Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Sekhar Basu said here on Wednesday that with reactor on board nuclear submarine “Arihant” having gone critical recently, the day would not be far off when India would have a fleet of nuclear submarines patrolling the oceans.
“Most exciting news came on August 10, 2013 when reactor on board nuclear submarine “Arihant” went critical; a major milestone in national security was achieved. The vessel, currently undergoing harbour trials, has opened up the possibility of serial production of nuclear submarines,” Basu said.
Addressing Founder’s Day function marking the 104th birth anniversary of birth anniversary of Dr Homi Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme, Basu said the (nuclear submarine) project which originated at Trombay campus, involved a large number of personnel from BARC, DRDO, Indian Navy, “who worked with total dedication over a long period of time to make this dream come true”.
According to Basu, the nuclear programme saw its first success when the land-based prototype at Kalpakkam became operational in 2006. “The day is not far when India will have its nuclear fleet patrolling the oceans,” Basu said.
Basu, who has in the past served as Project Director of the Prototype Marine Nuclear Propulsion Plant and subsequently as Chief Executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board, said that the BARC had posted unprecedented success during the last three months — in terms of major accomplishments in areas critical to the goals of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
“Advanced up-gradation facility at Kalpakam was commissioned last month and is performing well… Research reactor Dhurva has continued to operate at an availability factor of about 80 per cent. Recently power the reactor was raised to 70 MW to increase the specific activity and quantity of radioisotope production. This step would go a long way in our contribution towards health care for the people of our country,” Basu said.
listing other achievements of BARC scientists in various fields, Basu made a special mention of a Tele Distress Alarm Device, named Nirbhaya after the Delhi gangrape victim, developed and readied for mass production, by his organization.
“A Tele Distress Alarm Device, named Nirbhaya after the Delhi gangrape victim, was one such initiative set for production. “The technology of the device has been transferred to Electronics Corporation of India ltd (ECIl) for mass production,” Basu said.
The compact and equally low-cost device has been developed by the Electronics division of the BARC. The device attached to a mobile phone can help women in distress to send pre-formatted SOS text messages to five pre-selected phone numbers using the Bluetooth technology of the mobile phone and help police trace victims in cases of kidnapping or rape.
Once, the switch is pressed, the Nirbhaya device automatically sends a signal on Bluetooth to the mobile phone along with its GPS location. The software loaded on the cellphone sends the pre-formatted message through SMS to pre-selected mobile phone numbers which the user can select. The device can also be used for SOS messages for any other emergencies like a heart attack or an accident.
Speaking at the same function, secretary of DAE and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Dr R K Sinha said that India had signed agreements or MoUs for civil nuclear cooperation with 10 countries so far including the US, UK, France, Russia, Mongolia, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, South Korea and Kazakhstan and revalidated an old agreement with the Czech Republic.
“The discussions of NPCIl with foreign nuclear power plant suppliers like Areva of France and Westinghouse and General Electric Hitachi of USA are in an advanced stage,” Sinha said.
According to Sinha, India’s heavy water plants have put up excellent performance during the last financial year, recording highest ever production of heavy water with lowest specific energy consumption.
“The Heavy Water Board (HWB) has executed five export orders for supply of heavy water worth more than USD 10 million to USA, France, and South Korea. The HWB has also bagged give more export orders worth over USD 15 millionfor supply of heavy water to the US and France. These orders will be executed before March 2014,” Sinha said.