Website : http://www.dae.gov.in

BARC DEVELOPES RADIATION INDUCED DWARFMUTANT IN SUNFLOWER

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) has been under cultivation as an oil-seed crop since 1970. Increasing genetic variability and development ofhigh yielding varieties/hybrids is an important objective. ‘Surya’ is the firsthigh yielding variety released for cultivation. Induced mutation studies wereinitiated at the Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, BhabhaAtomic Research Centre. Large spectrum of variability for morphologicalcharacters was isolated using gamma rays. Dwarf mutant of sunflower isone of them, which was observed in the 9th(M9) generation and in subse-quent generations too indicating that the dwarf character is heritable andgoverned by genes.

PUBLISHED BY THEDEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAVOL. 37/NO.5-6/Nov.-Dec. 2003

ISSN-09929-5523

NUCLEARNUCLEARNUCLEARNUCLEARNUCLEARIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndia

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Dear Colleagues:On the occasion of the 94th birth

anniversary of Dr.Bhabha, let us firstof all rededicate ourselves to thevision of our founder. This year is par-ticularly special because it happens tobe the Golden Jubilee Year of ourDepartment. This year is also veryimportant because we have launchedthe construction of India’s first com-mercial fast breeder reactor, a veryimportant milestone in the implemen-tation of our three-stage nuclearpower program.

Friends, NPCIL has nowdemonstrated world-class perfor-mance in operation of nuclear powerreactors. Nuclear electricity genera-tion of 19,358 million units was real-ized during the year 2002-03 withNPCIL reactors achieving an overallannual capacity factor of 90 percent,which is among the best in the world.The Kakrapar Atomic Power StationUnit 1 was adjudged to be the bestperforming PHWR worldwide duringthe rolling twelve-month period fromOctober 2001 to September 2002.Shri Bhiksham, Station Director,Kakrapar Atomic Power Station wasawarded the first WANO (Word

Association of Nuclear Operators)Excellence Award for his contribu-tions to excellence in nuclear indus-try, only a few days ago at the WANOBiennial General Body meeting heldin Berlin. For the calendar year 2002,three NPCIL PHWR Units wereamong the five best PHWR Units inthe world. Our fuel as well as HeavyWater plants have worked to near fullcapacity as in earlier years.

* Excerpts from the address by Dr. Anil Kakodkar,Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission & Secretary, Department of AtomicEnergy, on the occasion of Founder’s Day of BARC, October 30 2003.

“.........We have been able to achieve technological successes because ourresearch base is strong. We have to ensure that we sustain and enrich theenvironment that nurtures research.....”*

Dr. AnilKakodkar,Chairman,Atomic EnergyCommission &Secretary, Depart-ment of AtomicEnergy,addressingon the occasion ofFounder’s Day atBARC,Trombay

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Clearly, we have been very suc-cessful in taking the indigenousdevelopment of nuclear power tech-nology to the level of world-classexcellence in spite of the restrictiveinternational regime. We have toconsolidate these gains and move for-ward to deliver to the nation, cleanand green electricity in adequate quan-tity and at affordable cost. As all ofyou are aware, nuclear power isimportant both from point of view ofsustainability as well as from consid-erations of protection of global cli-mate. A very significant role ofnuclear power is inevitable if India hasto realize its dream and aspirations ofbecoming a developed nation. Therealization of this goal before it is toolate, is our responsibility.

There are thus many challengesahead of us. The first challenge is torapidly increase the share of nuclearelectricity in the overall electricity gen-eration in our country. In this regard,we now have as many as nine nuclearpower units under construction. Whencompleted, the nuclear power genera-tion capacity would climb to 7300MWe from the present 2770 MWe, ajump of more than two and halftimes. All our construction projectsare in fact moving ahead of sched-ule. We have also launched severalinitiatives to meet the fuel require-ments of our power stations. Inaddition to the production at Jaduguda,Narwapahar, Bhatin and Turamdihmines, the Uranium Corporation ofIndia Ltd. has taken up the work todevelop mines at Banduhurang,Bagjata, Lambapur and Domiasiat.We are also working to exploit othersecondary resources. The NuclearFuel Complex is augmenting its Zir-conium production capacity throughexpansion of its activities includinga new zirconium sponge plant beingset up at Palayakayal in Tamil Nadu.It should be our endeavor to enhancefuel production capacity as early aspossible to meet the requirements of

our expanding program. Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut

Nigam (BHAVINI) Ltd, the fifthPublic Sector unit of the Departmentof Atomic Energy, has come intoexistence a few days back for com-mercial implementation of fastbreeder reactor technology. Settingup of the 500 MWe Prototype FastBreeder Reactor would be its firsttask. As you can appreciate, thistechnology holds the promise ofaround 350,000 MWe power genera-tion capacity using the spent fuel aris-ing from Pressurized Heavy WaterReactors which we can set up on thebasis of Uranium available in thecountry.

The challenge now before us isto demonstrate a commercial successin this endeavour in a manner similarto what we have done with PHWRtechnology. Given the excellentknowledge and skill base at the IndiraGandhi Centre for Atomic Research,generated through years of compre-hensive Research and Developmenton Fast Reactor Technology, estab-lished capabilities of Nuclear PowerCorporation in project engineering andconstruction management and dedi-cation of every one involved, we willno doubt be successful.

The completion of en masse cool-ant channel replacement and severalupgrades at the 2nd Unit of MadrasAtomic Power Station in a recordtime has been an important achieve-ment. Successful incorporation ofmoderator spargers at this Unit hasbeen a matter of personal satisfac-tion for me as this completes theplanned rehabilitation to full powerrating. Sustaining commercial viabil-ity in a changing environment oftenposes complex technological chal-lenges. Life management activities atvarious plants, increasing the designoutput of 540 MWe PHWR Unit to700 MWe, the new front-end undercommissioning at the Baroda HeavyWater Plant and many other similar

activities that have been recently com-pleted, are further examples of suchsuccessfully met challenges.

While the mixed carbide fuel inFBTR has now reached a burn up of1,13,000 MWD/T, the PFBR fuel pinsunder irradiation in FBTR have alsoreached 12,730 MWD/T burn up.These pins incorporate U233 toenable irradiation at required linearheat rating while keeping the chemi-cal proportion of uranium and pluto-nium at the level of PFBR designvalue. Reprocessing trials for FBTRfuel pins have also been started. Wehave accumulated considerable indus-trial scale experience in the back endof nuclear fuel cycle. In the contextof Fast Breeder Reactor Programme,we now have to quickly take recycleactivities to commercial – industrialdomain on one hand and develop shortdoubling time capability on the other.

Development of Thorium utiliza-tion technologies for energy produc-tion is our long-term goal. I am happythat the engineering peer review pro-cess of Advanced Heavy WaterReactor has been completed. Wenow have to take up independentsafety review and detailed costingbefore we can launch the construc-tion of this technology demonstrator.We have to also complete all neces-sary R&D activities including valida-tion of AHWR core through criticalexperiments as early as possible. Tho-rium utilization capability along withrelated material development canopen up not only vast potential forelectricity production but also couldoffer superior alternatives for appli-cations such as production of hydro-gen, burning of actinides and otherlong lived wastes, long enduranceremote power packs and many oth-ers. Coupled with accelerator drivenspallation neutron sources, theseapplications could become even moreviable making the vast thoriumresource available in our country atruly primary energy source with

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assured degree of sustainability andwith negligible environmental impactand residual waste. As you areaware, we have launched an inte-grated long-term development strat-egy for shaping the third stage of ournuclear power programme. Let usall put our might together to realizethe goals of this programme as earlyas possible.

We have been able to achievetechnological successes because ourresearch base is strong. We have toensure that we sustain and enrich theenvironment that nurtures research.I think we are at a level where weshould pick up new challenges whereour research can provide possibleanswers to address some of the prob-lems of national importance. Givenour technological strength we are ina unique position to translate such newresearch output into beneficial appli-cations. We have already done socommendably well in the field of foodand agriculture, medicine and health,environment, water availability in ad-dition to electricity production. DAEtechnologies can make significant dif-ference to quality of life of our peopleand so special initiatives have beenlaunched to reach them to the targetbeneficiaries. Facilitating this trans-lation should be a part of endeavourof each one of us. I would urge all ofyou to get first hand acquaintance withthese technologies from DAE websiteand also encourage other to do so.

While our research has to have anational focus, we must excel at theglobal level. Here again, the stronglinkage between our research activi-ties and our technological capabilityhas become our strength. Our par-ticipation in the STAR experiment atthe Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider inthe Brookhaven National Laboratoryof United States, the Large HadronCollider and its experiments CMS andALICE under construction at theEuropean Centre for NuclearResearch (CERN), Geneva, partici-

pation of Indian scientists in severalsynchrotron and other facilities in sev-eral laboratories abroad has earnedconsiderable respect for Indian capa-bilities. As you are aware, we arenow among very few countries whohave Observer status at CERN.

Our efforts to create world-classresearch facilities are also bearingfruits. The Giant Meterwave RadioTelescope (GMRT) is now a full-fledged international observationalfacility for radio astronomy below1.4 GHz. Gamma ray astronomyfacility at Mt. Abu is operational.INDUS-I synchrotron is workingwell. ECR facility at VECC has con-siderably enhanced the range ofheavy ions available for experiments.Good progress is being made towardsradioactive ion beam development.Phase-I of Superconducting LINACBooster at Pelletron Heavy IonAccelerator is now operational. TheAdvanced Centre for Training, Edu-cation and Research in Cancer(ACTREC) is now functional. TheAccelerator Mass Spectrometryfacility for carbon dating is now avail-able at the Institute of Physics,Bhubaneswar. SST-1, one of theworld’s first Superconducting SteadyState Tokamaks with elongateddiverter plasmas and 1000 secondoperation capability is getting readyat Institute for Plasma Research. TheSuperconducting Cyclotron is makinggood progress at the Variable EnergyCyclotron Centre. INDUS-2 is get-ting ready at the Centre for AdvancedTechnology.

Colleagues, in all our work wehave always placed highest priorityon our safety and environment relatedprogrammes. I must add here thatwe are committed to not only main-taining the environment but to its fur-ther enrichment through our work.That has been our philosophy all along.We should be judged by our actualtrack record and not by unsubstanti-ated stories. All our operating power

plants and Heavy Water Plants nowhave ISO environment certificate.Our vision on environment is notrestricted to just our programme. Weare perhaps the pioneers in compre-hensive thermal ecology work in ourcountry. Flue gas conditioning tech-nology developed by Heavy WaterBoard is now helping reduce fly ashemission in thermal boilers. Nisarga-Runa developed here at BARC ishelping convert biodegradable solidwaste into useful manure and meth-ane. The sewage sludge hygenisationplant (SHRI) at Vadodara is now pro-viding dried hygenised sludge for useby farmers. In my view these devel-opments are of far reaching value invalue added recycle of wet solidwaste in urban areas and Agriculturalwaste or residue in rural areas. I amconfident that these technologieswould grow on the strength of theirviable utility not only in preventingenvironment degradation but to pro-duce valuable fertilizer and energy ofuse in rural areas. We all should playa catalytic role to expand this appli-cation.

Finally, friends we must recognizethat our human resource is ourstrength. Our links with academicinstitutions built around program ori-ented research and training are beingfurther strengthened through BRNSand DAE-UGC Consortium. It shouldbe our persistent endeavour to searchtalent, inspire and orient them to ournational programme during their edu-cation phase, nurture and empowerthem to pursue innovative ideas whilethey pick up experimental and tech-nological skills in the early part of theircareer with us and facilitate theirblooming as leaders in their respec-tive areas. We owe it to this organi-zation that has groomed all of us sowell.

Thank you.

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Organisations by very definitionare organic in nature. They arerequired to be dynamic and adaptthemselves to the ever-changingenvironmental scenario and redefinetheir goals and strategies consistentwith ground realities. However theyhave to be firmly entrenched in theircore values, plan around their corestrengths and focus with unwaveringintensity on their core purposes.

Same is true for ECIL. The corevalue cherished is self-reliance; thecore strength is technical excel-lence; and the core purpose is to bea valued asset to the country insupporting the programmes envisagedin strategic sectors covering Nuclear,Defence and other domains ofnational importance.

ECIL pioneered the developmentof various complex products withoutany external technological help andscored several ‘firsts’ in the country.Though the initial thrust was on meet-

ing the Control & Instrumentation re-quirements of the Nuclear PowerProgramme, the expanded scope ofself-reliance pursued by ECIL enabledthe company to develop products fordiverse and demanding sectors likedefence, civil aviation, telecommuni-cations, security and others. This mis-sionary zeal essentially directed thetechnology, products and processes ofthe company over the years thatenabled it to blossom itself into amultidisciplinary and multiproductorganisation.

Apart from achieving several prod-uct and technological goals, ECIL hasdemonstrated its organisational resil-ience by staging a remarkable turn-around from the brink of sickness.Additionally, the post-liberalisation eracharacterised by global competitioneven on local soil has thrown up fresh

ECIL: The Opportunities and Challenges Ahead

opportunities and challenges forECIL. It is expected that the companywill continue to demonstrate thisresilience in battling the challenges oftechnology, competition, the rapidlychanging economic scenario andissues related to human resources.

OpportunitiesBorn as an offshoot of BARC,

ECIL has ready access to a reservoirof state-of-art proven technologywhich only a select few; either in thepublic or private sector can boast of.This privilege should empower thecompany to synergise its systemengineering and associated capabili-ties with the R&D capabilities ofBARC/DAE and DRDO to offer awide mix of world class products andservices.

ECIL acquired a unique blend of

New Chairman & ManagingDirector of ECIL

Shri G.P. Srivastava, who has taken over asChairman & Managing Director of ECIL on 30th

June, 2003 is a brilliant Electronics Engineer.Born in 1949, he is a Post Graduate in Electron-ics and Radio Engineering from the Universityof Allahabad. He started his career as a Scien-tific Officer in BARC by getting selected intothe prestigious BARC Training School in 1970.He rose to the position of Head, Control Instru-

mentation Division in BARC before joining ECIL.He made notable contributions in the areas of Computer based Control

Systems, Reactivity Control mechanisms for Light Water Reactors andPressurised Heavy Water Reactor, Antenna Control Systems for GiantMeter Radio Telescope (GMRT), Development of Security ElectronicSystems in Nuclear Power Plants in India, etc.

He has chaired a number of Design Safety Committees for the AtomicEnergy Regulatory Board. He was also a member of the Physical Protec-tion Advisory Committee – DAE, a member of the Nuclear Reactors andFuel Cycle Committee of the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, andHuman Resource Development Division, BARC.

Shri Srivastava is a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering inthe Electronics & Communications discipline and is a recipient of VASVIKAward 1998 in Electrical Sciences & Technology.

Tracking Antenna for strategicapplications

Doubly curved Antenna manufacturedby ECIL for defence

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skills, capabilities and technologiesthat enabled it to convincingly dem-onstrate its techno-commercial com-petitiveness in the global market con-ditions prevailing within the country.The competency set required to suc-ceed in the field of Strategic Electron-ics has been amply validated, givingthe company a head start in its exportinitiatives.

The company with a nation-widesales and service network can ini-tiate breakthrough improvements inthe fast enlarging services market. Theimpressive levels of customer satis-faction that the company has beenrecording by virtue of its customer-centric focus should help it in expand-ing the scope of its servicing opera-tions beyond its own products andbeyond the frontiers of the country.

ECIL established its capabilitiesin the area of Control & Instrumenta-tion, and is geared up to fully utilisethe opportunities being provided by thecountry’s ambitious Nuclear PowerProgrammes. Time has come for thecompany to position itself to meet theother products and servicing/updat-ing requirements of DAE and itsconstituent units.

ChallengesEventhough ECIL proved itself to

be a national asset in the field of Stra-tegic Electronics, it will have to con-tinue its crusade against technologydenials as situation arises.

ECIL will continue to faceintense competition from the Multi-national Corporations (MNCs) and theprivate sector. The company does notenjoy any captive market advantageand will have to continue to competeand survive in the open market againstglobal benchmarks.

Today’s knowledge economy isputting a premium on the human capi-tal and its development. Owing to itsoriginal manufacturing focus, the com-pany generated surplus manpower atvarious levels over a period of time.

Vigorous efforts need to be made forrightsizing the organisation throughmore pragmatic Human ResourcesManagement (Reduction and Induc-tion) and for ensuring timely andeffective implementation of variousplans and programmes

The vision and mission of ECIL,the policies, plans and programmes and

the associated strategies, systems,procedures and processes at the cor-porate and strategic business unit levelneed to be installed and calibratedconsidering the above promises.These will have to cover the ambitsof business philosophy, sectoral mar-keting goals, R&D strategies and HRpractices ensuring a global presence.

Business PhilosophyThe original philosophy of pioneer-

ing the technology irrespective of com-mercial implications underwent adrastic transformation owing to eco-nomic liberalisation and concomitantglobal competition. The need to sur-vive and grow on one’s own resourcescompelled the company to recast itsbusiness strategy based on soundbusiness principles and prudent com-mercial practices.

The business strategy wouldnecessarily have to focus on a busi-ness design that! Can assure sizeable annual turn-over by way of meeting the require-ments of various units of DAE! Can ensure a guaranteed steadystate performance to sustain the cur-rent levels of operations and profit-ability! Can identify and harness eventdriven and general purpose productmix to ensure sustainable levels ofgrowth and contribution! Can introduce new products basedon state of the art technologies to cre-ate value inflows and ensure a safeand secure future! Can ensure significant presence ofthe company in the international mar-ket

By virtue of its time-tested capa-bilities in Project Management andSystem Engineering, emphasis willcontinue to be on low volume and hightechnology operations in the chosenareas of Strategic Electronics. To con-solidate its strengths and ensure asteady growth of business in this seg-ment, the organisation needs to regain

Vehicle Mounted Frequency Jammerfor Strategic Application

Electronic Voting Machine

Conveyorised Parcel Viewer for scan-ning powdery substances in parcels/mail

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its preeminence as a technologyleader. Accordingly, scanning, selec-tion, initiation and harnessing appro-priate technologies suiting the require-ments of divergent sectors of nationalimportance will be pursued andundertaken in a focused and morevigorous manner.

R&D Strategy and TechnologyGoals

ECIL has to fine-tune its R&Dstrategy with continued emphasis onself-reliance in the relevant areas ofStrategic Electronics. The emphasisof R&D at ECIL will therefore be to!!!!! regularly introduce new productsto ensure new channels of valueinflows,!!!!! optimally utilize R&D resources togive priority to those areas thatfacilitate self-reliance,!!!!! focus on application-specificR&D-to directly address customerrequirements,!!!!! emphasize on optimal R&D man-agement while exercising options tomeet any customer/market require-ments through investment in ownR&D, taking up networked/collabo-rative work with other R&D Labs/academic institutions, buying theknow-how, outsourcing etc..

Sectoral emphasisThe company charted out its own

niche areas in the chosen sectors ofits operations. The product streams ofECIL are regrouped and a sectoralfocus is consciously brought in. Thestrategic sectors, namely, nuclear,defence, civil aviation and security willreceive special attention in terms ofimprovement of technology base andskill generation.

ECIL is concentrating on enhanc-ing its areas of core competence inthe field of Integrated Security Sys-tems. It will be the endeavour of thecompany to revive its links andenhance its business with the Depart-ment of Space. Mutually beneficialbusiness linkages will be establishedwith other public sector undertakings(PSUs) and if necessary even withreputed private enterprises.

Another important sector onwhich ECIL would like to intensify itsfocus is the social sector. Eventhougha number of products were devel-oped and supplied over the years in

the areas of healthcare, agricultureand education, the company would liketo serve the rural sector both from abusiness and national perspective.Suitable initiatives will be evolved andlaunched in this direction, if necessaryby constructing bridges of coopera-tion with other concerned governmen-tal and non-governmental agencies.

Globalisation and ExportsECIL conclusively established that

it has the capability to! Combat technology denials duringcritical times! Compete with established MNCsand private companies and face mar-ket forces successfully! Meet global standards of perfor-mance

With these capabilities and poten-tial coupled with world class infra-structure, the company is now con-templating a vigorous export drive forits products and services. To facilitatethis, ECIL will launch necessary ini-tiatives to! Forge strategic alliances foster-ing business and technology tie-ups! Obtain Intellectual Property Rights! Identify and enter into MoUs withreputed international companies tofunction as a trusted OEM supplier

Practices and Quality StandardsIn the aftermath of globalisation

and its impact on the fortunes of ECIL,it has been adequately realised thatthe company needs to attain and main-tain global standards of performance.This calls for identifying, understand-ing and pursuing process parametersand practices as per global bench-marks. All the business divisions ofthe company are already ISO 9000certified and initiated programmes toensure early transition to ISO9000:2000 version of the Quality Man-agement System, which is recognisedas a TQM standard. There is also aneed to inculcate a zero-defect cul-ture across entire organisation, which

ECIL was chosen by Ministry of Exter-nal Affairs to execute a 7.2M SatelliteCommunication Earth Station Project atMauritius enabling reception ofDoodarshan signals

Breaker Electronic Panel supplied toCERN, Switzerland

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will be promoted through programmesaimed at continual improvements inquality, cost, delivery and service, lead-ing to enhanced levels of customersatisfaction.

Human Resource BaseTo face the challenges ahead,

there is an urgent need to focus onattracting and retaining talent. Thepresent human resource base reflect-ing an aged organisation needs to berejuvenated by selectively injectingyoung blood into the system. Theexisting workforce needs to beretrained and deployed suitably byimparting multi-skilling and multi-task-ing capabilities to ensure a flexiblemanufacturing culture in tune with thechanging requirements of the marketplace. A system of continuous andactionable learning and updating mer-its a serious consideration in thisregard. Employee satisfaction surveyshave to be initiated to elicit reliablefeedback for appropriate managerialinterventions for galvanising theorganisation for excellence in per-formance. All efforts will have to bemade to create a congenial and pro-ductive working atmosphere at vari-ous levels so as to further consolidateECIL’s status as a valued nationalasset.

ConclusionIt will be the endeavour of ECIL

to emerge as a technologically strongand commercially sturdy entityorganised to make significant contri-butions to the nation by realisingapplications which are of both strate-gic and economic significance to thecountry in the fields of atomicenergy, national defence, security sys-tems, telecommunications, education,agriculture, water management, wastemanagement and health care.

Although the Board of Radiation& Isotope Technology (BRIT) wasformally launched in 1989, its mainactivities evolved from the nucleusformed earlier in the Isotopeprogramme of BARC and there is astrong synergy between the twounits.

BRIT enjoys a unique positionamongst the other constituent units ofDAE and this unit acts as the bridgebetween the R&D activities of theDepartment and the society. BRITplays the role of “Bhagirath” bring-ing the fruits of R&D emanating fromthe nuclear programme to the benefitof the common man. The four majorareas in which this flow continues arehealth-care, industry, agriculture andresearch.

In its earlier avatar as IsotopeDivision of BARC, BRIT had mid-wifed the birth of state-of-the-art

diagnostic methodologies and thera-peutic medicines in the field of nuclearmedicine and radiotherapy. From the1960s when a few hospitals in andaround Mumbai started using Iodine-131 and Phosphorus-32 labelled com-pounds for diagnosis and therapy,BRIT virtually grew into a supplier

of sub-continental proportions cater-ing today to more than 500 institutionswithin India, Nepal and Srilanka.Growth in the quantity of consign-ments was accompanied by theexpansion in the range of products.Today BRIT supplies on a weeklybasis 99mTc generators, 11 types ofcold kits for formulation of 99mTcradiopharmaceuticals, Sodium Iodide(131I) therapeutic capsules, 131I MIBGfor diagnosis of neuro-endocrine tu-mors, 32P injections for palliation andtreatment of blood cancer and 153SmEDTMB for bone palliation in bonemetastasis. RIA kits for testing 8parameters covering thyroid and fer-tility disorders are routinely suppliedto users all over the country. BRITis the only manufacturer of Radioim-munoassay kits in the country. In thisarea, BRIT has developed separationsystem based on magnetizable par-

ticles for which patent application hasbeen filed with the Indian PatentOffice.

Researchers in India had beenusing 14C and 3H labelled aminoacids, carbohydrates and fatty acidsfor biological research. With thedevelopment of biotechnology and

BOARD OF RADIATION & ISOTOPETECHNOLOGY

Radiopharmaceutical Laboratory, Vashi, Navi Mumbai

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New Chief Executive of BRIT

Shri J.K. Ghosh has taken over as the newChief Executive of BRIT. He joined the twelfthbatch of BARC Training School after graduat-ing in Metallurgical Engineering, from theRegional Engineering College, Durgapur,West Bengal. He started his career inRadiometallurgy Division of BARC. He was

responsible for setting up the Inspection and Quality Control facilities forthe plutonium fuel programme.

Shri Ghosh received training in plutonium metallurgy inKemforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany in the early seventies. Hisfirst major task in Radiometallurgy Division was the inspection and qualitycontrol of plutonium oxide fuel for PURNIMA reactor. This was followedby development of NDT techniques for MOX fuel quality control. Heshouldered the responsibility of FBTR mixed carbide fuel quality right fromspecifications stage to the final delivery. He had played a key role in thequality assurance of Uranium-233 based plate type fuel for the KAMINIreactor at IGCAR.

Shri Ghosh has pioneered the use of advanced NDT techniques likeInfrared Thermography and Neutron Radiography using the Apsarareactor facility for plutonium based fuel quality assurance. He has alsomade significant contribution in the field of quality documentation in theplutonium programme.

Shri Ghosh joined the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology(BRIT) in March-2000 as Deputy Chief Executive and worked fromKolkata to strengthen the eastern regional activities of BRIT. He returnedto Mumbai in May-2002 and has been leading the engineering programmeof BRIT covering diverse activities spanning from the large scale recov-ery of radioactive Cobalt from irradiated adjuster rods in RAPPCOFfacility Kota, to fabrication of miniature source capsules using laser weld-ing in the Radiological laboratories of BARC and providing radiation pro-cessing services to customers from ISOMED and Radiation ProcessingPlant, Vashi.

Shri Ghosh has given a major thrust to the programme of setting upRadiation Processing Plants by private entrepreneurs and a number ofsuch plants under MoU with BRIT are coming up in different locationssuch as Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, Rahuri and Hyderabad.

Shri Ghosh has over hundred and twenty technical publications innational and international journals.

The Indian Society of Non-destructive Testing, Mumbai Chapter hasrecently bestowed the NDT Excellence Award 2003 on him for his contri-bution in the field of industrial applications of NDT.

molecular genetics, researchers werehandicapped by the non-availability ofeconomically priced labelled nucle-otides and amino acids. BRITstepped into this area as early as 1985and started synthesizing four basiclabelled nucleotides. With the com-missioning of the production facilityat the Centre for Cellular and Molecu-lar Biology (CCMB) campus,Hyderabad, named JONAKI, therange has increased to cover 12 Phos-phorus-32 labelled nucleotides,4 Phosphorus-33 labelled nucleotidesand 12 molecular biology kits. TheLabelled Compounds Laboratory atVashi, Navi Mumbai supplies 5 kindsof 35S labelled amino acids. One In-ternational Patent application has beenfiled in the area of detection ofNucleic Acids by the JONAKI lab.

In the industrial front, the firstmajor equipment to be developed wasthe gamma radiography camera incor-porating 192Ir sources as well as 60Cosources. Today the ROLI-1 cameraswith 192Ir sources are the work horseof industry and a large network ofradiographers around the country areusing these units.

Laboratory research irradiatorshave also been evolving from theirearlier models and the latest additionto this series, the “Blood Irradiators”are now being supplied to hospitals indifferent parts of the country for thebenefit of immuno-deficient patients.

The major thrust given to the area

Blood Irradiators developed by BRIT

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of setting up of new radiation process-ing plants for medical, food related andallied products has shown veryencouraging results in the recenttimes and about eight private partieshave signed MoU with BRIT for set-ting up new plants. The first of these(M/s.Organic Green Foods Ltd.,Kolkata) is expected to be operationalduring the first quarter of 2004.

The Sealed Sources Programmesupplies cobalt source pencils to allthe industrial radiation processingfacilities. Apart from ISOMED andRadiation Processing Plant, Vashi, thelist includes RASHMI, the irradiatoroperated by Kidwai Memorial Insti-tute of Oncology, Bangalore, irradia-tor “RAVI” operated by DefenceLaboratory, Jodhpur and the irradia-tor operated by M/s. Shriram Insti-tute for Industrial Research, Delhi. Italso supplies source pencils for alllaboratory irradiators. Custom madesources are supplied to customers forspecific use.

A very important task performedby this unit is the supply of cobalt tele-therapy sources to a large number ofcancer hospitals throughout the coun-try. Hundreds of kilo curies of cobaltactivity is handled by this unit. Avariety of brachytherapy sources arealso being supplied by this unit.

The RAPPCOF facilities locatedat Kota, Rajasthan is the “Gangotri”of the entire cobalt based programmeof BRIT. The water pool has acapacity to hold upto three millioncuries of Cobalt-60. The irradiatedadjuster rods are transported frompower reactors to this facility and

Cobalt-60 is recovered and latertransported to Mumbai for furtherprocess

The impeccable record ofISOMED, the flag-ship unit of BRIToperating successfully for 30 yearsnow and providing radiation process-ing service of medical products tomore than 1500 clients spread all over

the country, has had a catalyticeffect on changing the mind-set of pri-vate entrepreneurs to go in for set-ting up such plants in private sector.

The Radiation Processing Plant,Vashi (earlier known as Demonstra-tion Plant for Spice Irradiation) oper-ating since January 2000 has also beenperforming very well with an enlargedscope of products being processed.

Future: Where do we go fromhere?

Today BRIT is geared up to takethe challenges of the new millennium.The number of people demanding so-phisticated healthcare facilities isgrowing by leaps and bounds.Nuclear medicine which wasrestricted to the metro cities is nowpenetrating to the bigger towns andeven in the agriculturally prosperousmofussil areas. Immunodiagnosticsis also offering fresh demands interms of new parameters. FurtherBRIT can position itself as a leaderin providing cutting edge technologyin the emerging areas like moleculardiagnostics, micro arrays, PCR baseddiagnostic system etc. by leveragingits competencies already available.

BRIT can enter into the excitingarea of lead molecule evaluation indrug discovery process as it hasrobust experience in synthesis of

radiolabelled compounds andbiomolecules. Leading pharmaceuti-cal majors can outsource part of theirR&D work from BRIT opening up a

Radiation Processing Plant at Vashi, Navi Mumbai

Organic Green Foods Ltd. KolkataRAPPCOF facilities located at Kota,Rajasthan

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totally new market segment for BRIT.Biotechnology is the next frontier ofbusiness breakthroughs. BRIT is finelyplaced to provide help in future prod-ucts and services uniquely suited tothe specific demands in areas suchas genetic engineering and molecularbiology, cell biology and animal sci-ences and validation of geneticallymodified organisms etc.

In the field of radiation process-ing, in addition to setting up largeradiation processing plants in the pri-vate sector, BRIT is also movingtowards making available compact,portable irradiators for specific userswith limited demand of in-houseapplications.

BRIT is also gearing up to use theexpertise developed for setting upradiation processing plants on a turn-key basis in the international market.

Evolving from the demonstrationstage to prototypes, BRIT is nowpoised for taking the role of a steadyand confident supplier of products andservices and the main thrust would beoperation in a more commercial andmarket-friendly mode without totallycompromising the societal obligations.In this march towards self-suffi-ciency, BRIT would try to developmore linkages with industrial partnersand also with other social organiza-tions to carry its mission forward andlet the common people enjoy the fruitsof development so assiduously carvedout through decades of efforts.

In the Golden Jubilee Year of theDepartment of Atomic Energy, BRITsincerely re-dedicates itself toaddress this noble task assigned to it.

During November 1-5. 2003, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, the 19th WorldMining Expo.2003 and the World Mining Congress were held. Both the eventswere inaugurated by the President of India Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

The Department of Atomic Energy, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. andAtomic Mineral Directorate for Exploration and Research had played activerole in the Congress. About 2000 delegates, that included a number of digni-taries from India and from countries such as Canada, Australia, Iran, China,Congo and others, had participated in the Congress.

Winners of the DAE’s Golden Jubilee Logo Contest-2003 withDr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, AEC (Centre) and Shri B. Bhattacharya,Director, BARC (3rd from left).Winner of the first prize Shri Mandhar Kanvinde (3rd from right) of Thane,and Winners of consolation prizes S/Shri Samir Phulpagar (second from left)of Mumbai, and Sudhir Vetal (second from right) of Kalyan.

Vist our websitewww.britatom.com

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MANGALORE UNIVERSITYMICROTRON CENTRE FOUDATION DAY

National workshop on radiation processing of food itemsand Public Awareness Exhibition

A Variable Energy Microtron was installed in Mangalore University in col-laboration with CAT, Indore and BARC, Mumbai and it was commissioned byDr R Chidambaram on September 29, 1995. The Department of AtomicEnergy and the Department of Science and Technology, have sponsored majorresearch projects. With this support a good laboratory infrastructure has beendeveloped for conducting research in radiation physics and related disciplines.With all these, the Microtron Centre has become an unique R&D facility in thecountry. A number of R&D programmes have been initiated on radiationdosimetry, photofission, irradiation of semiconductor materials/devices, poly-mers and non-linear optical crystals, radiation biophysics and food irradiationfor quality upgradation. The results obtained in many of these studies havealso been found to be immensely useful for applications in industries such aselectronics industries and food processing industry.

Dr.Anil Kakodkar inaugurated the programme. He informed that AEC isworking with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries to include radiationtechnology as one of the items qualifying for their support.

He felt that linkages between the national laboratories, universities andindustries are important for having a flourishing, vibrant and high quality highereducation programme and said that Microtron Centre was a model examplein this respect.

Shri R. Bhiksham, StationDirector, Kakrapar Atomic PowerStation was awarded the firstWorld Association of NuclearOperators (WANO) ExcellenceAward on October 14, 2003 dur-ing the WANO Biennial GeneralBody Meeting held in Berlin, Ger-many.

This Award has been institutedby WANO with the aim of recog-nizing the work of individuals whohave made exceptional or extraor-dinary contribution to excellencein the nuclear industry.

Shri Satyabrata Mookherjee, Minister ofState for Statistics & Programme Imple-mentation, Planning, Atomic Energy &Space and Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chair-man, Atomic Energy Commission & Sec-retary, Department of Atomic Energy atthe Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar,on the occassion of the Institute’s GoldenJubilee Celebration.

Institute’s GoldenJubilee Celebration.

Award...

Dr. Anil Kakodkar,Chairman, AtomicEnergy Commis-sion at MangaloreUniversity on theoccasion ofMicrotron Centrefoundation Day

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Trombay Groundnuts at highaltitudes

Trombay groundnut (TG) variety, TAG 24 wasreleased in 1992 for Kharif and Rabi/summer culti-vation for Vidharba region in Maharashtra. It wasalso released/identified by Karnataka, Rajasthan andWest Bengal. Simultaneously, it became popular inAndhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Punjaband Tamil Nadu. It had made an entry into Gujarat,Goa and Uttar Pradesh also. Currently, TAG 24 isused as National Check variety in Rabi/summer tri-als in the All India Coordinated Groundnut varietaltrials. Another variety, TG 26, released in 1996 forGujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh has simi-lar features of TAG 24 with an additional trait of seeddormancy. TAG 24 and TG 26 are characterized bysemi-dwarf habit, determinate flowering, early matu-rity, enhanced dry matter partitioning and high har-vest index which were all combined together byplanned breeding. Intensive efforts to disseminatethese varieties facilitated TAG 24 and TG 26 tobecome popular among the farming community. Anumber of farmers have recorded very high yieldswith these two TG varieties.

Under the collaboration between BARC andDefence Agricultural Research Laboratory, DefenceResearch and Development Organisation (DRDO),Pithoragarh, TAG 24 and TG 26 varieties were ini-tially introduced for cultivation at high altitudes dur-ing 2000. Initial results were very much encouraging.Subsequently, BARC had supplied the breeder seedof these two varieties again for further evaluation.With the guidance of National Research Centre forGroundnut (NRCG), Junagadh, TAG 24 and TG 26were grown by DRDO at Field Research Labora-tory, Leh at an altitude of 3505 meters above meansea level using polythene mulch. The crop was raisedfrom second week of May to last week of Septem-ber, 2002. The yield realized was 736 to 924 kgpods /ha. According to NRCG, cultivating TAG 24and TG 26 at Leh, may be the world’s first report ofgroundnut cultivation at an altitude of 3505 metersabove mean sea level (NRCG Newsletter Vol. II (1),March 2003). Simultaneously, to suit the needs of theLeh and other high altitude regions, BARC has alsodeveloped other new groundnut lines having improvedyields and early crop maturity.

RADIATION INDUCED DWARFMUTANT IN SUNFLOWER

Sanjay J. JambhulkarNuclear Agriculture & Biotechnology Division

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is cultivated as anoilseed crop since 1970. Increasing genetic variabilityand development of high yielding varieties/hybrids is animportant objective. ‘Surya’ is the first high yieldingvariety released for cultivation. Induced mutation stud-ies were initiated at the Nuclear Agriculture and Bio-technology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Cen-tre. Large spectrum of variability for morphologicalcharacters was isolated using gamma rays. Dwarfmutant of sunflower is one of them, which wasobserved in the 9th generation and in subsequent gen-erations too indicating that the dwarf character is heri-table and governed by genes.

Significant attribute of the dwarf mutant is the dras-tic reduction in the plant height to 10-12cm comparedto 180cm of normal tall plant. However number of leaves(34 -37) were similar to normal tall plants. Flower (head)diameter (7-8cm) and length of leaf (9-12cm) werereduced to approximately half compared to normal plant.Normal plant flowered in 40-45 and matured in 95-100days whereas dwarfs flowered in 120-125 and maturedin 160-170 days. Central flowers (disc florets) on head(flower) were sterile and no seed setting was observed.This is one of the difficulties to use dwarf mutant in thebreeding programme. Efforts are being made to inducethe fertility. This novel genetic stock has been desig-nated as Trombay Dwarf Sunflower. Application ofGA3 (Gibberellic acid) restored normal plant height indwarfs indicating mutation in gene(s) responsible forGA3 pathway. This is the first report on extreme dwarf-ness in sunflower induced through radiation.

In sunflower, stalk breakage caused by excessivegrowth is known to be associated with yield reduction.Therefore, development of dwarf and semi-dwarfvarieties/hybrids is one of the major objectives. Thedwarfing genes in rice and wheat brought green revo-lution in agriculture. Potentiality of Trombay DwarfSunflower will be exploited to develop desirable planttype in sunflower.

Nuclear Agriculture Division, BARC

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Breeder seed multiplication of themost popular Trombay groundnutvariety, TAG 24 was arranged onmore than 20 hectares by Universityof Agricultural Sciences (UAS),Dharwad during summer, 2003 atBhoj village, Belgaum Dist. inKarnataka. In this connection, theUniversity of Agricultural Scienceshad organized a Farmers’ Rally on 6April 2003. The farmers have grownTAG 24 with improved agronomicpractices in this sugarcane belt underthe banner “Shashwat Krishi VigyanKendra. About twenty scientists fromBARC, Trombay, UAS, Dharwad andTamil Nadu Agricultural University,Coimbatore, and over 500 farmershad participated. The scientists visitedvarious farmers’ fields and studied theperformance of TAG 24. This multi-dimensional team of scientists, farm-ers and experts discussed the social,financial, technical and marketing fac-tors in Bhoj village. The opinion wasthat TAG 24 was best suited varietyfor that region and was becomingrapidly popular among the farmers ofthis region. The team of BARC sci-entists was impressed by the enthusi-asm of farmers and hoped thatthe chronic problem of seed multipli-cation of popular Trombay groundnutvarieties could be resolved only withsuch a group activity and expressedall support for the success of theproject. Officials from Seed Unit ofthe University of Agricultural Sci-ences, Dharwad harvested more than500 quintals of TAG 24 (breeder seed)during summer 2003 which would beentering into seed multiplication chainwith various agencies.

Kisan Mela on summer groundnutfor Trombay groundnut varieties, TAG

24 and TG 26 was organized on 28th

May, 2003 at Kehal Village, ParbhaniDist. in Maharashtra. These varietieswere raised under high input agro-ecological conditions. Statistical wingof Department of Agriculture, Gov-ernment of Maharashtra, based oncrop cutting surveys, recorded 119 and140 quintals of wet pods/ha of TAG24 and TG 26 respectively, duringsummer, 2003. Correspondingly, thefinal dry pod yields were 73 and 80quintals/ha as against 15 quintals ofnational average.

Field visit of dignitaries at Bhoj

Farmers’ rally at Bhoj village

Field view of TAG 24 at Bhoj

The material printed inNuclear India

can be used freely withacknowledgement.

This material is alsoavailable on

Website : www.dae.gov.in

Farmers’ Rallies on TrombayGroundnut Varieties

Dr Anand BadigannavarNuclear Agriculture &Bio Technology Division,

BARC, Mumbai-400 085

The founder Managing Direc-tor of Electronics Corporation ofIndia Ltd.(ECIL), Dr. A.S. Rao,died here late on Friday, October31st, 2003. He was 89. Dr Rao,who died of complications ofpneumonia, is survived by wife,four sons and three daughters.

A close associate of Dr HomiBhabha, Dr Rao was one of thechief architects of the country’satomic energy programme and inbuilding the first nuclear reactorAPSARA. A firm believer inself-reliance and indigenous tech-nology capability, Dr Rao builtECIL, a public sector unit underthe DAE, from its inception in1967 to 1978 on the foundation ofdeveloping electronics in thecountry.

Founder MD of ECILpasses away

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Rangoli creation by Shri S.B. Jadhav, an employeeof the DAE’s Directorate of Construction,

Services and Estate Management.

Every year, DAE organises Essay Contest onnuclear science and technology for under graduatestudents. This year, the topics for the contest were:

1. Electricity from Atom : Achievements andLooking beyond, and

2. Radiation and Radioisotopes for better qualityof life.

In addition to the above topics, a common topictitled “Fifty years of India’s Atomic EnergyProgramme : Evolution and Achievements” wasalso the part of the contest.

In all 690 essays — 400 on the first topic and290 on the second topic, were received. Of these179 essays were written in the Indian languagesother than English.

From the first topic, 17 contestants, and fromthe second topic 15 contestants, were invited to makeoral presentation of their essays, on the BARC’sFoundation Day celebration, on October 30, 2003.

Following were the prize winners :1. Electricity from Atom : Achievements andLooking beyond,First prize : Km. Aparna Narayan (Surat)Second prize : Km. Kadrekar Riddhi Harish

(Ratnagiri)Third prize : Sh. K Murugesan (Hyderabad)The 13 consolation prizes included one each in Hindi,Tamil & Urdu, and 10 in English.

2. Radiation and Radioisotopes for better qual-ity of life.First prize : Km. Sonia Bopche (Damangaon)Second prize: Km. J. Sarala (Hyderabad)Third prize : Km. Aarti Upadhyay (Khandwa)

The 12 consolation prizes included 7 in Hindiand 5 in English.

Prize winners Essay Contest

Winners of the DAE’s 15th All India Essay Contestwith Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, AEC andShri B. Bhattacharjee, Director, BARC.

Km. Aparna Narayan (Surat)

Km. Kadrekar Riddhi Harish(Ratnagiri)

Sh. K Murugesan (Hyderabad)

Km. Sonia Bopche (Damangaon)

Km. J. Sarala (Hyderabad)

Km. Aarti Upadhyay (Khandwa)

EDITORIAL GROUP: Dr. R. B. Grover, Director, Strategic Plng. Group, DAE !K. Muralidhar, Secretary, AEC !Dr. K S Parthasarathy, Secretary, AERB! Dr. Vijai Kumar, Head LISD, BARC ! P.K. Kush, Head, Cryogenic Lab, CAT ! P.V. Dubey, Company Secretary, UCIL ! G.Srihari Rao, Head, CPPM, ECIL! M.S.N. Sastry, Chief Engineer, HWB ! N. Panchapakesan, Manager (L&IS), NFC ! S.K. Malhotra, Head, Public Awareness Dn, DAE! Arun Srivastava, SPG, DAE

EDITOR : R K Bhatnagar, Head, Publication Dn, DAE

Edited and published by R K Bhatnagar, Hd. Publication Dn, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India, Mumbai-1, and printed by him at M/s Krishna Art Printry Pvt. Ltd., Byculla, Mumbai-400 027.

R.No 9002/62

Anu-Vijay TownshipThe residential township of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project has modern facilities. Besides residential flats, ithas a school, swimming pool, guest house, hospital, recreational facilities, a bank with ATM, EnvironmentalSurvey Laboratory and a Reverse Osmosis Plant.

Before

Now