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Eternal India
encyclopedia
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
energy like applications of radio isotopes in industry, medicine and
agriculture. The research work has resulted in production of radio
pharmaceuticals, preservation of spices and seafoods by irradia-
tion. A number of technologies developed at BARC have been
transferred to industry for commercial use.
The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research set up in 1971 at
Kalpakkam near Madras carries out R&D activities relating to fast
breeder development. It has set up a Fast Breeder Test Reactor
which is presently operating at a power level of one MWt. Based
on the experience gained from the FBTR this centre has evolved a
design for the prototype plutonium fuelled 500 MWe reactor. The
Centre for Advanced Technology set up at Indore in Madhya
Pradesh has been developing technologies in the area of lasers and
acceleration. The synchrotron radiation facility being set up here
will be a major research facility in the country.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is responsible for
designing, constructing and operating nuclear power reactors.
The DAE has been funding the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research (TIFR) and the Saha Institute of Physics. The TIFR, set
up in 1945 in Bombay is engaged in fundamental research in the
fields of mathematics, physics, astrophysics, molecular biology
and computer science. The Tata Memorial Centre at Bombay is the
foremost institution in the country in research, diagnosis and treat-
ment of cancer. The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics established
in 1951 at Calcutta is a major centre for advanced research in
nuclear and allied sciences. The Institute of Physics at Bhubanes-
war has facilities for advanced research in nuclear science.
India is among the nine countries in the world to have technical
capabilities in the entire fuel cycle. It has demonstrated its exper-
tise in the underground nuclear explosion for peaceful purposes
(1974).
Nuclear energy contributes 2.7% of the nation's power needs.
Thermal energy is the major source of electricity generation (62%)
followed by 35% hydro energy. The share of nuclear energy in
power generation is expected to rise in 2000 A.D. to 10% with
thermal energy contributing 50% and hydro energy 40% towards the
total planned power generating capacity of 100,000 M.W.
Nuclear Programme Profile
Department of Electronics (DOE)
The Department of Electronics supports and funds technology
development through its councils set up in various fields, namely,
the Technology Development Council (TDC) for areas like compo-
nents, computer communication and instrumentation etc, the Na-
tional Radar Council (NRC) for radars, navigational aids, sonar,
under water electronics systems, laser and infrared-based detec-
tion
ranging
systems,
National
Micro-Electronics
Council
(NMEC) for design and production technology of LSI/VLSI,
ASICS etc., electronic materials including special ceramics, high
purity metals, gas etc., and the National Photonics Council (NPC)
for photonic-related areas covering optoelectronic devices, optical
data storage switching, imaging etc.
The Department has three public sector corporations under its
administrative control: CMC Ltd, Electronics Trade and Technol-
ogy Development Corporation (ET&T) and Semi-conductor Com-
plex Ltd (SCL)
CMC provides hardware maintenance support to various
equipments supplied by over 30 manufacturers. It has executed
turnkey projects in many important sectors like power, transport,
oil etc. As a major step towards globalisation CMC has acquired
Baton Rouge International (BRI), a US-based company which
provides comprehensive banking software and related services.
BRI will enable CMC to enter the US and Canadian markets.
ET&T was set up to expand foreign trade in electronics and under-
take development of technology in key areas. The corporation has
taken up a programme to manufacture 17" B/W TV and 53 cm FST
colour TV. The low cost PC project launched by ET&T helped to
bring down computer prices. SCL was set up primarily to design,
develop and manufacture LSI/VLSI circuits. SCL which com-
menced commercial production in April 1984 is presently concen-
trating on rebuilding its assembly test and wafer fabrication facili-
ties. Five VLSI design centres at Noida, Bangalore, Lucknow,
Baroda and Bhubaneswar are fully operational.
Department of Science & Technology
Established in 1971, it has overall responsibility in the fields of
science and technology in respect of policies, guidelines and im-
plementation. It has funded several projects like improvement of
quality of rice bran for edible oil, modernisation of bullock carts, low
cost solar cells etc.
It has been playing a leading role in international technology
transfer.
Department of Space
The era of space research in India began in 1961 when the
Government of India entrusted the subject of space research and
the peaceful uses of outer space to the Department of Atomic
Energy (DAE) headed by Homi J. Bhabha. In 1962 DAE set up the
Indian National Committee on Space Research (INCOSPAR) un-
der the chairmanship of Vikram Sarabhai to organise a national
space programme.
On November 21, 1963 a two-stage rocket called Nike-Apache
was launched from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Sta-
tion (TERLS) near Trivandrum. In 1969 INCOSPAR was recon-
stituted as an advisory body under the Indian National Science
Sanctioned
capacity MWe
Year of
Commissioning
Operational units
Tarapur 1&2
2x210
1969
Rajasthan 1&2
2x220
1972,1981
Madras 1&2
2x235
1984,1986
Narora 1
2x235
1989,1991
Under construction
Kakrapar 1&2
2x235
Kaiga 1&2
2x235
Rajasthan 3&4
2x235
Tarapur 3 & 4
2x500
Planned
Kaiga - 3,4,5,&6
4x235
Rajasthan 5,6,7&8
4x500
Kudankulam
2x1000