भाभा परमाणु अनुसन्धान केंद्र | |
The logo of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
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Abbreviation | BARC |
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Motto | Atoms in the service of the Nation |
Formation | January 3, 1954 |
Legal status | Operational |
Purpose | Nuclear research |
Headquarters | Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra |
Location | |
Director
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K.N. Vyas |
Parent organisation
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Department of Atomic Energy |
Budget
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₹3,159 crore (US$490 million) (2015–16) |
Website | barc |
Formerly called
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Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay |
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility based in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra. BARC is a multi-disciplinary research centre with extensive infrastructure for advanced research and development covering the entire spectrum of nuclear science, engineering and related areas.
BARC's core mandate is to sustain peaceful applications of nuclear energy, primarily for power generation. It manages all facets of nuclear power generation, from theoretical design of reactors, computerised modelling and simulation, risk analysis, development and testing of new reactor fuel materials, etc. It also conducts research in spent fuel processing, and safe disposal of nuclear waste. Its other research focus areas are applications for isotopes in industries, medicine, agriculture, etc. BARC operates a number of research reactors across the country.
The Government of India created the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) on 3 January 1954. It was established to consolidate all the research and development activity for nuclear reactors and technology under the Atomic Energy Commission. All scientists and engineers engaged in the fields of reactor design and development, instrumentation, metallurgy and material science etc. were transferred with their respective programmes from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) to AEET, with TIFR retaining its original focus for fundamental research in the sciences. After Homi J. Bhabha's death in 1966, the centre was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on 22 January 1967. All the directors of the BARC were highly qualified doctorates in their discipline and were internationally recognised for their contribution in academia, who were the crown of this prestigious research organisation.
The first reactors at BARC and its affiliated power generation centres were imported from the west. India's first power reactors, installed at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station were from the United States.