India entered the atomic age, more correctly the nuclear age, on 4th August 1956 when Apsara, India’s first nuclear reactor, went into operation. This reactor was designed and built by India with the nuclear fuel supplied from the United Kingdom under a lease agreement. Our second reactor for research purposes, CIRUS, was built with cooperation with Canada and went into operation in the early 1960’s. The research reactors were platforms for conducting research in neutron physics, studies in the behaviour of materials under neutron irradiation and for production of radio isotopes. The latter are very useful for diagnostics and treatment of various ailments, especially cancer, and also very useful in industrial applications, especially for the purpose of non-destructive testing.

Electricity production using nuclear energy commenced in October 1969 when the two reactors at Tarapur were put into service. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) was built by General Electric of USA and is now in its forty-eighth year of service. Tarapur supplies the lowest cost non-hydro electric power in the country. India’s second nuclear power station came up in Rajasthan, near Kota, the first unit of which went into operation in August, 1972. The first two units at Rajasthan were built in collaboration with Canada, who pioneered reactors that could use natural uranium as fuel. They, however, required heavy water, present in extremely small quantities in ordinary water and can be extracted through complex processes.

India’s third nuclear power station came up at Kalpakkam, near Chennai. This station was designed and built by India, on its own. All the material and equipment were produced in the country. This was a huge challenge as Indian industry at that time, had no experience in making complex equipment required for nuclear applications. Special materials like nuclear fuel, zirconium components and heavy water production required extensive work in the laboratories of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Pilot plants were built and later scaled up to industrial plants. Industry had to be trained in special manufacturing processes and novel quality testing procedures introduced. Thus, when the first unit of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) started up in July 1983, India joined a small group of countries which could design and build nuclear power units on their own.

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