{"id":43823,"date":"2025-05-21T19:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T13:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=43823"},"modified":"2025-05-21T19:14:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T13:44:59","slug":"mr-srinivasan-a-key-architect-of-india-nuclear-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-05-2025\/mr-srinivasan-a-key-architect-of-india-nuclear-programme","title":{"rendered":"MR Srinivasan: A Key Architect of India\u2019s Nuclear Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Science &amp; Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, Dr. M.R. Srinivasan, renowned nuclear scientist and former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman passed away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>About Dr. M.R. Srinivasan<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Born:<\/strong> 5th January 1930<br>&#8211; <strong>Career and Contributions:<\/strong><br>1. <strong>1955:<\/strong> Joined the <strong>Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)<\/strong>, <strong>working alongside Dr. Homi Bhabha<\/strong> on <strong>India&#8217;s first nuclear research reactor, Apsara<\/strong>.<br>2. <strong>1959:<\/strong> Appointed as <strong>Principal Project Engineer<\/strong> for <strong>India&#8217;s first atomic power station<\/strong>.<br>3. <strong>1967:<\/strong> Chief Project Engineer of the<strong> Madras Atomic Power Station<\/strong><br>4. <strong>1974: <\/strong>In-Charge of the Power Projects Engineering Division<br>5. <strong>1984: <\/strong>Appointed as <strong>Chairman of the Nuclear Power Board<\/strong><br>6. <strong>1987:<\/strong> Appointed <strong>Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission<\/strong> and <strong>Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy<\/strong><br>(6.1) <strong>Founder-Chairman<\/strong> of the <strong>Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL)<\/strong>, under which 18 nuclear power units were developed.<br>&#8211; <strong>Recognition and Legacy:<\/strong><br>1. Member of the Planning Commission (1996-98);<br>2. Padma Shri (1984); Padma Bhushan (1990); Padma Vibhushan (2015)<br>3. National Security Advisory Board (2002-04, 2006-08).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Nuclear Programme<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It has been a cornerstone of its energy strategy, balancing self-reliance, technological advancement, and global cooperation, with the focus on clean energy and strategic security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Historical Development<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)<\/strong> was established in 1948 <strong>under Dr. Homi Bhabha.<\/strong> It was structured into a<strong> three-stage plan:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stage I: <\/strong>Utilization of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) using natural uranium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stage II:<\/strong> Development of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) to generate plutonium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stage III:<\/strong> Deployment of Advanced Thorium Reactors, leveraging India\u2019s vast thorium reserves.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India holds<strong> 21% of the world&#8217;s thorium reserves, <\/strong>with <strong>indigenous projects like Bhavani<\/strong> aiming to harness this resource.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Current Status<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Installed Capacity:<\/strong> India operates <strong>23 nuclear reactors across seven power plants,<\/strong> contributing to <strong>8,180 MW (2024 data)<\/strong> of electricity (4,780 MW in 2014).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is projected to reach <strong>22,480 MW by 2031-32.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Energy Mix and Role of Nuclear Power<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Renewable Shift:<\/strong> India is transitioning towards clean energy, with nuclear power playing a crucial role in reducing dependence on fossil fuels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Grid Distribution: <\/strong>The revised framework allocates 50% of nuclear-generated electricity to home states, 35% to neighboring states, and 15% to the national grid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Recent Advancements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR):<\/strong> India has entered <strong>Stage II<\/strong> of its nuclear programme with the <strong>core-loading of the PFBR at Kalpakkam.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Expansion Plans:<\/strong> 10 new reactors are approved and exploring private sector participation to accelerate growth, including <strong>Bharat Small Modular Reactors (BSMRs).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Collaborations:<\/strong> India has signed agreements with <strong>Russia, France, and the U.S.<\/strong> for nuclear technology exchange.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/tamil-nadu\/former-atomic-energy-commission-chairman-mr-srinivasan-passes-away\/article69596104.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Recently, Dr. M.R. Srinivasan, renowned nuclear scientist and former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman passed away.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Recent Advancements<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR): India has entered Stage II of its nuclear programme with the core-loading of the PFBR at Kalpakkam.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Expansion Plans: 10 new reactors are approved and exploring private sector participation to accelerate growth, including Bharat Small Modular Reactors (BSMRs).<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">International Collaborations: India has signed agreements with Russia, France, and the U.S. for nuclear technology exchange.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/uncategorized\/21-05-2025\/mr-srinivasan-a-key-architect-of-india-nuclear-programme\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43832,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43823\/revisions\/43832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}