Dr. Sekhar Basu took the charge as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai.
Dr. Ratan Kumar Sinha, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, remitted his office on superannuation after about 42 years of distinguished service in the Department.
Dr. Sekhar Basu, a renowned nuclear scientist, before taking over as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, has been the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
Earlier he worked as the Project Director of Nuclear Submarine Programme and later as the Chief Executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board in the same institute.
Dr. Basu is an engineer of exceptional ability who has played a lead role in multiple areas of nuclear science and engineering and is a major contributor in establishing India as a leader in nuclear field.
The Indian Atomic Energy Commission was first setup in August 1948 in the Department of Scientific Research, which was created a few months earlier in June 1948.
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was setup on August 3, 1954 under the direct charge of the Prime Minister through a Presidential Order. Subsequently, in accordance with a Government Resolution dated March 1, 1958, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established in the Department of Atomic Energy.
The Prime Minister (late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru) also laid a copy of this Resolution on the table of the Lok Sabha on March 24, 1958.
According to the Resolution constituting the AEC, the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Atomic Energy is ex-officio Chairman of the Commission.
The other Members of the AEC are appointed for each calendar year on the recommendation of the Chairman, AEC and after approval by the Prime Minster.
The functions of the Atomic Energy Commission are: (i) to organise research in atomic scientists in the country; (ii) to train, atomic scientists in the country; (iii) to promote nuclear research in commission’s own laboratories as well as in India; (iv) to undertake prospecting of atomic minerals in India and to extract such minerals for use on industrial scale.
It has five research centres viz.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu)
Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT), Indore
Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata
Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), Hyderabad.
It also gives financial assistance to autonomous national institutes doing research in the field and has various other organisations under it.
Homi Bhabha (1948-1966)
Vikram Sarabhai (1966-1971)
H.N. Sethna (1972-1983)
Raja Ramanna (1983-1987)
M.R. Srinivasan (1987-1990)
P.K. Iyengar (1990-1993)
Dr. R. Chidambaram (1993-2000)
Dr. Anil Kakodkar (2000- 2009)
Dr. Srikumar Banerjee (2009-2012)
Dr. Ratan Kumar Sinha (2012-2015)
Dr. Shekhar Basu (2015-till date)
Read – Sub-Group on Swachh Bharat Submits Report
