Known as the “Father of the Indian nuclear programme”, Homi J. Bhabha is responsible for the onset of nuclear physics research and nuclear weapon programme in India.
CAREER
In 1933, after receiving his doctorate in nuclear physics, under Ralph H. Fowler, from the University of Cambridge in England, Bhabha performed cutting edge research in the field of electron-positron scattering with Niels Bohr. He worked with the likes of Walter Heitler to come up with numerical calculations for cosmic ray shower formations that would later go on to provide a simple experimental verification for Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.
On a holiday trip to India in September 1939, around the beginning of World War II, Bhabha realized the lack of infrastructure needed to study nuclear physics in India. His first step to realize his vision for India was to establish the Cosmic Ray Research Center in Indian Institute of Science, where he started promoting the idea of a nuclear programme in India.
WORK IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS
In March 1944, Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha submitted a proposal to Sir Dorab Tata Trust, to start a nuclear research center. In his letter, he wrote, “When nuclear energy has been successfully applied for power production in, say, a couple of decades from now, India will not have to look abroad for its experts, but will find them ready at hand.”
In June 1945, “The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)” was established with Dr Homi J. Bhabha as its very first director. Soon after independence of India in 1947, Bhabha managed to convince the Congress to pass a legislation creating the Atomic Energy Commission(AEC). In 1953, to promote research in nuclear physics, TIFR installed the first one-million volt Cockroft-Walton accelerator(cascade generator). In January 1954, the new government of India created the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay(AEET). It was established to consolidate all the research and development activity for nuclear reactors and technology under the AEC.
In 1955, Bhabha presided over the First International Conference for Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, where he predicted the emergence of nuclear power as a solution to the world’s energy needs. In August 1956, TIFR built their first light-water reactor called Apsara, the fuels for which were provided by the United Kingdom. Following the Apsara, in 1960, the TIFR collaborated with Canada to build the Canadian-Indian Reactor(CIR) similar to the NRX at Chalk River.
Bhabha envisioned the three stage nuclear programme which was realized by building multiple plants in TIFR to process byproducts like thorium hydroxide and uranium fluoride and to separate plutonium from the fission products. The CIR design was ideal for producing weapon-grade plutonium, capable of manufacturing enough plutonium for one to two bombs a year. The CIR produced the plutonium used in India’s first nuclear test in 1974 and influenced the design prototype for India’s powerful Dhruva plutonium production reactor.
CURRENT STATE OF NUCLEAR PROGRAMS IN INDIA
Currently TIFR is officially the National Center of the Government of India for Advanced Study and Fundamental Research in Nuclear Science and Mathematics. In 1967, the AEET was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Center(BARC). Out of the five test reactors in BARC, the Dhruva, the high neutron flux reactor is the most significant achievement built by all Indian engineers. BARC continues to develop India’s nuclear programs by coming up with designs like India’s first pressurized water reactor at Kalpakkam, Chennai and the power unit and propulsion reactor for INS Arihant, the first indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine commissioned in 2016.
References:
[1] Wikipedia: Homi Jehangir Bhabha
[3] India Times: 7 Things you need to know about Homi Bhabha
[4] The better India