From Fission to Fusion - The Story of India's Atomic Energy Programmed

From Fission to Fusion - The Story of India's Atomic Energy Programmed

Product ID: 9718

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Author: M R Srinivasan
Publisher: Penguin/Viking
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 318
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0670049247

Description

This engrossing memoir relives the excitement from the days when India's first reactor, Apsara, went into operation in 1956 and explains how a team of scientists came together to develop an atomic energy programme from scratch to take India into the forefront in this technology.

From Fission to Fusion provides an insider’s view of breakthrough science. Dr. M.R. Srinivasan explains the birth and development of India’s atomic-energy programme, which grew with his own career from a senior research officer in the 1950s to the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (1987-90). This engrossing memoir explains how a team comprising India’s leading physicists, Chemists, engineers, metallurgists and other scientists came together to develop an atomic-energy programme from scratch and take India into the forefront in this technology in a remarkably short time.

Srinivasan relives the excitement from the days when India’s first reactor, Apsara, went into operation in 1956. The success of that endeavor has led to the generation of nuclear power at six locations throughout the country. Indian industry was mobilized to participate in the execution of the pressurized heavy-water reactor programmed and will be engaged in building enriched uranium reactors and fast breeder reactors involving another leap in technology. These advancements are some of the many challenges Srinivasan puts in an economic and historical context.

Alongside the account of the programme’s giant strides is a moving portrayal of the people who made it possible and their extraordinary qualities as motivators. Ranking in the pantheon are Homi Bhaba, Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Sethna, Brahm Prakash and N.B. Prasad. What stands out at the end of this compelling tale is an endeavor of high caliber whose contribution to the pride of an independent nation goes well beyond the equations of science.

Contents

Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction

I TRAINING GROUNDS

The Nucleus: The DAE
Apsara
CIRUS
BARC
Reactor Policy
Death of a Founder

II INDIA’S COLLABORATIVE PROJECT

TARAPUR: The First Step towards
Nuclear Electricity
RAPS: Early Heavy Water Reactors

III INDIA’S INDEPENDENT POWER PROJECTS

ACHIEVING SELF-RELIANCE:
Kalpakkam Takes Shape

COMPREHENSIVE CAPABILITIES: India’s
Confirmation in the Nuclear Field

KAKRAPAR: Making a Difference

STEPPING UP THE PACE:
Simultaneous Construction

POLITICAL DELAYS: TAPS-III and IV

AT THE HELM: Expansion of the Programme

IV NEW INITIATIVES
Soviet Light Water Reactors

V MAINTENANCE OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE
Safety and Regulation of the Industry
The Yeoman Contribution
The Story of Electronics Development
The Saga of Heavy Water
Nuclear Fuel
Energy for the Future
The Nuclear Weapon
An Expensive Lesson in Power
National Support

VI REFORM AND ADVANCE
The Future of the Nuclear Programme

Index