Contribution of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to the “Metals Journey of India”

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) was established by Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha in January 1954 as Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) for pursuing multidisciplinary research activities to support the nuclear power programme of India. Since its inception, BARC is deeply involved in the adoption, ingestion and development of new technologies in various fields—be it electronics, computations, nuclear, radiation, chemical, biological/health/agriculture and materials. Among these fields, developments of materials have taken a centre stage right from the inception of BARC. Materials and processes required for every stage, from ore processing to extraction, alloy making, fabrication, support during operation, degradation modes to spent fuel reprocessing and waste management have been indigenously developed and successfully implemented with complete understanding. BARC is providing materials related support not only for Indian nuclear power reactors but also for heavy water plants, Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) and various other plants of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).