel inspection techniques such as airultrasonics and under-sodiumultrasonics at IGCAR. The cutting tooldeveloped by Central Workshops,BARC, for cutting the guide tube, wasa master-piece of mechanical design,and its modified version is presentlybeing deployed for cutting the coolantchannels of PHWR for coolantchannel replacement. There was anincident of primary sodium leak in2002, when 75 kg of radioactivesodium leaked inside the purificationcabin due to manufacturing defect inan imported sodium valve. The leakwas contained within the inerted cabinand hence there was no sodium fireor release of radioactive sodium to theatmosphere. The leaky valve wasreplaced and the system wasnormalized in a record time of threemonths. There was no exposure to thepersonnel during the operations tonormalize the system. The leakedsodium was also converted into lowlevel liquid waste and disposed off.

Several VVIP’s have visitedFBTR, including former presidentsShri R Venkataraman & Shri GyaniZail Singh, former prime ministersSmt Indira Gandhi, Shri Rajiv Gandhiand Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee andpresent prime minister Dr. ManmohanSingh.

FBTR has crossed severalmilestones, but has to cross manymore. The carbide fuel has now beenproven, including its reprocessing andfuel cycle closure. The fuel chosen forthe next few power breeder reactorswill be MOX, from considerations ofcost and ease of handling. In order toget experience in the MOX fuel,FBTR now proposes to go in for ahybrid core with carbide fuel at thecentre, surrounded by high Pu MOXfuel. The carbide will be the driver fueland MOX will contribute to increasedreactor power. This core would be inplace by the end of 2006 and powerwill be raised to the target power. Thefuel composition chosen for MOX is

44% PuO2, which is being currently

used for actinide burning in the fastreactors in other countries. In additionto providing a rich experience in thefabrication and reprocessing of MOXfuel and its irradiation performance,this will also contribute to the currentinternational knowledge base on thisfuel. To accelerate the rate ofdeployment of breeder reactors formeeting the future energy demandseffectively, metallic fuels areenvisaged for the future powerbreeders. FBTR will be deployed totest these metallic fuels, including thedemonstration of closing the fuel cycle.There is also a plan to tap the breedingpotential of FBTR for generating U233

from Thoria. It is estimated that FBTRwill be able to generate about 100 kgof U233 in its lifetime.

From that stage in the seventies,when sodium was known to reactorengineers in India as a reactive metalbottled up under kerosene in thelaboratories, to have indigenously builta sodium cooled reactor, kept liquidsodium in continuous circulation fortwenty years with unimpaired purity,generated the nation’s first unit ofelectricity from a fast reactor andtaken the burn-up of a fuel which isthe only one of its kind in the world toa record high value of 150 GWd/t–allthese signify a proud technologicalfrog-leap for the country, reflectingmaturity in assimilating a novel andcomplicated technology. The expe-rience gained in the construction,commissioning and operation of FBTRfor two decades, surmounting varioushurdles on the long path, has indeedbeen a big morale booster providingthe necessary strength to embark onthe 500 MWe PFBR. When by themiddle of this century, India’s grid willbe powered by energy from a chainof fast reactors, FBTR will beremembered as the mother of fastreactors in India, and the harbinger ofIndia’s energy security and economicsovereignty.

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It is always a pleasure to visit thismagnificent campus of theDepartment of Atomic Energy in thegreat city of Mumbai. I am delightedto join the Indian Nuclear Society inrecognizing excellence in scientificachievement. My good wishes arewith you, in particular, today’s awardwinners, for your achievements in thecause of science.

It is a particular pleasure to be here,not merely because the BhabhaAtomic Research Centre is one ofIndia’s premier institutions, but alsobecause it enables me to pay tributeto the vision of titans such as Dr. HomiJehangir Bhabha and Pt. JawaharlalNehru. This institution symbolizes, inbricks and mortar, their aspirations forour nation. For its part, BARC haslived up to our expectations as a Centreof world-class excellence. I alsoacknowledge our debt to BARC fortraining generations of scientists todirect vital national programmes.Given Dr Bhabha’s abiding passion forphysics, it is fitting that we meet todayat the Bhabha Centre, in theInternational Year of Physics. And thefact that this also the centenary yearof Einstein’s now-legendary formulaE= mc2 makes this a most uniqueopportunity to be with you.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

In the light of his other magnificentcontributions to our nation, it iseasy to overlook Dr Bhabha’sachievements in his own subject. I amtold his work in elementary particlephysics is still cited amongresearchers. However, Dr Bhabha’sname will forever be associated withhis phenomenal contribution toinstitution-building in the formativeyears of our Republic. His ability toweave together diverse disciplines in

the institutions he built, was, of course,legendary.

Besides his formidable managerialskills, Dr Bhabha’s vision of ournational development strategysynchronized with that of PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru. In one ofhis last public addresses in 1966,Dr Bhabha ascribed the failure toadopt and continuously assimilatemodern technology as an importantreason for ancient societies such asours falling behind in the race fordevelopment. The affinity betweenDr Bhabha and Pt. Nehru was based

on a common vision that absorption oftechnology and investing indevelopment of indigenous andappropriate scientific capabilities werea sine qua non for rapid economicdevelopment. Nehru underlined that itwas “only by adopting the mostvigorous measures, and by puttingforward our utmost effort into thedevelopment of science that we canbridge the gap.” He also affirmed that

it was an inherent obligation of a greatcountry like India to “participate fullyin the march of science, which isprobably mankind’s greatest enterprisetoday”.

Much of what I have said aboutPanditji and Dr Bhabha is not new.However, it bears repetition tounderline the level of difficulty, at thatearly dawn of freedom, to build aclimate of opinion supportive ofexpending scarce resources onscientific and technological institutions.This was done without expectingimmediate returns, realizing thatbenefits would accrue to the nationover generations. History has borneout the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru. Iftoday we speak with pride of our

technological capabilities, it is largelydue to his vision of a new and modernIndia. Panditji’s commitment tocreating institutions of higher educationand science inspired visionaryscientists such as Dr Bhabha andDr Sarabhai to share his dream of avibrant, modern and secure India. It istheir vision of selfless service,dedication to science and theindomitable spirit of self-reliance thatyour Centre has inherited.

PM’s address at Indian Nuclear Society*

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh visiting the Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre (BARC) Super Computing Facility Centre, after the inauguration in

Mumbai on November 15, 2005.

*Address by the Prime Minister on November 15, 2005 at BARC

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Ladies and Gentlemen:In the five decades since the

Science Policy Resolution of 1958, theDepartment of Atomic Energy hasrecorded signal successes. You havevindicated the faith reposed in you byour country and I applaud youraccomplishments. But we cannot reston our laurels in this competitive age.The nation has heightened expec-tations from you. We now look to youto help realize our developmentalobjectives. We need you to redoubleyour efforts to achieve the long-awaited quantum jump in powerproduction. Our national objectiveinvolves a substantial increase in thecontribution of the nuclear sector inour energy mix, based on the three-stage process through Fast BreederReactor technology, culminating in theuse of our abundant Thoriumresources. There are importanttechnological milestones ahead but wehave every confidence that ourscientists will achieve each one. Thisis one area where science andtechnology hold the key to the nation’sfuture energy security and economicwell-being.

The need for success is all the morepressing as we strive to raise millionsof our people from the clutches ofpoverty. Our goal of eliminatingthe-age old scourges of hunger,poverty, ignorance and chronic diseaseneeds unprecedented effort by allinstitutions, and every element insociety. Fifty years ago, our scientistscreated the first wave of developmentbased on application of advancedresearch and modern technology. Thenation now looks to you once again, toraise the tempo of developmentthrough creation and application ofcutting-edge technologies. Thisrequires a renewed focus on ourmission and the passion to excel in allthat we do. In this competitive world,we cannot slacken in our efforts tocatch up with developed countries.

I fully realize that this goal will notbe reached solely through your ownisolated efforts. Government mustaugment research facilities to meetfuture challenges. I assure you of theGovernment’s fullest support toencourage R&D. Our Governmenthas been increasing investment in S&T.Ultimately, we aim to raise thisinvestment to around 2% of GDP,double the current allocation.However, to do so, we need to ensurethat our economy generates adequateresources. This is where ourtechnology sector, and indeed each oneof you, has a role to play. We mustalso devise innovative approaches tomaximize benefits from each rupeethat we spend.

Monitoring technological advanceselsewhere, and widening theinvolvement of our young scientists invarious projects, enables us to ensurethat learning opportunities and accessto new developments are not restrictedto a minuscule segment of ourpopulation. Emerging technologiesneed to be tracked, assimilated andadapted to our own circumstancesthrough concerted effort. Therefore,we need to greatly widen theabsorptive base among our scientiststo maximize dissemination oftechnology among our people.Dr Chidambaram has often spoken of‘Coherent Synergy’; a strategy ofnational scientific development takingplace simultaneously along multiplevectors, promoting synergy, with allthese vectors moving in the samedirection to ensure coherence.

This brings me to the announ-cement I made during my last visit here.At that time, I announced that theHomi Bhabha National Institute hadreceived recognition as a deemedUniversity. It is my fervent hope thatHBNI will seize this opportunity tobecome a major contributor to our poolof qualified scientific manpower. Thisis obviously one of the bestinvestments our nation can make in the

cause of development. This is all themore important given the obvious limitson our financial resources, to provideour institutions with the best facilitiesand faculty that they deserve.

With such constraints, it isimportant for us to pool our nationalresources and capabilities. We muststrengthen interaction betweenlaboratories, academic institutions andindustrial establishments. Ensuringhigh quality, cost - effective communi-cations infrastructure linking ourscientific institutions and laboratoriesis an important objective. Thedevelopment of an efficient “GridTechnology” linking our institutions—and our foreign partners—willrevolutionize communications in themanner that STD telephony re-connected our country. I am thereforeoptimistic that in the near future ourscientists, teachers and studentswill also be part of a networkedcommunity, interconnected with eachother and the rest of world.

At the same time, better physicalinfrastructure is not the only answerto better cooperation between ourinstitutions. Our systems andinstitutions must evolve a culture offlexibility, receptivity and adaptabilityto external ideas and personnel. I amhappy to learn that DAE and UGChave already initiated steps to furtherexpand upon the symbiotic relationshipbetween the Department and ouruniversities. Your recent initiativeunder the Inter University Consortiumfor DAE Facilities to expandUniversities’ access beyond thesubject of physics to your researchfacilities is commendable.

Apart from expanding interactionacross academic institutions domesti-cally, we must also focus on inter-national cooperation. Increasingly,large-scale scientific projects havemade it imperative for nations to joinhands, both to share costs and tobenefit from the largest pool ofexpertise. Some of these projects are

Continued on page 21

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Mr. President,Kindly accept congratulations on

behalf of my Government and my ownbehalf on your election as Presidentof the 49th General Conference. I amsure, under your able leadership andwith the support of your team and theSecretariat of the Agency, this GeneralConference will be able to accomplishthe tasks before it.

I take this opportunity to welcomethe entry of Belize to the membershipof the IAEA.

Let me also use this occasion toonce again congratulate Dr. MohamedElBaradei on his re-appointment asDirector-General, IAEA for anotherterm. We wish him all success andas in the past, we will continue to workin close cooperation with him inachieving our collective objectives inaccordance with the statute of theAgency.

Mr. President, the issues related toglobal climate change, sustainability ofenergy resources while meeting theever increasing energy needs tosupport economic development andconcerns regarding escalating trendsin fuel prices, point to the inevitabilityof nuclear power. Global nuclearrenaissance is now a reality.

India which constitutes one-sixthof the global population is on the rapideconomic growth path. A recent studyhas revealed that we will need toaugment our electricity generationnearly ten-folds in next four to fivedecades. This would be a significantfraction of global electricitygeneration. A large fraction of this

energy coming from nuclear powerwould be of immense benefit, in thecontext of environment andsustainability concerns, for India aswell as for the rest of the world.Nuclear energy is thus an importantand inevitable option for India. As apart of realizing this objective, wehave been pursuing a self-reliantindigenous nuclear power programme.This programme is tuned to realize ourlong-term energy requirements

utilizing our vast thorium resources.This is of crucial importance to us asour uranium resources are modest. Inthis context, let me quote from thestatement of our Prime Minister madein our Parliament on 29th July, 2005“Our nuclear programme in manyways is unique. It encompasses thecomplete range of activities thatcharacterise an advanced nuclearpower including generation ofelectricity, advanced research and

development and our strategicprogramme. Our scientists havemastered the complete nuclear fuelcycle. The manner of thedevelopment of our programme whichhas been envisaged is predicated onour modest uranium resources andvast reserves of thorium. While theenergy potential available in theseresources is immense, we remaincommitted to the three-stage nuclearpower programme, consisting of

Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors(PHWRs) in the first stage, fastbreeder reactors in the second stageand thorium reactors in the third stage.These would need sequentialimplementation in an integratedmanner. Our scientists have doneexcellent work and we are progressingwell on this programme as per theoriginal vision outlined by PanditJawaharlal Nehru and Dr. HomiBhabha. We will build on this preciousheritage.

Energy is a crucial input to propelour economic growth. We haveassessed our long-term energyresources and it is clear that nuclear

“....We call upon other advanced nuclear powers, and all those who have a stakein the future of nuclear energy, to come together for a constructive dialogue toevolve more effective measures that would stem the tide of proliferation withoutunduly constraining the peaceful uses of nuclear energy....”*

* International Atomic Energy Agency, 49th General Conference, Vienna,28th September 2005, Statement by Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic EnergyCommission and Leader of the Indian Delegation

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power has to play an increasing rolein our electricity generation plans.While our indigenous nuclear powerprogramme based on domesticresources and national technologicalcapabilities would continue to grow,there is clearly an urgent necessity forus to enhance nuclear powerproduction rapidly. Our desire is toattain energy security to enable us toleapfrog stages of economicdevelopment obtained at the leastpossible cost. For this purpose, it wouldbe very useful if we can accessnuclear fuel as well as nuclearreactors from the international market.Presently, this is not possible becauseof the nuclear technology restrictiveregimes that operate around us.”

While addressing at the GoldenJubilee Function of the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE) and the launchof construction of the Prototype FastBreeder Reactor (PFBR) atKalpakkam on October 23, 2004, ourPrime Minister had said:

“India is a responsible nuclearpower. We are fully conscious of theimmense responsibilities that comewith the possession of advancedtechnologies, both civilian andstrategic. While we are determined toutilize our indigenous resources andcapabilities to fulfill our nationalinterests, we are doing so in a mannerthat is not contrary to the larger goalsof nuclear nonproliferation.

India will not be the source ofproliferation of sensitive technologies.We will also ensure the safeguardingof those technologies that we alreadypossess. We will remain faithful to thisapproach, as we have been for the lastseveral decades. We have done sodespite the well-known glaringexamples of proliferation, which havedirectly affected our security interests.

The limitations of the present non-proliferation regime should not befurther accentuated by artificialrestrictions on genuine peacefulnuclear applications. Technologydenial and closing avenues for

international cooperation in such animportant field is tantamount to thedenial of developmental benefits tomillions of people, whose lives can betransformed by the utilization ofnuclear energy and relevanttechnologies.

We call upon other advancednuclear powers, and all those whohave a stake in the future of nuclearenergy, to come together for aconstructive dialogue to evolve moreeffective measures that would stemthe tide of proliferation without undulyconstraining the peaceful uses ofnuclear energy. Constraining thosewho are responsible, amounts, ineffect, to rewarding those who areirresponsible. The internationalcommunity must face up to theimplications of this choice. We in Indiaare willing to shoulder our share ofinternational obligations provided ourlegitimate interests are met. India hasactively embraced globalisation.There is no reason why nuclearenergy production should be anexception.”

We are happy that we are nowfeeling the winds of change. Wewelcome the statements of USA andFrance on this podium and the positiveand cooperative approach of severalkey countries in this regard. We lookforward to a rapid growth in nuclearpower generation capacity in Indiabased on full international civiliannuclear cooperation as we continueour efforts to develop appropriateindigenous technologies towardsrealization of the ultimate goal oflarge-scale utilization of thorium forenergy production not only in the formof electricity but also as hydrogen. Weexpect that the unique case of Indiaas a responsible country withadvanced nuclear technologiesdeveloped in a self-reliant manner, itslarge-scale energy requirementswhich have ramifications in terms ofprotecting the global climate, ensuringsustainability of energy resources andrestraining escalating spiral of fuel

prices, its impeccable record in termsof non-proliferation of WMD(weapons of mass destruction) andrelated technologies and adherence toall its international commitments wouldsoon result in lifting of all restrictionson India. Predicated on our obtainingthe same benefits and advantages asother nuclear powers, consistent withour national policy of maintaining theintegrity of our three stage nuclearenergy programme, and ensuring fullautonomy of our nuclear programmeof strategic and R&D significance,India would be prepared to takereciprocal steps in a phased mannerin keeping with the responsibilities andobligations of an advanced nuclearpower with the objective of full civiliannuclear energy cooperation withinternational partners. Since some ofthese steps will also includesafeguards on facilities of a civiliannature, selected by India on avoluntary basis, we will, at theappropriate stage, approach the IAEAin this regard.

Mr. President, we would like to seea rapid increase in nuclear powergeneration capacity in India well abovethe planned programme of achieving20,000 MWe by the year 2020. Thiscapacity could consist of imported lightwater reactors (LWRs) which run onimported fuel, domestic pressurisedheavy water reactors (PHWRs)which run on imported fuel, domesticPHWRs which run on domestic fueland Fast Breeder Reactors.Progressively power reactors runningon thorium would get added to this list.

Let me now report some of therecent developments in India. With thePHWR programme well on its growthpath and having established compre-hensive expertise in Fast BreederReactor (FBR) Technology, we havenow embarked on the development ofFBR-based second stage of our prog-ramme with the start of constructionof the 500 MWe Prototype FastBreeder Reactor launched in Octoberlast year. Our studies indicate that we

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should be in a position to supportaround 500 GWe power generationcapacity based on FBRs withplutonium bred from indigenouslyavailable uranium. We are certain thatFast Breeder Reactors by virtue oftheir crucial place in sustainabledevelopment of nuclear energy wouldcome centrestage worldwide in acouple of decades. The first 540 MWePHWR unit at Tarapur hascommenced commercial operationsabout 7 months ahead of schedule.Unit-1 of Kakrapar Atomic PowerStation has been operating continu-ously for more than a year. This is anIndian record. The indigenouslydeveloped unique Pu-rich mixedcarbide fuel used in the Fast BreederTest Reactor (FBTR) has performedextremely well crossing a burn-up of1,48,000 MWd/t, without a single fuelpin failure. One of the importantachievements during the year wasclosing of the fuel cycle of FBTR. TheFBTR fuel discharged at 100,000MWd/t has been successfullyreprocessed. This is the first time thatthe Plutonium-rich carbide fuel hasbeen reprocessed anywhere in theworld. As a part of development ofhigher burn-up fuel for PHWRs25 MOX bundles were successfullyirradiated to a target burn-up of about11,000 MWd/T. This year we haveintroduced additional 25 MOX fuelbundles in one of our PHWRs.

Construction of five PHWRs isprogressing on schedule. These alongwith the two 1000 MWe VVERspresently under construction atKudankulam in collaboration withRussian Federation, would contribute3420 MWe additional carbon-freeelectricity to the Indian grids in about3 years time.

We have taken up development ofsites for new nuclear power units andhave commenced work to identifyadditional sites for further expansionof the programme.

The design of Advanced HeavyWater Reactor, an innovative Indian

design aimed at moving further onthorium utilization route is underregulatory review. We intend toproceed further to take up itsconstruction after the review processis completed. Work on developmentof a Compact High TemperatureReactor with the aim of producinghydrogen, which could be the mostimportant energy carrier in the futureas well as development ofAccelerator Driven Systems thatcould sustain growth with thoriumsystems and enable incineration oflong lived radioactive wastes isprogressing well. The development oflaser-based Uranium-233 clean upsystem, a crucial element in thoriumutilization programme has madesignificant progress. The Steady StateSuperconducting Tokamak – SST-1would soon see the first plasma shot.We are looking forward to joining theITER project as a full partner.

The safety record of our nuclearand radiation facilities continues to beexcellent. During 2004, we had only1 event at level-2 and 4 events atlevel-1 of the International NuclearEvent Scale (INES).

En masse coolant channelreplacement and other safetyupgradation jobs in the Madras AtomicPower Station Unit-1 are nearingcompletion and the Unit is expectedto be back in operation before the endof this year. A comprehensive safetyreview of the Tarapur Atomic PowerStation which is in operation since1969 has been completed by ourregulatory body and implementation ofthe identified ageing management andsafety upgradation jobs will be takenup shortly.

On December 26, 2004, theEastern and Southern coasts of Indiawere hit by a tsunami. Unit-2 of theMadras Atomic Power Station whichwas in operation at this timeexperienced minor flooding in its seawater pump house due to tsunami -induced surges and was shut-down.Apart from this, there was no other

impact on the plant and the Unit couldbe brought back to operation withinone week after review of the incidentand clearance by the regulatory body.The excavated pit at the PrototypeFast Breeder Reactor constructionsite got flooded due to sea wateringress on account of the tsunami.The pit was dewatered and cleanedand, after incorporating necessarycorrective measures, constructionwork has been resumed. The tsunamidid not have any impact on theconstruction site of the two VVER-1000 NPPs.

In the area of accelerators andlasers, the second Indian Storage Ring,the 2.5 GeV Synchrotron RadiationSource – Indus-2, has been fullyassembled and integrated. All sub-systems have been made operationaland initial experiments to store 600MeV electron beam in the ring havebeen commenced. Laser - basedcoolant channel cutting technology hasbeen developed and successfullytested on one of the channels in aPHWR. This development will greatlybring down the man-rem consumptionduring the planned en masse coolantchannel replacement work in theNarora Atomic Power Stationreactors.

There has been a steady progressin expanding the benefits of atomicenergy for the society. Severalradiation processing plants based onCobalt-60 are under construction inprivate and cooperative sectors.Demonstration facilities for radiationprocessing of food and materials usingelectron beam accelerators are alsoin advanced stage of construction. AnAdvanced Centre for Treatment,Research and Education in Cancer(ACTREC) has been set up with thespecific mandate to undertake onmission-oriented basis applied andtranslational research on cancerprevalent in Indian subcontinent. Itwill also apply cutting edgetechnologies in the treatment ofcancer in partnership with industry and

11

leading institutions in India and abroadand conduct educational programmesand undertake human resourcedevelopment in different disciplines ofoncology. To meet the growingdemand of Teletherapy machines tocombat cancer, an indigenouslydesigned and developed state of artCo-60 Teletherapy machineBHABHATRON, has beencommissioned. We feel this productwould be very useful for fightingcancer in the developing world. Indianexperts are actively involved in theAgency’s “Programme of Action forCancer Therapy” (PACT).

The International Atomic EnergyAgency is playing a vital role in thepeaceful uses of nuclear science andtechnology in a safe and securemanner. As in the past, we have beenworking in close partnership with theAgency. Our experts are involvedactively in the Agency’s internationalproject on Innovative NuclearReactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO).India has committed itself to carry outan INPRO Joint Study for anassessment of an innovative nuclearenergy system based on hightemperature reactors for theproduction of hydrogen using theINPRO methodology. As a part ofthe INPRO programme, India is alsoparticipating in the joint study onInnovative Nuclear Fuel Cycles basedon Fast Reactors with closed fuelcycles.We look forward to theinitiation of phase-2 of INPRO.

In the area of knowledge manage-ment, our experts take active partin the Agency’s programme such asAsian Network for Higher Educationin Nuclear Technology (ANENT) andin the recently conducted WNU’s firstSummer Institute of Fellows havingan intense 6-week educationalexperience featuring some of theinternational community’s foremostleaders in science, engineering andenvironment.

Nuclear technology is knowledgeintensive. Development of individuals

is central to knowledge management.Nuclear industry needs well-trainedhuman resources and strong industrialinfrastructure for its exploitation. Highimportance has been given to HumanResource Development, right fromthe beginning of our programme.Recently our Prime Minister hasannounced the setting up of HomiBhabha National Institute as aDeemed University to provide aplatform for accelerating the pace ofbasic research as well as translationof basic research into development ofadvanced nuclear technologies.

We attach great importance to theTechnical Cooperation Programme ofthe Agency. As in the past, we havepledged and paid our contribution toTechnical Cooperation Fund in full andin time. In the year 2000, theDepartment of Atomic Energy hadentered into a Memorandum ofUnderstanding with the IAEA tofurther strengthen cooperation withthe Agency covering FellowshipTraining, Scientific Visits and ExpertServices. An agreement was signedlast month for streamlining theprocedures for activities covered bythis MoU. In the area of nuclearsafety and security, India ratified theConvention on Nuclear Safety andparticipated in the third reviewmeeting of the contracting partiesheld in April as an Observer. We alsotook active part in the amendmentprocess to the Convention on PhysicalProtection of Nuclear Materials.

India, United States and IAEAhave established a RegionalRadiological Security Partnershipprogramme (RRSP). Under thisframework, India offered to provideinfrastructure and expertise on aregular basis for conductingInternational Training Courses in Indiaunder the aegis of IAEA, on issuesrelated to the Security of RadioactiveSources and materials as also forlocating Orphan Radioactive Sourcesin countries which are unable toeffectively deal with them and which

seek assistance from the IAEA. Likein the past few years, India will beconducting the Regional TrainingCourse on Physical Protection ofNuclear Installations duringNovember 7-18, 2005 in Mumbai.

Last month, a five-dayinternational Workshop on externalflooding hazards at Nuclear PowerPlant Sites was organized atKalpakkam. The Workshop providedthe opportunity for experts toexchange experience and knowledgerelated to flooding hazards at NPPsites arising from various causesincluding tsunamis.

Mr. President, before I conclude,it is worthwhile for us to remindourselves on the eve of the GoldenJubilee year of the Agency, that theIAEA is the world’s centre ofcooperation in the nuclear field andwas set up as the world’s “Atomsfor Peace” organization within theUnited Nations family. The Agencyhas well established mechanisms torealise the full potential of atoms forsustainable development. With thehuge development deficit that stillexists, sustainable development iscrucially dependent on the enormouspower of atom. The challenge beforeus is to channelise this enormouspotential to world peace and prosperitywhile preventing its destructive use byirresponsible state and non-stateactors. Addressing this challengesuccessfully would change theperception of the Agency from just a‘nuclear watchdog’ to a ‘nuclearKamadhenu’, the Indian mythologicalcow, that symbolises an inexhaustiblesustenance provider for the welfareof the humanity. Once we realise this,a good part of cause for conflict shouldvanish. We thus have an uniqueopportunity here at IAEA to make alasting contribution to world peace.We owe this to this unique multi-disciplinary organisation and in factthe entire UN system.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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“A widespread atomic power industry in the worldwill necessitate an international society in whichthe major states have agreed to maintain peace.”

Fifty years ago, on October 12, 1955 the first InternationalConference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy was held in

Geneva, Switzerland. Present here are the excerpts of the addressof Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, who presided over the Conference.

“Mr. Chairman,I wish to thank this Committee for

having invited me to address it on thework of the International Conferenceon the Peaceful Uses of AtomicEnergy at Geneva, of which I had thehonour to be President. When I cameto the United States a few days ago Idid not expect to have to report onthe Conference, and consequently Iarrived without my notes andConference papers. Fortunately, Ihave been able to make use of thefacilities which are available here inthe Secretariat, although the time atmy disposal has been rather short forpreparing an adequate report on aconference which covered so wide afield and dealt with so complicated asubject as atomic energy. .... ”

“ .... A number of sessions of theConference were devoted toestimating the present and futureenergy needs of the world and theenergy requirements of individualcountries. In discussing this subject,involving very large amounts ofenergy, it is convenient to use anappropriately large unit, and I shallhere use a unit, denoted by ‘Q’, whichis equal to a million million millionBritish thermal units of energy,corresponding to the combustion ofsome thirty-three thousand milliontons of coal. It is generally agreed thatthe world is consuming energy at therate of 0.1Q per annum today. In apaper submitted by the UnitedKingdom, it was assumed that theminimum rate of increase of energyconsumption would be 2 per cent per

annum, while in a paper prepared bythe Secretariat of the United Nationsa high rate of 3-1/2 per cent per annumwas assumed, which could be attainedunder favourable conditions. Theformer assumption leads to aconsumption of energy by 2,000 A.D.,which is some 2-1/2 times the presentconsumption, while the higher rateleads to 572 times the present figure.It is difficult to project world energyrequirements with any confidencebeyond the end of this century.

World requirements of electricityare estimated to rise at an even fasterrate, the minimum being 3.4 per cent

per annum and the probable rate about6 per cent per annum, leading to a rateof consumption of electricity in2,000 A.D. which would be between9 and 19 times the present rate.

To estimate the future role ofnuclear power, estimates had to bemade of world reserve of coal, lignite,oil and gas, and several papers dealtwith this subject. Economic andtechnical questions are involved in theanswer, for we are not concernedwith the total physical quantities ofthese substances which are foundunder the surface of the earth, but tothe amounts which are considered tobe recoverable at reasonable costs.The figures will naturally be revisedupwards as new deposits arediscovered and improved techniquesmake possible the working of poorerdeposits. However, actual experienceduring the last few decades shows thatthe estimates of reserves have beencontinuously revised downwards, asmore detailed information provedearlier estimates to be over-optimistic.

Presiding over the First United Nations International Conferenceon Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva in 1955. The picture shows,from left to right, Mr. Max Petitpierre, President of the Swiss Confederation;UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold; Dr. Homi Bhabha, andProf. Walter G. Whitman, Secretary-General of the Conference.

13

The results of all the various estimatescan perhaps be best summarised in thestatement that total world reserves ofconventional fuel are equal in energyvalue very roughly to 100 Q. They maybe much less, but not much more.Taken in conjunction with what hasbeen said earlier about the rate ofincrease of fuel consumption in theworld, this would lead one to theconclusion that, so far as the world asa whole is concerned, reserves in theground of conventional fuels are morethan adequate to meet the total worldrequirements of energy for wellbeyond the end of this century.However these reserves are veryunevenly distributed throughout theworld and consequently some areasmay find it difficult to obtain the energythey require at prices they can affordto pay. Among these are areas inwhich the production costs are alreadyhigh, such as Europe; the denselypopulated areas of North Africa andSouthern Asia, where resources arelimited, and areas of Latin Americawhich have only small resources oftheir own. .... ”

“.... It was said earlier that worldreserves of conventional fuels appearsufficient to meet the actual worldenergy requirements well beyond theend of this century. This statement,however, does not give a completepicture of the actual situation. It isgenerally realised that the standard ofliving is closely related to the percapita consumption of energy. Thisvaries from 62.1 megawatt hours perannum per head for a highlyindustrialised country like the UnitedStates to 36.6 for the United Kingdomand 2.7 for India. There are largeareas of the world where the percapita consumption of energy is verylow. lf, for argument’s sake, it isassumed that the per capitaconsumption of energy in the entireworld were the same as in the UnitedStates today, and allowances weremade for a doubling of the world

population within the next hundredyears, which is the least that we canexpect, then the known reserves ofconventional fuels would beexhausted in under a century. Theyshow the absolute necessity of findingsome new sources of energy if thelight of our civilization is not to beextinguished because we have burntout our fuel resources.

To illustrate how acute the energyproblem is for some under-developedareas of the world, I quote somefigures from a paper dealing with theenergy problem in India. It wasshown in this paper that the resourcesof hydro-electric power andconventional fuels in India areinsufficient to enable it to reach astandard of living as high as thepresent U.S. level. Only a few figuresare necessary to establish this fact.The total reserves of coal in India areroughly 40,000 million tons or roughly110 tons of coal per head ofpopulation. The energy consumptionof the United States is equivalent tothe burning of some nine tons of coalper annum per head. Thus, India’s coalresources would be insufficient tomaintain a standard of living equal tothe present U.S. standard for morethan a decade. The total energyconsumption in India is about a tenththat of the United States, and of thistotal some 75 per cent is contributedeven today by the burning ofagricultural waste. The total hydro-electric potential of India is estimatedto be between 35 and 40 millionkilowatts of installed capacity. Theentire harnessing of this potentialwould yield only one-seventh as muchenergy as is already obtained todayby burning agricultural waste. In manyother areas of the world, the energyproblems are even more acute.These figures illustrate the ultimatenecessity of finding a new source ofenergy in some parts of the world.They show in a striking manner thatthe presently known reserves of coalare insufficient to enable many under-

developed countries of the world,which contain a major part of itspopulation, to attain and maintain forlong a standard of living equal to thatof the industrially most advancedcountries.

It is in this context that we turn toatomic energy. The Conferenceclearly shows that there will be noshortage of the atomic fuels uraniumand thorium. To quote from a papersubmitted to the Conference byMr. Jesse Johnson of the U.S. AtomicEnergy Committee “A nuclear powerera will have abundant fuel resources.The problem will be the efficient andeconomic utilization of these nuclearfuels... The world’s energy resourcesin the form of nuclear fuels far exceedthose of all other types of fuel. Thereare adequate resources of uraniumand thorium for a long rangeexpanding world power programme...as the nuclear power programmegrows and the search for uranium isextended, more information willbecome available about the resourcesfor the future. There is every reasonto believe that these resources will befar larger than those we areconsidering today.”

The important conclusion to bedrawn from what has been said aboveis, first, that our civilization cannotcontinue indefinitely on the basis ofthe conventional fuels alone, andsecondly, that uranium and thoriumcan support a progressively expandingworld power programme for manycenturies. Thus, even if the wide-spread use of atomic energy forpeaceful purposes faces us withpolitical and military problems, wehave no option but to solve theseproblems. .... ”

“ .... It was shown that we couldexpect to extract from a ton ofuranium as much energy as we getfrom 10,000 tons of coal. This iswithout taking into account the newfissionable material which is producedin the fertile materials U-238 andthorium in the course of the power

14

production. Breeding, which it wasdemonstrated should be possible inhomogeneous reactors in thorium, andin fast reactor in uranium also, wouldmake a ton of uranium yield as muchenergy as between one and threemillion tons of coal. To quote Mr.Johnson again, “The location ofnuclear power plants will not bedetermined by the availability of a localfuel supply. Nuclear fuel can betransported by air to any part of theworld and transportation costs willhave no measurable effect upon thecost of power.” For the first time, asfar as power resources areconcerned, mankind is in a position tobe liberated from the uneven andcapricious distribution of fuel sourcesby nature.

Papers were read on the atomicpower station of five thousandkilowatts which has now been inoperation for some time in the USSR,and on the design and operatingexperience of a prototype boiling waterreactor in the United States with apower output of 3,500 kilowatts. Thefirst large atomic power station to gointo operation with a capacity of50,000 kilowatts will probably be theone now under construction at CalderHall in the United Kingdom. Manyother prototype power stations arebeing planned and built in several partsof the world. Firm costs of atomicpower will not be available till wehave gained experience during thenext ten years from the operation ofthese power stations, but sufficient isknown to us to be able to concludethat in certain areas, and in specialcircumstances, electric power fromatomic energy could be competitivewith that from conventional sourcessuch as coal and oil even today. .... ”

“ ....Papers were also communi-cated at the Conference describing ingeneral terms two fast neutronreactors that are being built, andprototype power stations based onthem. Any one such reactor may be

estimated to require several hundredkilograms of concentrated fissilematerial, depending upon its size, thatis, enough fissile material to makemany atomic bombs. This and theprevious examples illustrate the closeconnection there is between thepeaceful and military applications ofatomic energy, and the safeguards thatwill be necessary to ensure againstmisuse. As I said, in my openingaddress to the Conference, “Awidespread atomic power industry inthe world will necessitate aninternational society in which the majorstates have agreed to maintain peace.”

Another remarkable feature whichthe Conference brought to light wasthe parallel work which has been donein secrecy till now in severalcountries. For example, no less thanfive countries had independentlydeveloped the same techniques for theextraction of uranium from certainores. The sessions on the fissionprocess are particularly significantfrom this point of view. Cross-sectionsfor the fission process in uranium-233,uranium-235, and plutonium-239, hadbeen measured independently inFrance, the United Kingdom, theSoviet Union and the United States,with remarkable agreement betweenthemselves. The scientists concernedgathered after the meeting in a non-scheduled session to draw up a tableof their results and were able to agreeon what they described as an“Agreed international value.” Thispoint is so important that I would liketo quote some of the figures as anexample — For the fission cross-section in plutonium-239, the UnitedKingdom scientists gave a figure of702, the USSR figure was 715, theUSA figure was 740, and the figurefrom France was 760, the agreedinternational value being 729. Sincefission cross-sections are crucial inthe design of atomic reactors, and forhigher energies are relevant tocalculations regarding the criticalmass in atomic weapons, this example

shows the unreality of the belief thatsecurity can be insured by secrecy,or the ability to develop atomicreactors and weapons is the monopolyof any single nation or group ofnations.

The sessions on biology andmedicine have shown the greatimportance of isotopes in the study ofthe phenomena of life. The discussionsindicated that all countries were aliveto the direct biological hazards ofradiation and that safe tolerance doseshave been established. On the otherhand, the discussion of the geneticaleffects of radiation clearly showedthat we have not yet enoughknowledge on which to base definiteconclusions, and that a concerted andmassive research effort on thisproblem is required, before we can bequite sure that no suffering will becaused to future generations. Thereis no cause for alarm, but till thematter has been fully studied andunderstood, it would be wise,wherever possible, not to permitpeople to be subjected to more thanabout a tenth of the dose consideredsafe at present. While there was adifference of opinion among scientistson this and several other subjects, it isimportant to note that the differenceshowed no national pattern.

This Conference arose out of thebold initiative of President Eisenhower.It is generally recognized that itsucceeded beyond all hopes andexpectations. Its success was due tomany factors. In the first place, it cameat a time when international tensionshad relaxed and there was a propitiousinternational atmosphere createdby the Summit Talks at Geneva. Itmay have made its own modestcontribution to a further improvementof the international atmosphere.Secondly, its success was due to thespirit and the manner in which all thedelegates played their part, and thegoodwill and determination of theparticipating nations to cooperate inthis great venture. ....”

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Oxygen-18 Isotope Enrichment Studies onPilot Plant Scale by Water Distillation

V. K. TangriHead, Heavy Water Division, BARC

Among the three isotopes ofoxygen, 16O is the most abundantspecies (natural abundance of 16O is99.76%, 17O is 0.037% and 18O is0.204%). Oxygen-18 has found moreattention due to its use in the study oforganismal energy expenditure andorgan specific utilization of glucose.The former uses Oxygen-18 as atracer to measure CO

2 production of

free-living tissues and organs.Oxygen-18 is the precursor ofFluorine-18, used in Positron EmissionTomography (PET). For PET mostwidely used technique is glucose(18F-fluoro-D-glucose) metabolismand is widely applied in the detectionand staging of malignancies epilepsyand other syndromes in clinicalpatients. 18FDG PET requires about45 minutes after intravenous admissionof 5.3 mCi of FDG. Fluorine-18 isotopeis produced insitu from Oxygen-18isotope in a cyclotron by (p,n) reac-tion, because half life of Fluorine-18isotope is very small (T

1/2 = 109.8

minute).BARC has setup a PET equipment

at the Radiation Medicine Centre(RMC), Parel, Mumbai, which is thefirst of its kind in India. It is findingwide applications, and a number ofmore units are likely to be setup in thecountry in near future. Thus there is aconsiderable amount of Oxygen-18requirement in near future. It wastherefore decided to setup an Oxygen-18 production plant by BARC.

As of now, all the known processeswhich led to light isotope enrichmentwere tested for their suitability inoxygen isotope enrichment. Theseinclude fractional distillation of water,oxygen, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide,thermal diffusion of oxygen or carbon

monoxide, electrolysis of water,chemical exchange etc. Out of allthese processes presently onlyfractional distillation of water isconsidered to be the mostcommercially viable process forOxygen-18 isotope production,worldwide, because it is safe, simple,extensive availability of inexpensive

raw material and no stringentrequirement of special material ofconstruction.

Presently there are only fourknown commercial Oxygen-18enriched water producers in the world.Oxygen-18 isotope enrichmentrequired for PET application is 95%and currently its cost is approximately$170/cc.

Studies on IndigenouslyDeveloped Phosphor BronzeWire Mesh Structured Packing

In view of the above anduncertainty of the supply infuture,Heavy Water Division, BARChas taken up the responsibility of

Overall View : Oxygen -18 Plant

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setting up a plant for producing1 kg/year Oxygen-18 enriched waterwith 95% isotopic enrichment. Toachieve this objective complete designand optimization of a distillationcascade employing 10 stages hasbeen done by the year 2004. Fordesign validation study, a small pilotplant has been installed at Hall-2,BARC. This plant consists of a single50mm diameter and 7500mm tallcolumn with three sections, in additionto re-boiler and condenser. Columnpacking used is phosphor bronze wiremesh woven structured packing,developed by Heavy Water Division,BARC. Basic control concept has

been incorporated to verify theautomation and controllability of thecolumn in long run. This column canalso take up the up-gradation ofdegraded Oxygen-18 enriched waterfrom PET reject.

Current objectives of the pilot plantare listed as follows:

1. Parametric optimization studiesfor different packing material(Phosphor bronze and SS).

2. Shapes and size (structuredand random) of columninternals.

3. Studies with differentfeedstock (ordinary water andheavy water).

Pilot plant operation was started inthe month of June 2004 and resultsobtained are highly encouraging.Samples drawn from various pointswere equilibrated with CO

2 and were

analyzed on a Isotope Ratio MassSpectrometer for their isotopicenrichment. The analytical supportwas extended by Isotope ApplicationDivision, BARC. Hydraulic columnperformance data has been generatedfor few pre-determined operatingpoints. The pilot plant studies are stillcontinuing for finding various operatingparameters.

Studies on Feedstock SelectionFeedstock comparative studies

have been conducted for light waterand heavy water. It is found thatenrichment ratio is less for heavywater as compared to light water as afeedstock. It is estimated that 5% extraplant volume is required even foravailable pre-enriched heavy water of(0.37%) Oxygen-18 isotopeconcentration from Heavy Water Plantcompared to light water. Moreoveroperating loss in terms of heavy watercost will be more even in case ofclosed loop operation.

ConclusionFrom the present study, it is

concluded that the phosphor bronzewire mesh woven structured packingdeveloped by Heavy Water Division,BARC is an excellent tower internalfor Oxygen-18 and can be used withadvantage for large size columns. Lightwater (ordinary water) is a moresuitable candidate as compared toheavy water as feed material. HeavyWater Division, BARC, is embarkingon developing random packing suitablefor Oxygen-18 enrichment for smallsize columns, which will be requiredfor the projected plant capacity.

Reboiler : Oxygen -18 Plant

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The Variable Energy CyclotronCentre (VECC) has been engaged inthe development of major projects suchas Superconducting Cyclotron, HeavyIon Acceleration with VEC andRadioactive Ion Beam Facility. These

are described in brief in the followingparagraphs :

Superconducting CyclotronThis is an essential project to

extend the scope of basic research in

Research and Development Projects ofVariable Energy Cyclotron Centre

nuclear physics and allied sciencesbeing carried out in VECC. Theenergy regime for heavy ionsachievable using electron cyclotronresonance (ECR) with VEC will begreatly extended with the help of thisaccelerator. The construction of thesuperconducting cyclotron will lead toimportant technological fall-out in thefield of superconducting magnets onindustrial scale. The cryogenictechnology to be developed is strategicin nature. The cyclotron underconstruction will be a national facilitycatering to the demands of variousresearch institutions and the universitysystem of the country. A provision hasbeen made to use the beam formedical application.

Heavy Ion Acceleration with VECThe advanced ECR heavy ion

source at VEC, delivers highly strippedheavy ion beams like O6+ , Ne8+ , Ar11+ etc. with very high intensity. It isnow proposed to accelerate theseheavy ion beams using VEC upto30 million electron volts/ampere(MeV/A). For efficient and reliableoperation of the entire accelerator,several systems such as vacuum,power supplies, radio frequency,diagnostics, need to be improved inperformance. Further, for an effectiveutilisation of the machine time, it isnecessary to have a stand-by ECRsource. Heavy ion beams upto30MeV/A will be available forexperiments as a national facility to theinstitutions and the university system.This energy regime for low massheavy ion is not available with thepelletrons even after upgradation.Heavy ion beams will also be used formaterial science and atomic physicsresearch.

Radioactive Ion Beam FacilityThe objective of the project is to

set up a facility for acceleratingradioactive ion beams upto the energyof 5MeV/A using a radiofrequencyquadrupole (RFQ) and a LINAC. This

A view of the Superconducting Cyclotron Magnet Iron with its pole cap lifted-up,Cryostat Assembly, and Cryogenic Distribution lines

18

will be a logical extension of theupgraded ISOL facility developed atthe centre during the eighth plan period.The significant work on the design anddevelopment has already been carriedout including construction of a RIBlaboratory. A unique facility for front-line research in nuclear physics,astrophysics, multidisciplinary activitieslike ion implantation, surface physicsand potential application in nuclearindustry and application.with radiactiveion beams, not available anywhere inthe country, will be provided to theexperimentalist . It will be a nationalfacility. This work is being carried outjointly by VECC and Saha Institute ofNuclear Physics (SINP ) .The linkagewill be with the university system andresearch institutions through itsutilisation. VECC and RIKEN(Japan) have established a scientificcollaboration for mutual cooperation inthe RIB facility at VECC and RIBfactory at RIKEN.

Advanced Computational FacilityThis is to gear up the computational

facility of VECC to cater to the needsof various users of cyclotron as wellas for the in-house acceleratorresearch groups. It is proposed toreplace the almost out-datedcomputers like ND-560 & Super-32with powerful Unix servers. A Highspeed networking , data acquisition &analysis for multidetector heavy ionexperiments are some of the items ofthe project.

Recovery & Analysis of Heliumfrom hot springs

After exploring the sources ofHelium from different hot springs( VIII th plan project ), the next phaseof activities centres around for therecovery and purification of Heliumcollected from hot springs ofBakreshwar & Tantloi so that it canbe used for the accelerator. Thisproject is valuable as this is a logicalextension of the on-going work.Helium is an essential commodity in

many modern technological processand research work particularly inatomic energy. Its usefulnesscombined with its general scarcity hasmade it a strategic material. It istherefore important to recover it fromlocal sources. The success of thepurification of Helium to cryogenicgrade 99.995% will definitely open upthe avenue for carrying out this activityon industrial scale.

International Collaboration for thestudy of Quark Gluon Plasma

To develop the detector system forcarrying out experiments of ALICECollaboration using high energy beamsfrom the existing accelerators as wellas the large hadron collider (LHC)under construction at CERN. Thedetector system is also proposed to beused with the relativistic heavy ioncollider (RHIC). This will open

MEGHNAD setup

STAR Photo Multiplicity Detector (PMD) manufactured at VECC and set up at theBrooke Haven National Laboratory, USA

19

institutes will be using the facility forexperiments which will address someof the important questions in heavy ionphysics.Material Science Research usingAccelerators

This project aims at carrying outradiation damage studies on thestructural materials such as zircaloyfor pressurised heavy water reactors,stainless steel for fast breeder testreactor etc. using VECC with light andheavy ion beams. This is a valuableextension of the research programmefor the utilisation of VEC. Theresearch data on the various damagestudies will guide for developing bettermaterials in terms of higher burnup,better corrosion resistance properties,better irradiation creep and growthresistance properties.

opportunities for the Indian group toparticipate in the experimentalprogramme using this facilities. Theparticipation in this sort of internationalcollaboration will enable VECC tohave an access to the most advancedand sophisticated technology. Furtherindian scientists can get an access touse the ultra high energy acceleratorfacilities for front line research in thefield of quark gluon plasma (QGP).The university system and the DAEunits like SINP are strongly involvedin the development and fabrication ofthe detector system. The participatinginstitutions will be taking part in thefront-line research experiments.

Heavy ion Experimental FacilityFor a modest and meaningful use

of heavy ion beams from upgraded

VEC machine, a survey was done toidentify some areas of current interestfor both basic and applied research.The high energy gamma rayspectrometer, based on BaF2

scintillators, the compact CsI (Ti)-PINphotodiode based charged particlemultiplicity filter array for channelselection in high spin spectroscopy, aresome of the modest facilities planned,which would address some of themajor questions relating to decay ofhot heavy nuclei and high spinphenomena in nuclei. These detectorsystems would either compliment orsupplement the multi-purpose detectorsystems (MEGHNAD) proposed bySINP. The augmentation of researchfacility has been planned keeping inmind the fact that a large number ofusers from universities and national

Three glasses of water from around the world - Libya,Australia and Vienna - sat on a table waiting for the ultimate“taste test”. They all looked identical. They all smelledalike. They all originated from local rain. The big differencewas, some of it fell recently and some thousands of yearsago.

The taste between the 140 thousand year old waterfrom Down Under and five year old tap water from Viennawas not distinguishable to dozens of water experts whotried and were fooled by the Mother Nature at the IAEAGeneral Conference water exhibit. Admittedly perhaps theAustralian water was a little saltier.

The exhibit showed that taste buds won´t tell you muchabout the age of water but chemical elements called

isotopes, can. Knowing the age of water reveals how longit has been underground. The younger it is, the morecommunities can pump away with the confidence thatrainfall is replenishing their water supply.

It is an opposite story for the 140 thousand year waterfrom the Great Artesian Basin in outback Australia, andthe 25 thousand year old water from the Kufra aquifer inLibya. These ancient waters are limited resources. Byknowing the age of water countries can better manageand sustain their freshwater sources. It is key informationthat scientists are sharing through IAEA-supportedprojects around the world.

The natural isotopes of the water molecule, hydrogen(namely deuterium) and oxygen (oxygen-18), as well ascarbon isotopes are studied using techniques collectivelyknown as isotope hydrology. Cheap and reliable, they tellscientists how much water is available, how often it isreplenished, where it comes from (and if it crosses nationalborders), and if there is any more to be found.

That´s vital information in a world where more than abillion people lack access to safe drinking water.

Isotope hydrology offers a way to better manage theplanet´s water resources and help prevent future crisis.

Source : IAEA Press Release

Revealing Water´s Mysteries Where Taste Buds Fail

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Genetic improvement of cropplants through induced mutagensis tobenefit the farming community is inprogress at BARC under SocietalVision. In this endeavour, so far,26 varieties have been released forcommercial cultivation of which 10 areTrombay groundnut (TG) varieties.Among the 10, TAG-24 and TG-26varieties became very popular andextensively cultivated in several statesin the country.

As a measure of popularization,BARC is supplying seed of TGvarieties for conducting front linedemonstrations in the farmer’s fieldsin general including Adivasi areas. OnMay 14, 2005 a Farmers’ Rally wasorganized in a tribal village Navali,District Nandurbar on, “SummerGroundnut Growers Tribal Farmers’Meet” under the auspices of KrishiVigyan Kendra (KVK), Nandurbarand Dongaryadeo TechnologyTransfer Mandal, Navali. Under oneroof about 100 tribal men, women,officials and scientists assembled.Among those who addressed thegathering were Prof. R. Navale,President, KVK, Nandurbar, Shri V.Kokani, Krishi Sabhapati, ZillaParishad, Nandurbar, Shri T.K.Savkare, Assistant General Manager,NABARD, Shri G. Dange, TrainingOrganizer, KVK, Nandurbar,Dr. G.S.S. Murty and Shri D.M. Kale,Scientists from GroundnutImprovement Section, BARC.

Prior to the gathering, theparticipants visited groundnut plots andwitnessed the advantages with TGvarieties. During summer 2005, KVK,Nandurbar had conducted fielddemonstrations with TAG-24 andTG-26 in 21 fields of farmers with

improved cultivation practices. In theadaptive trials, the recently releasedTG-37A variety was also grown inseven fields. One farmer, Shri SureshGavali had grown five varietiestogether, which was referred by KVKofficials as ‘Museum of GroundnutVarieties’. Shri Gawali was earlierharvesting 750 to 1000 kg pods perhectare with the local varieties duringKharif season (June - October).By using TG varieties, he startedobtaining 2500 to 3000 kg/ha. Amongthe varieties grown by him so far, hepreferred TAG-24 and TG-37A dueto their higher pod setting.

In his address to the farmers, ShriNavale expressed his gratitude for theparticipation and help received fromBARC for the benefit of localAdivasis and advised the farmers toseek guidance from the scientists toachieve higher yields. Shri Dangeinformed that in Nandurbar, the newly

developed district often referred asTribal District of Maharashtra, ground-nut was a major oilseed crop andgrown in Kharif season although yieldlevels were lower. In the recent past,farmers started growing TG varietiesboth during Kharif and summer(January - May) seasons and startedachieving higher yields compared tothe erstwhile varieties. During summer2004 farmers obtained as high as 5,000kg/ha pod yields. He and his team inKVK were enthused for the supportand guidance received from scientistsand officials, which he felt would goin a long way for the speedy transferof scientific information andtechnology to the Adivasis.

The salient features of TGvarieties, their advantages, cultivationpractices, seed storage, watermanagement etc. were explained indetail. The enthusiasm shown by thefarmers for adopting TG varieties wasappreciated by the BARC scientists.They explained the gathering in detailthe salient features of TG varieties,their yield advantage, cultivationpractices, water management, seedstorage etc. As groundnut is nowconsidered as a food crop, it is

Trombay Groundnuts in Tribal Area

G.S.S. Murty and D.M. KaleNuclear Agriculture & Biotechnology Division

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

BARC developed groundnut TG-37A

21

Kharif 2003 10 1150 1680 1250 1950

Kharif 2004 15 1040 1150 1450 1625

Summer 2004 10 1010 2270 1250 5125

Localvariety TAG-24 Local TAG-24

Kharif 2003 3 1030 1560 1130 1625

now the subject of public interest.These include the InternationalThermonuclear Experimental Reactorproject, the Large Hadron Collider(being set up by CERN), the Gene-ration IV International Forum todevelop advanced nuclear reactors,and the Satellite Navigation prog-ramme, Galileo. India’s effort to be anequal partner in these projects requiresa nationally coordinated approach. Ihave personally flagged our interest insome of these projects with worldleaders, and I am happy that we areeliciting a positive response. This isfitting recognition of the capabilitiesand achievements of our scientists.

Before I conclude, I would like tobriefly touch upon another aspect ofinternational cooperation in meeting thechallenge of our future energysecurity. I refer to the issue of ouragreement with the United States ofAmerica, during my visit to thatcountry in July this year, to reviveinternational cooperation for ourcivilian nuclear energy sector. We havean interest in the establishment of anenabling environment, conducive tointernational cooperation in thepeaceful uses of nuclear energy. Wemust create the space for a quantumjump in nuclear energy production inthe coming decades, in a manner thatis consistent with our national policyof maintaining the integrity of ourthree-stage nuclear energy prog-ramme, without constraining strategicand R&D related aspects of ournuclear programme.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I thank you for giving me thepleasure of joining you. I congratulatethe award winners once again. I wisheach and every one of you success inyour careers and satisfaction in yourscientific endeavors. May your pathbe blessed!

Thank you.

Continued from page 7

Tribal Farmer Fair at Nandurbar, Maharashtra

envisaged that it would reduce malnutrition besides improving economicconditions of Adivasis. Efforts made by the KVK officials were commendedand further help to them was assured by BARC.

BARC has been supplying the seed of TG varieties since 2002 and theresults are found encouraging which is evident from the data generated fromthe demonstration trials organized by KVK, Nandurbar. There is a yield jumpupto 56% and more than 100% during Kharif and summer seasons, respectivelydue to TG varieties (Table 1).

Table-1. Performance of TG varieties in Field Demonstrations inTribal areas, Nandurbar District

TG-26

Crop season No. offarmersgrown

Pod yield (kg/ha)

Average Maximum

Localvariety

TG-26Localvariety

22

In March this year, TAPP-4, oneof the two 540 MWe pressurisedheavy water reactors located atTarapur, achieved criticality withwhich India entered into an era ofelectricity generation from nuclearreactors of large size, which requirespecial considerations in design ofcontrol and protection systems. Anumber of new systems are requiredin the 540 MWe PHWR and someothers are much different from thosein the 220 MWe PHWRs. Thisnecessitated research anddevelopment in several areas. Thisarticle presents the work carried outin the areas of modeling, control andsimulation of 540 MWe PHWR coreand the development of Liquid ZoneControl System (LZCS).

From the neutronic viewpoint, thebehaviour tends to be quite looselycoupled from point-to-point in a largesize nuclear reactor core. This meansthat a change in neutron flux orpower density at one point of the corewill not be felt at other points until afteran appreciable time delay. A serioussituation known as “flux-tilting” mayarise. This is a spatial effect causedby nonuniform variations of xenonconcentration. Large amounts ofxenon poison may build up in oneportion of the reactor while very littleis present in another portion.Consequently one portion of thereactor tends to produce more energythan the other portion does, and thiscan cause great damage to the fuel.Hence, in the 540 MWe PHWR, it isalso necessary to control the powerdistribution besides the total power.

To enable the design of a suitablealgorithm to be used in the ReactorRegulating System (RRS) forcontrolling reactor power and corepower distribution, it was firstnecessary to develop a suitable modelof the core. The commonly used pointkinetics model which characterizesevery point in the reactor core by anamplitude factor and a timeindependent spatial shape function isnot applicable as the flux shape variesappreciably in a large reactor. Three-dimensional finite differenceapproximations of diffusion equationsare not amenable to solving controlproblems of the 540 MWe PHWR.Hence, a reasonably accuratemathematical model based on nodaltechnique was developed andvalidated. With the help of the nodalmodel, the important open loopcharacteristics of the 540 MWePHWR were understood. It wasshown that the 540 MWe PHWRshould be divided into 14 zones forsatisfactory spatial controllability andobservability. It was also establishedthat xenon-induced spatial instability ofthe core power distribution is ofconcern for operation of the reactorabove 10 % full power.

The nodal model is still verycomplex for the purpose of controldesign because a large number ofnonlinear equations are required torepresent the space-time behaviour ofthe core. Furthermore, both fast andslow dynamic phenomena are presentsimultaneously, resulting in stiffnessand numerical ill-conditioning. In thissituation, singular perturbation

techniques prove superior and wereapplied. The singularly perturbedstructure of the model was exploitedto decompose the original 70th ordermodel of the reactor into a 14th ordermodel for the fast dynamics and a 56th

order model for the slow dynamics.This approach, which is an extensionof the prompt jump approximation tospace-time kinetics, obviated the ill-conditioning and modern approachesfor state and periodic output feedbackcould be easily applied to obtain nearoptimal control for the reactor .

Further confidence was gainedbefore implementation by testing theperformance of controller bysimulation. For this, a real timesimulation facility comprising coresimulator, RRS and reactivity controlmechanisms (Adjuster rods, Controlrods and LZCS) was developed. Thedifferent parameters of the controlalgorithms of RRS were tested andtuned by simulating a number oftransients featuring powermaneuvering, setback and stepback.

Among the different controlmechanisms in the 540 MWe PHWR,the LZCS is the most important forfine control of reactor power andpower distribution. It consists of 14zone control compartments (ZCC)contained in 6 vertical LZCA unitsplaced appropriately in the calandria.Water outflow from each ZCC isconstant while water inflow to eachZCC is taken through a control valvewhich can be positioned for varyingthe inflow whereby the ZCC waterlevels can be controlled dependingupon the reactivity adjustmentsrequired. Appropriate signals based ontotal reactor power and powerdistribution control requirements aregenerated to position the water inflowcontrol valves. ZCC water levels arevaried simultaneously for control oftotal reactor power and individually forcontrol of power distribution.

As LZCS is being used for the firsttime in our reactors, need was felt forunderstanding the behaviour of the

Modeling, Control and Simulation of540 MWe PHWR and Development of

Liquid Zone Control System

A. P. TiwariReactor Control Division

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

23

system before its installation in TAPP-3&4. Hence a test set of LZCS wasinstalled at Reactor Control Division(RCnD), BARC during the IX plan. Itis a replica of the LZCS of TAPP-3&4 in respects of equipment sizes,layout and elevations. However, onlyone LZC assembly in the test setup ismade of zircaloy and other five aremade of stainless steel. The test setupwas commissioned in December 2002and major part of experiments wasconducted before installation of LZCSbegan in TAPP-4.

The procedure for commissioningof the LZCS (bringing the water levelsin ZCC and helium pressure in delaytank, storage tank, helium inlet header,and helium outlet header at desiredvalues without causing flooding ofZCCs and excessive variations inhelium outlet header pressure) wasestablished. The procedure wassuccessfully followed incommissioning of the system atTAPP-4.

The differential pressure betweenthe helium outlet header and delay tankwas optimized. Intercompartmentalleakage was found to be less than 0.5lpm in SS LZC Assemblies but upto12 lpm in zircaloy assembly. Based onthis the procedure of fabrication ofLZCAs for TAPP-3&4 was revised.This finding is estimated to haveresulted in a saving of revenueequivalent to three full power monthsoperation of the reactor, which isapproximately Rs. 40 crores.

The installed characteristics ofwater inflow control valves weredetermined for incorporating bias andlimits on minimum and maximumopening signals.

Steady state accuracy of ZCCwater level measurement by thebubbler method was determined to beof the order of 1.5%.

With the experience that wasgained on the LZCS test setup,installation and commissioning ofLZCS at TAPP-4 was very smoothlycarried out and some problems that

surfaced, were easily understood andsolved. Detailed study on the LZCSystem alongwith the core and RRSsimulator outside the reactorenvironment has paid far beyond itscost by way of savings in expenditurethrough reduction of overallcommissioning time at Tarapur site.

ADVANCED STUDIESRECONFIRM SAFETYOF INDIAN NUCLEAR

POWER PLANTS

Advanced studies usingprobabilistic techniques carried out bythe Nuclear Power Corporation IndiaLimited (NPCIL) reconfirm the safetyof Indian Nuclear Power Plants.

NPCIL has completed twoimportant studies covering Level-1Probabilistic Safety Assessment(PSA) for Tarapur Atomic PowerStation (TAPP-3&4) – the first 540MWe Indian Pressurized Heavy WaterReactor (PHWR), and Level-2 PSAStudy of 2 x 220 MWe KakraparaAtomic Power Station (KAPS-1&2).These studies reconfirm the safety ofthese reactors including their designfeatures and operating procedures andpractices. These studies wereconducted by NPCIL involvingmultidisciplinary experts with intimateknowledge of plant design, operationand PSA Techniques and are at parwith studies carried out elsewhere.

Probabilistic Safety Assessment isan advanced technique in safetyevaluation of the nuclear power plantsand it provides a useful, consistent andstructured framework for thequantified assessment of nuclearsafety. Risk informed decision makingbased on Probabilistic Safety Analysisis now becoming the order of the dayfor the nuclear industry globally.

With the completion of thesestudies, NPCIL has enhanced thecapability towards risk informeddecision making. PSA Level-1addresses the safety of the reactor.

PSA Level-2 addresses the safety ofthe reactor and the containment takentogether.

A one-day workshop on the themewas held on September 8, 2005wherein subject experts shared thefeatures and results of these studies

Dr Anil Kakodkar, ChairmanAtomic Energy Commission (AEC),commending the studies justcompleted stated that ProbabilisticSafety Assessment tools should alsobe used for comparative studies ofrisks from various energy systemsincluding effects on global weatherchanges arising from CO

2 emissions

etc.

Shri S.K.Jain, CMD, NPCILemphasized NPCIL’s commitment touse of advanced technologies andtechniques for safety in all aspects ofits activities right from siting, design,operation and decommissioning.

Shri S.K. Sharma, Chairman,Atomic Energy Regulatory Board(AERB) called for the need forbalanced safety decisionsencompassing well established safetydesign principles of defence-in-depthtogether with insights from PSA.

NPCIL is a public sectorundertaking under the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE). Thecorporation is responsible for design,construction, commissioning, operation,maintenance and life extension ofnuclear power plants in the country.

NPCIL’s plants have beenamongst the top performing plantsinternationally and their safety recordhas been excellent.

The PSA studies reconfirm whathas been achieved in practice.

NPCIL Press Release

Edited and published by R K Bhatnagar, Hd. Publication Dn, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India, Mumbai-1, and printed by him at M/s Indigo Printing Press Pvt. Ltd., Byculla, Mumbai-400 027.

EDITORIAL GROUP: Dr. R. B. Grover, Director, Strategic Plng. Group, DAE, Director, HBNI and Group Director, Knowledge Management, BARC,K. Muralidhar, Secretary, AEC, Dr. K S Parthasarathy, Raja Ramanna Fellow, SPG, DAE, Dr. Vijai Kumar, Head SIRD, BARC, P.V. Dubey, Company Secretary,UCIL, G.Srihari Rao, Executive Director (IT&TG) ECIL, N. Panchapakesan, Manager (L&IS), NFC, S.K. Malhotra, Head, Public Awareness Dn, DAE,Arun Srivastava, SPG, DAE

EDITOR : R K Bhatnagar, Head, Publication Dn, DAE (e-mail: rkb@dae.gov.in, Fax: 022 - 2204 8476)

R.No. 9002/62

17th All India Essay Contest in Nuclear Science and Technology

Nuclear Power: A viable alternative in context ofIndia’s Future Energy Needs and Environmental

Safety

Radioisotope and Radiation Technology: UniqueApplication for Societal Benefit

First Prize: K. Rajasulochana, III year B.Sc. (chemistry),G.V.N College, Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu

Second Prize: T.Thangadurai, II year B.Sc (Physics),St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu

Third Prize: Siddual Sanjivkumar Swamidas, III year B.Sc(Physics), Dayanand College of Arts & Science, Solapur,

Maharashtra

First Prize: Shweta Shashikant Nalawade, III year B.Sc.(Mathematics), Gogate-Jogalekar College, Ratnagiri,

Maharashtra.

Second Prize: Ashwini Kumar Gupta, Final year B.Tech(Dairying), College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati,

Andhra Pradesh

Third Prize: Neeta Anil Salgaonkar, II year B.Sc.,Gogate-Jogalekar College, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra