Eternal India Encyclopedia

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Eternal India encyclopedia

Department of Electronics (DOE)

energy like applications of radio isotopes in industry, medicine and agriculture. The research work has resulted in production of radio pharmaceuticals, preservation of spices and seafoods by irradia- tion. A number of technologies developed at BARC have been transferred to industry for commercial use. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research set up in 1971 at Kalpakkam near Madras carries out R&D activities relating to fast breeder development. It has set up a Fast Breeder Test Reactor which is presently operating at a power level of one MWt. Based on the experience gained from the FBTR this centre has evolved a design for the prototype plutonium fuelled 500 MWe reactor. The Centre for Advanced Technology set up at Indore in Madhya Pradesh has been developing technologies in the area of lasers and acceleration. The synchrotron radiation facility being set up here will be a major research facility in the country. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is responsible for designing, constructing and operating nuclear power reactors. The DAE has been funding the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Saha Institute of Physics. The TIFR, set up in 1945 in Bombay is engaged in fundamental research in the fields of mathematics, physics, astrophysics, molecular biology and computer science. The Tata Memorial Centre at Bombay is the foremost institution in the country in research, diagnosis and treat- ment of cancer. The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics established in 1951 at Calcutta is a major centre for advanced research in nuclear and allied sciences. The Institute of Physics at Bhubanes- war has facilities for advanced research in nuclear science. India is among the nine countries in the world to have technical capabilities in the entire fuel cycle. It has demonstrated its exper- tise in the underground nuclear explosion for peaceful purposes (1974). Nuclear energy contributes 2.7% of the nation's power needs. Thermal energy is the major source of electricity generation (62%) followed by 35% hydro energy. The share of nuclear energy in power generation is expected to rise in 2000 A.D. to 10% with thermal energy contributing 50% and hydro energy 40% towards the total planned power generating capacity of 100,000 M.W.

The Department of Electronics supports and funds technology development through its councils set up in various fields, namely, the Technology Development Council (TDC) for areas like compo- nents, computer communication and instrumentation etc, the Na- tional Radar Council (NRC) for radars, navigational aids, sonar, under water electronics systems, laser and infrared-based detec- tion ranging systems, National Micro-Electronics Council (NMEC) for design and production technology of LSI/VLSI, ASICS etc., electronic materials including special ceramics, high purity metals, gas etc., and the National Photonics Council (NPC) for photonic-related areas covering optoelectronic devices, optical data storage switching, imaging etc. The Department has three public sector corporations under its administrative control: CMC Ltd, Electronics Trade and Technol- ogy Development Corporation (ET&T) and Semi-conductor Com- plex Ltd (SCL) CMC provides hardware maintenance support to various equipments supplied by over 30 manufacturers. It has executed turnkey projects in many important sectors like power, transport, oil etc. As a major step towards globalisation CMC has acquired Baton Rouge International (BRI), a US-based company which provides comprehensive banking software and related services. BRI will enable CMC to enter the US and Canadian markets. ET&T was set up to expand foreign trade in electronics and under- take development of technology in key areas. The corporation has taken up a programme to manufacture 17" B/W TV and 53 cm FST colour TV. The low cost PC project launched by ET&T helped to bring down computer prices. SCL was set up primarily to design, develop and manufacture LSI/VLSI circuits. SCL which com- menced commercial production in April 1984 is presently concen- trating on rebuilding its assembly test and wafer fabrication facili- ties. Five VLSI design centres at Noida, Bangalore, Lucknow, Baroda and Bhubaneswar are fully operational. Established in 1971, it has overall responsibility in the fields of science and technology in respect of policies, guidelines and im- plementation. It has funded several projects like improvement of quality of rice bran for edible oil, modernisation of bullock carts, low cost solar cells etc. It has been playing a leading role in international technology transfer. The era of space research in India began in 1961 when the Government of India entrusted the subject of space research and the peaceful uses of outer space to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) headed by Homi J. Bhabha. In 1962 DAE set up the Indian National Committee on Space Research (INCOSPAR) un- der the chairmanship of Vikram Sarabhai to organise a national space programme. On November 21, 1963 a two-stage rocket called Nike-Apache was launched from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Sta- tion (TERLS) near Trivandrum. In 1969 INCOSPAR was recon- stituted as an advisory body under the Indian National Science Department of Science & Technology Department of Space

Nuclear Programme Profile

Sanctioned capacity MWe

Year of Commissioning

Operational units

Tarapur 1&2

2x210 2x220 2x235 2x235

1969

Rajasthan 1&2

1972,1981

Madras 1&2

1984,1986 1989,1991

Narora 1

Under construction

Kakrapar 1&2

2x235

Kaiga 1&2

2x235

Rajasthan 3&4

2x235

Tarapur 3 & 4

2x500

Planned

Kaiga - 3,4,5,&6

4x235

Rajasthan 5,6,7&8

4x500

Kudankulam

2x1000