Scientific and Technological Developments

TECHNOLOGIES

    • DAE is a pioneer in conducting comprehensive thermal ecology studies in India.
    • The flue gas conditioning technology developed by Heavy Water Board is now helping to reduce fly-ash emission from thermal boilers.
    • The Nisarga-Runa technology developed at BARC converts biodegradable solid waste into useful manure and methane.
    • The Sewage Sludge Hygienisation plant (SHRI) at Vadodara continues to provide dried hygienised sludge for use by farmers.
    • Large scale field trials of utilizing radiation processed municipal sewage sludge in the agricultural fields have been conducted under the supervision of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK, Vadodara).
    • The research reactors set up by DAE so far, have been:
    • Apsara,
    • CIRUS,
    • Zerlina,
    • Purnima I-III,
    • Dhruva at Trombay (Maharashtra)
    • Kamini
    • Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu).
    • Of the research reactors, Zerlina was decommissioned in 1984, and Purnima series made way for Kamini.
    • Dhruva, CIRUS and Apsara are used for producing radioisotopes besides their use in research and development relating to nuclear technologies and materials, applied and basic research, and training.
    • KAMINI is used mainly for radiography of various materials, and FBTR is the test bed for the development of fuel, blanket and structural materials for fast breeder reactor programme.
    • The new ventures include the development of a Critical Facility at Trombay for reactor physics experiments relating to AHWR and 540 MWe PHWR, and a pool type 200 MWt Multi Purpose Research Reactors.
    • India is a leading producer of radioisotopes in the world. Radioisotopes are produced in the research reactors at Trombay, atomic power reactors at various places in the country, and cyclotron at Kolkata.
    • BARC has successfully developed green manure crop — Sesbania rostrata that is proving highly cost-effective for small farmers.
    • The Centre has made good progress in developing hardened plants for Acacia Victoriae – a plant suitable for desert area.
    • These are Radiation Processing Plant set up by BRIT at Navi Mumbai is for high dose radiation processing of spices, and KRUSHAK (Krishi Utpadan Sanrakshan Kendra), set up by BARC at Lasalgaon near Nashik, for low dose applications of radiation for food preservation.
    • The Radiation Processing Plant at Vashi processed more than 1500 MT of spices and other allied products.
    • The first radiation processing plants in private sector by M/s Organic Green Foods Ltd. is operating in Kolkata.
    • Three Gamma Processing Plants have been completed in Sonepat (Haryana), Ambernath (Maharashtra) and Vadodara (Gujarat).
    • BARC’s Radiation Medicine Centre (RMC) in Mumbai is involved in research and development in nuclear medicine and allied products. It is a regional referral centre of the World Health Organisation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
    • BRIT processes and formulates radioisotopes produced in the research reactors Dhruva and Apsara at Trombay and also in the power reactors of NPCIL.
    • BRIT has been operating radiation sterilization plant ISOMED, at Trombay. The plant provides radiation sterilization services to several users.
    • Using radio tracing techniques, leaks in the heat exchangers of the Indian Oil Corporation’s Panipat Refinery, Haryana and Tamil Nadu Petroproducts Ltd. Chennai, Tamil Nadu were detected.
    • The DAE’s research organisations, viz., Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, are engaged in the development of applications in the areas of Laser systems, Electron Beam processes and devices, and Plasma devices.
    • To meet the diverse demands of radiation processing of materials, BARC is designing and developing a 3 MeV, 30 HA7 DC accelerators. They are going to be housed at Electron Beam Centre (EBC), Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.
    • High Power pulsed electronic accelerators are used for producing Flash X Rays (FXR) and High Power Microwaves (HPM). BARC has been developing two types of accelerator in this category, namely single and repetitive shot types. Kali 200, Kali 1000 and Kali 5000 belong to the single shot and the Linear Induction Accelerator (LIA) to the repetitive type.
    • BARC is setting up a 6300 cubic metre/day combined MSF-RO Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant (NDDP) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.
    • Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, carries out research in advanced fields of mathematics and theoretical physics including astrophysics, high-energy physics, condensed matter physics and mathematical physics.
    • Institute of Mathematical Sciences at Chennai, Tamil Nadu is engaged in research in the fields of Theoretical Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science.
    • The Anupam-Ameya supercomputer developed by BARC is a 512 CPU cluster and is the largest and fastest in Hie ANUPAM series.
    • The Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar conducts research in condensed matter and high energy, nuclear, atomic and accelerator based physics.
    • BARC monitors seismic activities at Gauribidanur in Karnataka, Delhi and Trombay seismic stations.
UPSC Prelims 2025 Notes