Srikumar Banerjee will take over as the new chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from December 1. Banerjee, currently director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc), will succeed Anil Kakodkar whose tenure ends on November 30.
Kakodkar has held the post of the commission’s chairman since November 30, 2000 and is the only person to get three extensions. Earlier, he had held various positions in Barc, including its directorship (1996-2001).
“Dr Anil Kakodkar, AEC chairman and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), will be laying down his office on Monday, November 30, 2009 on superannuation after 45 years of distinguished service in the department. Srikumar Banerjee will take over
charge from Kakodkar,” said SK Malhotra, head, public awareness division, DAE.
Both Kakodkar and Banerjee are currently in Tamil Nadu for the inauguration of a zirconium plant of the nuclear fuel complex, said Malhotra.
Speaking on the sidelines of Barc founder’s day celebrations on October 30, Kakodkar had said his successor will face several challenges, “but one will have to eventually accelerate the (nuclear) programme in consistence with the principle of self-reliance. So it will be a twin objective of rapid progress while maintaining our capability”.
Banerjee, one of the leading experts in materials science and technology, joined Barc in 1967 after graduating in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kharagpur. He has been Barc director since April 30, 2004. He has made outstanding contributions to many materials related areas, basic and application oriented.
Speaking on founder’s day last month, Banerjee had said: “Bhabha outlined the three-stage nuclear power programme considering the modest uranium resource and the large thorium reserve in the country. We are moving ahead in this chartered path and are on the threshold of the second stage of nuclear power production.
“Through the development of advanced heavy water reactor technology, we will be providing several technologies meaningful for the large-scale use of thorium....We must fulfill our cherished dream of providing long-term energy security to the country by using our vast thorium reserves after establishing a substantially higher capacity of nuclear power.”
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