| Great Scientists |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
HOMI BHABHA |
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| Reactors It is a meeting of men and circumstances that sometimes stimulates progress. It is therefore providential that Nehru had Bhabha and Bhabha had Nehru. As a close personal friend and devoted follower of the Prime Minister. Bhabha shared the great man's dreams, ambitions and points of view. Bhabha was participating in a conference at Geneva in 1955. Canada came forward to build a Reactor in India. On August 29,1955, Bhabha sent a cable from Geneva to Nehru and requested him to approve the, acceptance of this offer. Within three days, Bhabha received the consent of the Prime Minister. The Canada-India Reactor 'Cirus' was born. 'Apsara', 'Cirus' and 'Zerlina' are the three reactors built by the Trombay scientists and engineers, with foreign assistance. The credit for establishing these reactors goes to Bhabha. 'Apsara', India's first reactor was taken up in 1955 to fulfil the needs in the fields of neutron physics, radiation, chemistry and biology and also the production of radio isotopes. It became 6critical' on August 4, 1956. The uranium fuel for the reactor was obtained from the United, Kingdom. The erection of 'Apsara' gave self- confidence to the Indian scientists and engineers. 'Cirus' was built in 1960 -and 'Zerlina' in 1961. The construction of 'Cirus' took some four years, and 1200 engineers and skilled artisans worked for the completion of the reactor. Having acquired these reactors, Bhabha planned to take up the actual construction of atomic power plants. The atomic power plant of Tarapur in Maharashtra is now producing electricity. The other two plants are situated at Rana Pratap Sagar in Rajasthan and Kalpakam in Tamil Nadu. These power plants will appreciably contribute to the production of electricity in India. These achievements are the living symbols of Bhabha's imagination and dynamism. It has now been possible to produce plutonium, a valuable nuclear material, and other useful fuel at Tomboy. Work on thorium is also in progress. India has the largest reserves of thorium in the world. Thorium is a promising material for India's nuclear power program. More than 250 radioisotopes used in agriculture, industry, medicine and biology are now made available in large quantities. Today, over 350 radioisotopes and other radioisotope products are produced to meet a countrywide demand and also for export purposes. Radioisotopes play an important role in the study of the functions of a normal human body. |
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