The Hindu : National : Deendayal varsity plans PG course in nuclear engineering

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Monday, Aug 17, 2009
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Deendayal varsity plans PG course in nuclear engineering

Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD: Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), promoted by the State-owned Gujarat State petroleum Corporation, will launch a two-year fully residential post-graduate course in Nuclear Engineering from the current academic year.

The M. Tech degree will initially start with 20 students and will be open to engineers in various disciplines barring in computer, civil, aeronautics, marine and some others unrelated to nuclear science. Those having the M.Sc degree in physics or electronics will also be eligible for admission to be taken on an All-India basis, but only after a written examination and interview.

According to Dr. Sarvesh Katiyar, programme director of the “School of Nuclear Energy” of the PDPU and former station director of the Tarapur Atomic Power Station, the course has been specifically designed to meet the growing demands of nuclear engineers both in India and abroad in view of the India-U.S. nuclear pact as well as revival of interests in the nuclear power all over the world. Even the U.S., the European countries and many others who had virtually stopped nuclear energy programmes for the last three decades or so, particularly after the Chernobyl disaster, were now returning to the nuclear power programmes.

According to Dr. Katiyar, about 70 nuclear power plants would come up all over the world in the next 15 years, besides various projects to be implemented in India under the India-U.S. pact, and over 40 reactors were under construction in 20 countries. In addition, at least 29 developing countries were initiating nuclear power programmes in the quest for long term energy security.

Since most of the countries, except France and very few others, had totally stopped nuclear energy programmes, the world would witness a tremendous shortage of engineers expert in nuclear technology for the future programmes. Even in India, only two institutions, the Homi Bhabha National Institute and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, offer some courses in nuclear engineering, while a few universities in the country had recently launched some such courses.

“From where will India and other countries get the experts to set up nuclear power stations? ” Dr. Katiyar said.

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