Tamil Nadu is the most advanced State with respect to nuclear energy, said Prabhat Kumar, distinguished scientist and former Chairman and Managing Director of Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd., here on Friday.
Inaugurating an outreach programme organised jointly by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, and National Institute of Technology here to mark the diamond jubilee of BARC, Mr. Kumar pointed out apart from the nuclear power plants, a Neutrino Observatory was to come up in the State.
Homi Bhabha had said the country had to toe a new path as conventional way of producing energy would not work for long. He thought about producing clean, non-polluting energy, many years before aspects such as global warming was widely discussed. Bhabha conceived the entire nuclear energy programme for the country, he said.
R.K. Singh, Head, Media Relations and Public Awareness Section (BARC), said that India was an advanced nation with respect to nuclear technology. The country had 21 nuclear power plants. Two more plants were under commissioning stage while four were under construction. S. Sundarrajan, Director, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchi, said there was tremendous scope for civilian application of nuclear energy. He told students that BARC offered opportunity for students to gain knowledge.
“Students should aspire to join BARC and prepare hard for it,” Mr. Sundarrajan said.
Applications of atomic energy in the domains of agriculture, health, drinking water, electricity generation, and national security were showcased at the exhibition. Charts and models were displayed highlighting the applications. The exhibition started with a memorabilia on Homi Bhabha, father of Atomic Energy Programme in the country.
Comparison of electricity generation-hydel, thermal, and nuclear, and advantages of nuclear energy were shown in a chart. Charts showing radiation process of cereals and pulses, sprout control in bulbs and tubers by radiation process highlighted the advantages of the processes. Forty two Trombay crop varieties released for commercial cultivation were displayed. The crops include mung bean, black gram, ground nut, potato, turmeric, mustard, sunflower, cow pea, soya bean, and rice. Hundreds of schoolchildren visited the exhibition.
