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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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ANNUAL REPORT1989-90

GOVERNMENT OF INDIADEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION

Dr. P.K. lyengarSecretary to the Govt.of IndiaDepartment of Atomic Energy

Shri B.C. DeshmukhPrincipal Secretary to thePrime Minister

Shri V.C. PandeCabinet Secretary

Dr. Bimal JalanFinance SecretaryDepartment of Economic Affairs,Ministry of Finance

Dr. R. ChidambaramDirectorBhabha Atomic Research Centre

Shri J.R.D. TataChairmanTata Sons Ltd., Bombay

Prof. C.N.R. RaoDirectorIndian Institute of ScienceBangalore

Shri S.L. KatiManaging DirectorNuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.Bombay

Chairman

Member

Member

Member forFinance

Member

Member

Member

Member

Cover:In India, the indigenous scientific endeavour in atomic energy has been ameliorating the lot of people by way of electricitygeneration, and the signal contributions it has made in the fields of agriculture, medicine, and industry. The cover depictsNarora Atomic Power Station — the first unit of which has been synchronised with the grid in 1989, slender rice variety'Hari' developed at BARC, and radiation therapy of cancer.

\ T"L :NT3 b

Genera: Surv

Nuclear Power CorporationHeavy Water ProjectsNuclear Fuel ComplexAtomic Minerals Division

2.12.82.102.14

Uranium dioxide pellets

iesearcn anaDevelopmentBhabha Atomic Research CentreIndira Gandhi Centre for Atomic ResearchCentre for Advanced TechnologyBoard of Radiation and Isotope TechnologyTata Institute of Fundamental ResearchSaha Institute of Nuclear PhysicsTata Memorial CentreInstitute of Physics

3.13.463.543.553.583.633.673.73 BARC developed robot

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board 4.1

Occupational safety

Uranium Corporation of India LtdIndian Rare Earths LtdElectronics Corporation of India Ltd

5.T5.25.6

Medha

Emergency PlanningInternational RelationsFinancial AssistanceDirectorate of Purchase & StoresConstruction & Services GroupDirectorate of Estate ManagementManagement Services Group

6.1-6.7

General Services OrganisationInformation & LibraryPublicityUse of HindiAtomic Energy Education SocietyReservation in ServicesCooperative Canteens

Kamini sub-assembly fabricatedTrombay

GeneralSurvey

To meet the target of 10,000 MWe of nuclear power by the year 2000, the Departmentcontinued its efforts towards rapid implementation of the expansion programmes in all thesegments of the nuclear fuel cycle. The first unit of the Narora Atomic Power Station attainedcriticality in March 1989 and was successfully synchronised with the grid in July 1989. The unit isindigenously developed pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) of 235 series and is equippedwith additional safety features which have been incorporated for the first time. During the year,the unusual technical problems, encountered at the Madras Atomic. Power Station CMAPS).were successfully solved by the Indian experts. One of the units called for ingenious remoterelocation of the damaged parts inside the calandria which demonstrated the high level oftechnical expertise available in the country. The safety record of the operating nuclear powerstations was very satisfactory.

Discovery of uranium reserves at Domiasiat (Meghalaya) and Tummalapalle CAndhraPradesh), and improved recovery from U02 powder to pellet stage were other significantdevelopments this year.

The 100 MW high neutron-flux, research reactor DHRUVA continued its full power operationand was fully used for isotope production and research. BARC also fabricated uranium-233 fuelplate for a 30kW light water research reactor Kamini which is a significant stride towards the useof thorium cycle for power generation. For the first time, the Waste Immobilisation Plant atTarapur fixed radioactivity in glass matrix.

Work on the construction of two synchrotron radiation sources at Indore CMadhya Pradesh),was continued.

Nuclear Power

An important event in the area of nuclear power generation this year was the synchronisation ofthe first Unit of Narora Atomic Power Station CNAPS-1) to the grid. Meeting the challengesposed by the unusual technical problems faced in the units of the Madras Atomic Power Stationwas another major achievement this year. The second unit of the Rajasthan Atomic PowerStation CRAPS) and the first unit of the Tarapur Atomic Power Station CTAPS) performed verywell. Rs. 36O crores were raised from the capital market for investment in projects. During thefinancial year 1988-89, the Nuclear Power Corporation CNPC) made a net profit of Rs. 62.24crores. Durjrig the period from 1 April to 31 December, 1989, the provisional net profit isestimated at Rs. 16.53 crores. The decline is due to the technical problems faced by MAPS-1S2,and TAPS-2. The cumulative generation of electricity from the three operating stations since thecommencement of commercial operation till end December, 1989 amounted to 62573 MUs. Thegross annual electricity generation during the period from 1 April to 31 December 1989 was 3143MUs.

QT

ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES1989-90

Nuclear Power Projects(SS.64)

Heavy Water Projects(13.51)

Fuel Reprocessing ptant

Waste management

(0.3?)

BhabhaHome Research Centre

(6.34)

Variable EnergyCyclotron Centre(0.23)

(9.45)Nuclear Fuel Complex

Atomic Minerals Division & UCIL(2.86)

Direction & Administration(023)

Support Services(1.00)

Centre lorAdvanced Technology

(0-70)

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research(1.79)

Industry a Extension programme(221)

KEY

NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

OTHERS

Tarapur Atomic Power Station

The station comprising of two boiling water reactor (BWR) units, each rated at 160 MWe,completed twenty years of successful commercial operation. The cumulative electricity genera-tion from the station since the date of commencement of commercial operation till endDecember, 1989 was about 36,860 MUs. The station generated 1068 MUs during 1 April to 31December 1989. The Unit-1 achieved an annual capacity factor of over 63% in 1989. Theeleventh refuelling and annual maintenance works of the Unit-1 were successfully completed in99 days. The Unit-2 had a forced outage fora period of about 3 months when the generator rotorground fault appeared in end December, 1988, and was rectified through indigenous efforts.The unit had to be shutdown again from 6 August, 1989 to 5 January, 1990 due to fault in highvoltage winding of its main generator transformer. The unit restarted in January, 1990 at arestricted power level of about 80 MWe with a 100 MVA transformer obtained on loan from theGujarat Electricity Board. The regular replacement transformer has been shipped to TAPS fromthe manufacturer's works and will be installed and commissioned in April/May 199O to restorenormal power level operation of the unit.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Station

The Unit-2 of the station performed well during the year 1989. It generated 820 MUs during 1April to 31 December 1989. During the calendar year 1989, the unit recorded a capacity factor ofover 71%. The annual planned maintenance works of the unit were completed in a minimumperiod of 35 days. The Unit-1 continued operating at a restricted power level of about 90 MWe asper the limit on power level upto 50% of the full reactor power stipulated by AERB consequenton the repair of its south end shield. The generation of electricity during 1 April to 31 December1989 was 375 MUs.

Madras Atomic Power Station

The station (both the units together) generated 880 MUs of electricity during 1 April to 31December 1989. The performance of both the units remained below the mark due to a very

1.2

GROWTH OF MANPOWER

20885

20109

17938

9906

1987-1988 1988-1989

' Does not include staff transferred to NPC

1989-1990

O AUXILIARY & ADMINISTRATIVE

SCINTIFIC & TECHNICAL

unusual problem of failure of the smoothening baffles CManifolds) of moderator inlet flow insidethe calandrias of both its units. On account of this problem, the Unit-1 remained shutdown from4 April to 24 June 1989. After implementation of interim modifications and clearance from AERBthe unit was initially operated at a restricted power level of 50% of full reactor power from June,1989 and at 75% of full reactor power from November 1989. The electrical output at this powerlevel is around 160 MWe. The Unit-2, which experienced a similar problem of moderator inletmanifold remained shutdown from 9 January to 14 June, 1989. It was started after im-plementing the interim modifications as for Unit-1 and was initially operated at a power level ofupto 509b of full reactor power. From 28 October 1989, its power level was also raised to around15O MWe. The clearance of AERB as of now for both the units is for operating upto 75% of fullreactor power. The development activities have been carried out to evolve a scheme forrestoring near normal moderator flow pattern inside calandria which would enable bringing theunit to full power operation. This work will be taken up during later half of 1990.

Rehabilitation of both the units of MAPS, which had suffered considerable damage to themoderator inlet manifolds, was a challenging task undertaken by BARC in collaboration withNPC. With the help of remote micro-video inspection a detailed review of the conditions of thetwo reactors was made, and using special remote tool developed for the purpose, the unitswere restarted after modifying the moderator inlet piping.

Narora Atomic Power Station

The first unit of Narora Atomic Power Station, a PHWR of 235 MWe capacity, is the first of themodified and standardised reactor design among the Indian PHWRs. It achieved criticality on 12March, 1989 and after the initial low power experiments, it was synchronised to the NorthernGrid on 29 July, 1989. The unit is presently in the phase of infirm operation. As the Narora plant isthe first standardised 235 MWe PHWR unit of its kind, additional time between criticality andregular power operation was taken for conducting low power experiments and collecting plantdata at various power levels. The unit is presently operating at a power level of around 100 MWeCupto 50% of full reactor power) and power level will be raised in steps after due clearances fromAERB. Commercial power operation of the unit is expected to commence during early part offinancial year 1990-91.

1.3

Work in progress at Kaiga Site1.

Sanctioned Projects Under Construction

Narora Atomic Power Project — Unit-2235 MWe PHWR

The erection activities were almost completed. Commissioning of the systems and the leaktesting of reactor building containment continued. The land acquisition and rehabilitation worksfor establishing 1.6 km radius exclusion zone were also completed. Ths target date for achievingcriticality is end August 1990.

Kakrapar Atomic Power Project — 1 & 22x235 MWe PHWRs

The completed works include the major civil construction of two reactor buildings and of servicebuilding, stack for both the units and the turbine building for the first unit. About 75% of the civilworks of Waste Management plant is also completed. Eight steam generators required for boththe units have been delivered. Installation of calandria tubing, coolant channels arid steamgenerators for the Unit-1 was completed and erection of feeders is being continued. The maingenerator transformer and the main generator for the Unit-1 were installed. In respect of Unit-2,installation of end shields, calandria, their alignment and grouting of the end shields werecompleted. The overall progress of both the units put together till December 1989 was about80%. The target dates for achieving criticality for Unit-1 and Unit-2 are December 1990 andDecember 1991, respectively.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Project 3S425235 MWe PHWRs

The infrastructure required to commence civil works was completed. Additional infrastructuralfacilities for further stages are being set up. The excavation for the main plant buildings wascompleted during the year and work on concreting of the rafts of the reactor buildingscommenced. Endshields, primary coolant pumps and header for Unit-3 were delivered. Thetarget dates of achieving criticality for Unit-3 and Unit-4 are May 1995 and November 1995,respectively.

Kaiga Project 16x22x235 MWe PHWRs

The compensatory afforestation programme by the Forest Department of Karnataka Govern-ment is in progress. Under a programme with Mangalore University, a number of forest treespecies peculiar to Western Ghats will be planted over a period of five years. Land acquisition forthe plant and township, infrastructural works at the site required for commencing main plantcivil works, and the excavation works for main plant buildings were completed. The work onconcreting of reactor building rafts has commenced. Calandria for Unit-1 and primary coolantpumps for the two units were delivered. Manufacture of Calandria for Unit-2 and one endshieldfor Unit-1 has also been completed. Manufacture of the second endshield for the Unit-1 isnearing completion. The project is progressing well for achieving criticality by June 1995 forUnit-1 and December 1995 for Unit-2.

1.4

Heavy Water Plant at Rawatbhata nearKota, Rajasthan. The Plant is usingindigenously developed process for theproduct/on of heavy water.

New Projects

Kaiga Project 3to64x235 MWe PHWRs

A committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is appraising thesite environmental data. After obtaining clearances from environmental and safety angles, theproposal for financial sanction, already endorsed by AEC, will be put up for approval of theGovernment. Advance procurement of selected long delivery and critical components is inprogress.

Tarapur Atomic Power Project-3&42x500 MWe PHWRs

Site clearance from the AERB was obtained and environmental clearance from the UnionMinistry of Environment and Forests is awaited. The proposal for project financial sanction wasendorsed by AEC. The proposal for project financial sanction will be put up to the Government ofIndia after environmental clearance. Detailed engineering of nuclear and conventional systemsassociated with the 500 MWe PHWR reactors and advance procurement of selected longdelivery and critical equipment and components are in progress.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Project 5to84x500 MWe PHWRs

The progress made during the year include the endorsement of the proposal for project financialsanction by AEC, provisional environmental clearance from the Rajasthan State Pollution ControlBoard. A committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is in theprocess of environmental appraisal. The details for clearance of the site from safety angle arebeing examined by AERB. The proposal for project financial sanction will be put up for theapproval of the Government of India after obtaining safety and environmental clearances.

Kudankulam Project2x1000 MWe WERs

In accordance with the Inter-Governmental Agreement, the work on technical assignment andvarious appendices to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) contract was completed. The firstmeeting of the high level working group on "Nuclear Power" constituted under the Indo-SovietInter Governmental Commission was held in October 1989. During the year. AERB's clearanceof the site from safety angle, and the environmental clearance from the Union Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests were received and advance action for acquisition of land required forthe plant and township was taken up. Detailed site investigations were in progress.

Heavy Water

While the Heavy Water Plant at Nangal CPunjab) is based on electrolysis of water and lowtemperature distillation of hydrogen, the Heavy Water Plants at Baroda, Tuticorin, Thai andHazira Cunder construction) are based on ammonia-hydrogen exchange process, the plant atKota and Manuguru Cunder construction) are based on water-hydrogen sulphide exchangeprocess.

Fuel bund/es for the pressurised heavywater reactor manufactured at NuclearFuel Complex, Hyderabad.

The main problems in the production of heavy water have been the power shortages, reducedand interrupted availability of synthesis gas and other inputs from fertiliser plants, and interrup-tions in the supply of steam. With various improvements and innovations, the situation hasconsiderably improved in the recent past.

During the year operation of the Heavy Water Plant at Nangal remained steady within theconstraints of availability of electricity to the electrolytic plant. The production is expected toimprove after a separate unit for generation of pure hydrogen by naphta reforming and pressureswing adsorption, being set up by the National Fertiliser Limited, becomes operational next year.

The ammonia-hydrogen exchange based plants at Baroda, Tuticorin, Talcher, Thai and Hazira(under construction) are dependent on the adjoining fertilizer plants for the supply of ammoniasynthesis gas and other inputs. Their performance is, therefore, linked with the sustainedoperation of the fertilizer plants. The Heavy Water Plant at Baroda operated steadily during theyear and the modifications effected are likely to further improve its performance. The perform-ance of the Heavy Water Plant at Tuticorin remained satisfactory with higher production due tobetter stream factor and the improvements carried out. The plant at Talcher however, could notestablish its performance for want of uninterrupted inputs from the fertilizer plant. However,some of the modifications carried out in 1988 have proved beneficial. Further modifications toattain reasonable production level will be taken up after improvement in performance of thefertilizer plant is achieved.

Heavy Water Plant at Thai had unplanned long outages due to washing away of a portion of theraw water line at Nagothane, damage to tower internals (cable stage) and long shut down of oneof the two ammonia units of the fertilizer plant. The plant is now operating steadily. The HeavyWater Plant at Hazira is in an advanced stage of completion and is expected to be commissionedby November 1990, as scheduled.

The Heavy Water Plant at Kota and Manuguru are based on the indigenous process ofwater-hydrogen sulphide exchange developed by BARC. During the year, the performance ofthe Heavy Water Plant at Kota was satisfactory. However, frequent interruptions in steamsupply affected the plant operation. Higher stream factor of the plant is expected to be achievednext year when steam supply will also be available from the captive steam generation plant to becommissioned by mid 1990. In the Heavy Water Plant at Manuguru all the auxiliary units havebeen commissioned and pre-commissioning activities have been initiated. The first of the threesteam boilers and generator units has been commissioned and is generating steam and power tomeet commissioning requirements. The other two units are in various stages of completion.

Nuclear Fuel

The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) Hyderabad manufactures and supplies the natural and enricheduranium dioxide fuel for the Indian nuclear power plants.

Besides meeting the annual reload fuel requirement of country's operating nuclear powerstations, NFC fabricated and supplied various items including additional fuel assemblies forNAPS-1, calandha tubes for KAPP-2 and RAPP-3 and Zr-Nb-Cu alloy garter springs for KAPP-1. Italso produced components such as zircaloy barrier tubes for DHRUVA reactor, channel fastener

1.6

Pitchblende (U) with syneresis cracHs filledwith chalcopyrites CCuJ Dariba. Rajasthan

assemblies for TAPS, cobalt absorber assembly components, prototype stainless steel hex-agonal channel for PFBR and prototype PFBR fuel assembly.

In-house fabrication of equipment such as HPTR 8-15 cold pilger mill, rotary calcinationfurnace, high temperature UO2 pellet sintering furnace, to name a few, was completed, Thezirconium production exceeded the design capacity. Some design and process improvementswere introduced in the manufacture of zirconium components and zircaloy products. For thefirst time, moderator sparger tubes for MAPS were produced. The improved recovery from UO2powder to pellet stage was another significant achievement.

For the 10,000 MWe nuclear power generation target by the year 2000, NFC has plans toprogressively enhance production of PHWR fuel. Towards this end a Corporate Plan, consistingof both continuing schemes and new projects, was approved in principle by AEC. The Phase-IExpansion Scheme is expected to be completed during 1990.

Minerals Exploration

The Atomic Minerals Division (AMD) is responsible for the exploration of nuclear minerals for thenuclear power programme of the country. Airborne surveys identified 144 radioactive anomalies.Significant uraniferous anomalies were also located by ground surveys. Over 66,300m of 45uranium prospects were explored and evaluation drilling was done. The efforts of the Divisionhave resulted in enhancing the resources of a number of nuclear minerals. Additional reserves ofuranium were proved at Domiasiat (Meghalaya) and Tummalapalle CAndhra Pradesh). Thedeposits at Rajgaon, central Keruadungri, Kanyaluka and Mohuldih in Singhbhum Thrust BeltCBihar) and Jajawal CMadhya Pradesh) contributed to the uranium resources inventory. Eightsignificant new uraniferous zones were also delineated in various parts of the country from theairborne and ground surveys.

Uranium deposits at Turamdih (south), Mohuldih and Garadih in Bihar were handed over toUCIL for mining.

Heavy mineral resources of 8.2 million tonnes were assessed by the Division and investiga-tions led to the enhancement of potential resources of xenotime — a source of yttrium. Over3OOO kg of Nb-Ta and 28 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate containing 59b xenotime, wereproduced at the pilot recovery plants. A new xenotime pilot recovery plant at Kanyaluka CBihar)was also installed.

Fuel Reprocessing

The Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant at Tarapur, and the Plutonium Plant at Trombayoperated satisfactorily. The construction of the Reprocessing Plant at Kalpakkam made steadyprogress. An engineering scale facility for separating uranium-233 from irradiated thorium fuelelements is being set up at Trombay.

The Reprocessing Programme at IGCAR almost completed the development work related tofuel reprocessing of FBTR fuel. The construction of reprocessing plant for regular reprocessingof FBTR fuel continued.

1.7

•?,oent fuel movement from railway sidingto the fuel reprocessing plant. Tarapur

Waste Management

The Waste Immobilisation Plant at Tarapur fixed for the first time radioactivity from the acidicwaste of the Reprocessing Plant, in a glass form sealed in stainless steel canisters. TheRadioactive Waste Management facilities at Trombay, Tarapur, Rajasthan and Kalpakkamfunctioned satisfactorily throughout the year. Activity discharges at different sites were lessthan 8%> of the permissible limits and no migration of radioactivity in the surrounding soil wasnoticed at any site.

Health Physics

Safety surveillance for the various nuclear fuel cycle operations at all the DAE installations inthe country were provided. Safety related R&D activities were also continued.

The operating power stations and the associated facilities maintained an excellent all roundsafety record. The environmental survey laboratories and meteorological stations were oper-ated at all the nuclear power plant sites.

Implementation of radiation safety programme in non-DAE institutions all over the countryusing radioisotopes and radiation sources for medical, industrial and research applications, wascontinued.

Personnel monitoring service was provided to both DAE and non-DAE institutions. Over1,54,000 radiaton workers in 2,106 institutions were monitored with film badges and over19,000 radiation workers in 802 institutions were monitored with TLD badges.

Health physics services and surveillance for the operating nuclear power stations wereprovided. Manrem budgeting and planning were provided for the special operations such ascalandria rehabilitation at MAPS, and for the outages at TAPS, RAPS and MAPS, which enabledthe operations to be carried out with minimum possible exposure to workers.

Other notable activities included supply of several specialized dosimeters to cancer hospitalsand institutions in the country, measurement of several pollutants, and countrywide monitoringof indoor randon. Under the monazite survey project cytogenetic studies on human populationresiding in the monazite-bearing high background radiation areas of Kerala and adjoining regions,were continued as also the prevalence rates for congenital abnormalities and chromosomeaberrations among the new borns. The data do not indicate any noticeable differences betweenpopulation groups from normal background radiation and high background radiation areas.Chromosome aberration frequency estimates for population groups at various DAE units,occupationally exposed to permissible levels of low level radiations were carried out. Suchstudies are being extended to UCIL also. The results do not indicate any abnormalities.

Regulatory Functions

The Atomic Energy Regulator/ Board CAERB) has been promoting safe practices and developingsafety policies since 1983. The programme of preparation of codes, guides and manuals in theareas relating to nuclear and industrial safety were continued arid radiation protection werecovered. Three codes and four manuals were approved for issue/publishing. AERB carried out

1.8

Occupational Safety: A worker handlingfuel bundle

periodic reviews of operating nuclear power plants in the country to assess their safety status.During the year AERB constituted a committee to review operational safety of RAPS and MAPSwhich concluded that the power stations were being operated safely. The design and construc-tion of NAPP including adequacy against seismic effects were subjected to a comprehensiveregulatory review before authorisations were accorded for discrete stages such as hot con-ditioning, fuel loading and first criticality. A Committee of the Board reviewed the collectivedoses in various phases of the nuclear fuel cycle and a number of organizational actions such asmanagement commitment, designer-operator coordination, training in dose reduction methodol-ogy, design phase safety review etc. were outlined. A centralized manrem managementprogramme was also proposed. An AERB committee reviewed the radiation protection mea-sures in DAE facilities and gave plant-specific recommendations for TAPS, RAPS and MAPS.Analysis of safety related unusual occurrences in the operating nuclear power plants in India forthe year 1988 was carried out. In-depth evaluation of the safety matters was done by the SafetyCommittee of the respective Unit. Based on this assessment, Safety Review Committee forOperating Plants CSARCOP) gave directions appropriate to the situation. An AERB Committeereviewed the industrial safety status in the R&D units and proposed a model safety policy foradoption by the units. The Site Evaluation Committee of AERB carried out detailed evaluation ofKudankulam site for assessing the suitability of locating nuclear power plant comprising of 2 x1000 MWe WER reactors. Similar evaluation was carried out by another committee for thelocation of additional units of 2x500 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors at Tarapur. SiteEvaluation Committee also carried out detailed evaluation of Kaiga and Rawatbhata sites forlocation of nuclear power plants. The Board participated in the review and finalisation of theTechnical Assignment CTA) documents, covering the information to be furnished by USSR, forassessing WER design for safety and performance and in the preparation of Detailed ProjectReport. The safety reviews of the gamma radiation facilities at Shriram Institute for IndustrialResearch, New Delhi and Sludge Hygienisation Research Irradiator at Baroda were also com-pleted. The safety review for NAPP was an important activity of AERB in the year 1989. TheBoard carried out safety and regulatory functions with respect to the operating units of DAE.The Boafd ensured that the facilities were operated safely. Safety surveillance of the DAE units,and the regulatory inspection of all the operating nuclear power stations was carried out twiceduring 1969. The reports of the Health Physics Division of BARC on the radiological safo'rvsurveillance at all the operating units of DAE, and assessment of the enrvironmental impactfrom these operations, were also reviewed which indicated that the radioactivity releases to theenvironment during 1989 from DAE installations were well within the specified limits. A numberof regulatory and administrative procedures for effective enforcement of the regulatory provi-sions pertaining to the radioactive material transportation in the country were also initiated.

Emergency Preparedness Planning

The Crisis Management Group of DAE provides policy guidelines for emergency preparednessplanning at various nuclear installations of the Department. During the year, the emergencyplans for the installations were put to tests by carrying out various exercises which indicatedDepartment's full readiness in meeting any emergency. These plans will be reviewed at regularintervals. A central emergency control room was also set up at the Headquarters to coordinateactivities during exercises/emergency.

1.9

100 MW. high neutron flux ResearchReactor Dhruva operating at rated powe

Research and Development

Research Reactors

During the year, the research reactors at Trombay were used for various research activities andisotope production. The 100 MW research reactor Dhruva continued to operate satisfactorily atits rated power. The 40MW research reactor Cirus continued to operate at its designed powerlevel till mid-August 1989. The operating power level was then lowered to 20 MW to conservefuel. Apsara reactor also operated in a safe and efficient manner.

Two other research reactors — 30 kW Kamini at Kalpakkam, and the zero energy reactorPumima-lll at Trombay — are nearing start-ups. The control panel and field wiring for Kaminiwere completed and functional tests continued. The reactor and control system of Pumima-lllare undergoing final checks. The instrumentation and control systems both for the research andpower reactors continued to be modernized for better man-machine interface and enhancedreliability.

Fast Breeder

The direction of the research at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research CIGCAR) istargetted for the development of fast breeder reactor technology. The Centre has successfullybuilt a 40 MWt C13 MWe) sodium-cooled Fast Breeder Test Reactor CFBTR) which uses mixedcarbide fuel developed at BARC. The reactor attained criticality in October 1985. However, itsoperation halted in May 1987 due to a fuel handling incident. Early this year, the problem wasresolved and safety clearance for restart of FBTR was given by AERB in May 1989. The reactorpower during this phase of operation was limited to 500 kWt and the reactor was operated uptothis power level with 509b operating time during May and June 1989. This period was used tocomplete some reactor physics experiments. An outage was effected from July 1989 forimproving availability of the plant by removing construction deficiencies/replacement of agedcomponents. During the period certain important jobs such as completion of the reactorcontainment building leak test, to comply with the safety requirements related to mandatoryin-service inspection, were also completed. The commissioning activities on steam watersystem were nearly completed and filling of steam generator with sodium was one of themilestones in commissioning. The operation is expected to start very soon.

Efforts were directed towards building of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor CPFBR), thedetailed design of which has gained momentum. Parallel to this, manufacture of the keycomponents such as part of the main vessel and inner vessel, sodium pumps, sodium-to-sodiumheat exchangers, steam generators etc. is being undertaken.

During the year, significant progress was achieved on the creep and fatique evaluation ofstainless steel 316 LN with a view to develop material for FBRs. In the field of research anddevelopment, acoustic emission technique to locate leaks and eddy current test probe forlocating garter spring were developed. Defect standards were prepared by spark erosiontechnique.

1.10

Mahabeej : The radiation induced varietiesof pulses developed at Trombay.

During the year a train of inert-atmosphere glove boxes containing various facilities, wascommissioned for development of fuel and other related materials. Hot cell facility for post-irradiation studies on the carbide fuel is ready to receive irradiated fuel. This facility has manyunique features ensuring high degree of safety.

Basic and Applied Research

India's self-reliance in the nuclear power programme is the result of consistent research anddevelopment endeavour at Trombay. The year witnessed a number of efforts coming to fruition.The salient research and development work included a low cost welding machine, fabrication ofa gas chromatograph capable of separating hydrogen and tritium isotopes, preparation of severalspecial and high purity compounds including a thermoluminescent phosphor for use in radiationdosimetry which resulted in a saving of foreign exchange worth Rs. 15 lakhs, preparation of highpurity alpha alumina powder using sol-gel process and successful development of internalgelation process for the preparation of thorium oxide based fuel materials in the form ofmicrospheres which can also be used for the preparation of mixed thorium-uranium oxidemicrospheres. Other important developments pertained to hard chrome plating and high temper-ature yttrium-barium-copper oxide based superconducting ceramic powders. An indigenouslydeveloped, full scope training simulator was installed at the Nuclear Training Centre, Kota. Theequipment manufactured at Trombay included triple stage spectrograph assembly, a PC basedmultipurpose front office posting machine, ion target chamber for beam foil spectral studies,ultra-high vacuum molecular beam scattering chamber and 5-axes robot. Designing of a manipu-lator for handling uranium ingots, 1 MW underwater plasma cutting torch and designing andfabrication of variety of laser grade optical devices such as mirrors and beam splitters wereundertaken this year. Advanced shut-off rods were made for KAPP offering on-line monitoringof the health of the mechanism. This resulted in improved service-life and operational reliability.The BARC surveillance programme of the TAPS pressure vessel indicated that the life of thevessel can be safely extended beyond its design life of 40 years. Studies have resulted in thedevelopment of an improved algorithm for use in the robot-motion-planning. Walking andcrawling mechanisms in several forms are being developed. Detection of two episodic emissionsof gamma rays of energy greater than 2 trillion electron volts was an interesting observationmade at the High Altitude Research Laboratory.

The main thrust of research and development in reactor engineering continued to be towardsgeneration of design information and design details for the 500 MWe PHWR, fuel handlingsystem of 500 MWe PFBR, technology development for repair and maintenance activities ofoperating reactors and ongoing safety research. Construction work of the National Centre forCompositional Characterisation of Materials has been started at Hyderabad. The decision forsetting up India's first commercial plant to recover uranium from phosphoric acid at Cochin hasbeen taken.

Research in Frontier Areas

There is a strong international effort being made for the development of high temperaturesuperconducting materials. BARC, succeeded in synthesising a single phase superconductingcompound of bismuth-lead-calcium strontium and copper oxide with a critical temperature of12OK. A process was also developed for the synthesis of TI-2223 single phase compound which

1.11

Processing of P-32 labelled biomoleculesat 'Jonaki' Hyderabad.

showed a record high critical temperature of 129K. A point defect model for structural phasetransitions in the high temperature superconductor yttrium-barium-copper-oxygen was prop-osed. This model has practical importance and could help in increasing the critical currentdensity. Considerable work is also going on in other units such as 1GCAR and TIFR.

BARC is spearheading research in the field of cold fusion. Several research groups, includingthose at IGCAR and TIFR, conducted experiments to verify the phenomenon. It emerged thatthe primary product of the deuterium-deuterium reactions was tritium rather than neutrons.Studies were continued to understand the physical basis of the new discovery.

Pulse power and particle beam technology has applications in fusion research and generationof intense sources of particles and radiation. Extensive research continued at Trombay in thisarea.

The Centre for Advanced Technology, set up at Indore, Madhya Pradesh, is the apex centreengaged on research and development work in the areas of advanced technologies such asaccelerators and lasers. During the year, CAT continued its efforts notably in the construction oftwo dedicated synchrotron radiation sources and development of lasers for industrial, medicaland research applications. The Centre successfully developed a 70 Watt carbondioxide laser,with an articulated arm, for use in open surgical procedures, and a 400 Watt multibeamcarbondioxide laser beam for heat treatment and cutting and welding of thin metal sheets.

With the commissioning of the Pelletron — the medium heavy ion accelerator in December1988, heavy ion beams of sufficiently high energy for advance research in nuclear physicsbecame available for the first time in the country. During the year the four beam lines andassociated equipment were completed and many nuclear physics research programmes utilizedthe facility. Research was also carried out with the charged particle beams from the Van deGraaff accelerator at Trombay and the Variable Energy Cyclotron at Calcutta.

Agriculture

Trombay is one of the leading centres in the country engaged on the use of nuclear energy incrop improvement, and food preservation including the frontier areas in nuclear research.

During the year, the Maharashtra State Seeds Corporation multiplied seeds of several varietiesof pulses developed at BARC. Over 470 metric tonnes of seed was produced and distributed tofarmers and about 38 metric tonnes seed of rice cultivar 'Han1' was produced by the AndhraPradesh Seeds Corporation. The nucleus and breeder's seed was supplied for foundation seedproduction programme of the agricultural universities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,Kamataka, Assam, and Orissa. The Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. and the IndianFarmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited included the BARC crop varieties in their lab-to-landprogramme. The mungbean variety TAP-7, released and notified for Maharashtra in ig83, wasapproved for cultivation in Kamataka by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.

Irradiation is now an established technique for preservation of food items. Extensive RSDprogrammes conducted in BARC in the past have led to the standardisation of irradiationtechnology for food preservation under tropical conditions. This technology is now permitted forpreservation of seafood and spices for export.

1.12

Development of detection methods to identify irradiated foods is a major on-going project andwork on several possibilities is going on.

Some strains of the nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria can tolerate much higher levels of salt andunderstanding of this mechanism may provide genes for constructing plants capable of growingin saline soils. Extensive research work continued in this area. A library of the genome of a salttolerant cyanobacterium was constructed.

Technology Transfer

Many of thej-esearch spin-offs at Trombay have already been transferred to industry.

During the year. BARC developed a solar dryer for sun drying of various food products such asbanana and grapes. The transfer of this technology for commercial utilization is in progress.

Transfer of technology for the production of Al-Zr master alloys to a private entrepreneur wasa major development. The technology for the fabrication of TLD badge reader was transferredto a party in Mysore. Technology transfer is also planned for the canned motors for whichconsiderable expertise is available. Development of video-frame processor for industrialradiography, template matching, intruder detection and other applications was completed andthe know-how transferred to industry. Many potential users have shown interest in BARCdeveloped electron beam welding machines which offer advance technique of welding.

Radiation and Isotope Technology

The Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) administers the radioisotope production,sale and applications programme, radiochemicals, radiation sources, radiopharmaceuticals, label-led compounds and irradiators.

Radioisotopes and related services offered by the Board during the year were worth Rs.4.96crores — an increase of about 25% over the sales of the previous year.

About 9OO institutions were the users of the radioisotope products supplied by BRIT. TheBoard also supplied 1600 consignments of radiation sources for use in diverse fields. The 50,000consignments of radiopharmaceutical products supplied, enabled about 6 lakhs patient-investigations. The regional centres for radiopharmaceutical production at Bangalore and NewDelhi processed about 2.44 TBq of Tc-99m products for local users. A kit for the production ofTc-TBI Ca product used in cardiac investigations), preparation of Tc-99m HMPAO (a brainperfusion imaging agent), a modified kit for radioimmunoassay CRIA) of triiodothyronine andimproved kit for radioimmunoassay of HCG were the notable developments. A shielded plant forpreparation of the column generators for routine supply is under construction. The newlaboratory for synthesis of carbon-14 and tritium labelled compounds at Vashi was commis-sioned and production work commenced. The JONAKI laboratory at Hyderabad, which meets90% of the indigenous needs of P-32 labelled biomolecules, increased the range of P-32 labelledcompounds. For use in non-destructive testing in industry, 48 radiographic cameras weresupplied by BRIT.

The I5OMED plant at Trombay has been rendering service for irradiation of medical productsfor the last 15 years. During the year, the services of ISOMED were utilised by 269 userindustries. Over 6,300 cu.m of medical products were sterilized at the plant. The cobalt-60sources of ISOMED were also upgraded. The indigenously developed 'RASHMI' plant commis-sioned last year at Bangalore, offered irradiation services to the pharmaceutical industry and itfunctioned satisfactorily. During 1990, another plant offering sterilization of medical products isexpected to become operational at the Shri Ram Institute of Industrial Research, New Delhi. Thework of upgrading of irradiation facility progressed considerably and 3.7x1015Bq of cobalt-60sources will be loaded into the plant shortly.

The indigenous irradiation technology for preservation of food products has come of age. Ademonstration plant for irradiation of spices is proposed to be set up at Cochin in collaborationwith the Spices Board. The projects for inclusion in the VIII Five Year Plan cover diverse areassuch as extension of nuclear medicine and teletherapy, setting up of demonstration plant forirradiation of spices for export, production of radiophamnaceuticals, and testing of radioisotopeequipment.

1.13

Public Sector Undertakings

Uranium Corporation of India Ltd.

Registered in 1967, the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. CUC1L) operates two mines atJaduguda and Bhatin (Bihar), a uranium mill at Jaduguda and plants for uranium by-productrecovery.

1988-89 was a successful year for the Corporation. The production of uranium concentratesincreased further this year. The capacity utilization of the Jaduguda mine increased to 89.6% ascompared to 85.59b last year. The capacity utilization of the Bhatin mine was 76.5%. At theJaduguda mill, the production of uranium concentrate was an all time high — it crossed thetarget. The capacity utilization of the mill was 95.7% as compared to 96.6% during the previousyear. The capacity of the mill was also raised from last year.

The production at Surda and Mosaboni plants for uranium recovery was also higher ascompared to the last year. At Rakha, even though there was a slight drop in production ascompared to the last year, the production target fixed for the year was crossed. The productionof molybdenum sulphide concentrates and magnetite also exceeded the target.

The income of the Company was Rs.33.58 crores — an increase of 1 9.3% over the previousyear and a net profit of Rs.5.52 crores was registered. The Corporation started work on settingup new underground mines at Narwapahar and Turamdih, and a mill at Turamdih at an estimatedcost of over Rs.495 crores. Work on sinking of a new shaft also continued. On its completion, orefrom a depth of 555m to 900m would be mined. Ecology and environmental protectioncontinued to receive the attention of the Company.

Indian Rare Earths Ltd.

The Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IRE) has been paying dividends to the Government since itsinception in 1950. During the year, the Company's southern units performed extremely well byregistering three folds increase in their profits. Commissioning of Rs. 14 crore Dredge & WetConcentrator and Modernisation Plant at Chavara were the significant achievements. These willsubstantially increase the production of minerals at Chavara Plant as well as the profitability. TheHeavy Rare Earths Oxide Plant was also completed. In OSCOM, there was an improvement inthe production of minerals and synthetic rutile. Technical problems of the project were identi-fied, and remedial measures were taken.

During 1988-89, the Company's turnover rose to Rs. 60.16 crores as compared to Rs.32.59crores in the previous year. This is expected to go up to Rs.69 crores during 1989-90. The foreignexchange earning is also expected to increase to Rs.32 crores in 1989-90 from Rs.30 croresduring 1988-89.

The Thorium Factory also showed improved performance. During the year 1989-90, theproduction of thorium nitrate reached to about 138 MT/year and a profit of Rs.2.37 lakhs isexpected. The Thorium Plant at Orissa is expected to be completed by 1990.

In view of the good position of the international and domestic markets fc.' rare earthsminerals, opening of new deposits in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh is on the anvil. The areas forimport substitution are also being identified. IRE is also in the process of carrying out a feasibilitystudy on the modalities of giving encouragement to small scale entrepreneurs to set up ancillaryunits. IRE has drawn up a 5-year Corporate Plan for the period 1989-94 under which a number ofnew projects are planned for opening of new mineral sand deposits and for making value addedproducts.

Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.

An off-shoot of the research done at BARC, the Corporation was formed in 1967 with anauthorised capita) of Rs. 10 crores. Today, it is a frontline company in the field of electronics. TheCorporation supports DAE's nuclear programmes by meeting its needs of control and instru-mentation systems, and caters to the other activities such as thermal power projects andrailways.

ECIL continued its thrust in the areas of control and instrumentation, computers, communica-tion systems and contributed to the consumer electronics sector. The production, grossturnover and profit before taxes during 1988-89 were Rs.204 crores, Rs.218 crores and Rs.3.18crores, respectively. The production and income registered a growth of 21% and 18%, respec-tively, as compared to the previous year. The targets for the year 1989-90 are set at Rs.250crores, Rs.298 crores and Rs.5.34 crores, respectively. The Corporation also exported TV setsworth approximately Rs.5O lakhs.

1.14

During t989-9O, ECIL completed the supplies of control and instrumentation systems toNAPP-1 &2, and met about 50% of the requirements at KAPP-1 Sc2. The solid-state interlock logicsystem for Hazira Ammonia Extension (Heavy Water) project was also supplied during the year.Other supplies to DAE included nuclear and health physics instruments and CCTV systems. Inthe non-nuclear sector, ECIL completed the central supervisory control system for Vizag SteelPlant's energy networks, remote telemetry units to Nahorkatiya Jorajan Pipe Line (NJPL), Oil &Natural Gas Commission CONGO, electronic automation equipment for the steam turbines ofthermal power plants at Neyvsii and Raichur and is completing the installation and commission-ing of tele-supervisory system for Hazira Bijayapur Jagdishpur (HBJ) Pipe Line project. The majorsupplies in the area of computers were the indigenously produced SPC-Telex equipment for DoTand Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, store & forward message switching systems anddata handling systems for defence, and Medha 930/830 Mainframe, Super-32 and Unipower-30computer systems for various applications. In the field of communications, ECIL supplied TVROequipment with antennas to Doordarshan, a wide range of antennas to Defence, AIR, DoT andothers, air-traffic controllers to Civil Aviation and digital facsimile equipment to various users.

In the industrial sector, ECIL supplied security systems such as X-ray baggage inspectionsystems and CCTV systems. During the year ECIL received an order for the manufacture of75,000 nos. of electronic voting machines.

Other Activities

Financial Support to Institutions

DAE is fully funding the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Saha Institute of NuclearPhysics, Tata Memorial Centre, and the Institute of Physics Bhubaneswar. and supports theactivities of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Madras), Mehta Research Institute (Allaha-bad), and the National Board for Higher Mathematics.

The Department also continued to support research in universities and research institutions inthe country in the field related to the interests of DAE. During the year 1989-90, the Board ofResearch in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) recommended 125 renewal projects and 70 new projectswith an estimated expenditure of Rs.236.83 lakhs. The Board also conducted 19 departmentalsymposia and provided partial financial assistance to over 100 symposia/conferences/seminarswith a total expenditure of Rs.24 lakhs. The Department awarded Dr.K.S. Krishnan fellowshipsto promising students for carrying out research in different disciplines in various institutions inthe country. This fellowship has a career development component.

International Relations

For the 33rd year in succession, India was designated to the Board of Governors of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). India continued to offer training facilities, fel-lowships etc. and made available the services of its experts both through IAEA, and to thecountries with which it has bilateral agreements for cooperation in the field of peaceful uses ofatomic energy. Indian scientists/engineers continued to participate in the international symposia,workshops, and conferences. India also hosted nine IAEA meetings and symposia during 1989.The first meeting of the joint lndo-USSR Working Group on Nuclear Power was held during theyear. The Group was set up to facilitate implementation of the Indo-USSR IntergovernmentalAgreement for cooperation in the construction of nuclear power station in India.

Human Resources Development

In view of the country's ambitious nuclear programmes aiming at bringing the benefits of nuclearscience to people at a fast pace, the Department needs highly trained manpower. The Depart-ment therefore embarked upon its human resources development programme under whichvarious training courses continued to be arranged for senior officers of scientific/engineering,and administrative streams.

A panoramic view of the Kakrspar AtomicPower Station under construction

Nuclear Power Stations in opera-tionThe gross annual electricity gen-eration during the calendar year1989 from the three nuclear pow-er stations in commercial opera-tion is about 3984 million kilowatthours CMUs). For the period ofnine months in the financial year1989-90 i.e. from 1 April, 1989 to31 December, 1989, the totalelectricity generation is 3143MUs. The generation figures havecome down compared to the pre-vious year mainly due to the unex-pected failure of main generatortransformer of the second unit ofTarapur Atomic Power StationCTAPS-2) and an unusual problemof failure of the moderator inletmanifolds in both the units of theMadras Atomic Power StationCMAPS) necessitating long out-

ages. The cumulative generationof electricity from the three oper-ating stations since the com-mencement of commercial opera-tion till end December, 1989amounts to 62573 MUs.

The liquid and gaseous radioac-tivity discharges at all the stationsduring the year were very low andwell within the permissible limitsand the Environmental Surveill-ance Laboratory (ESL) carried outsurveys covering atmospheric,terrestrial and aquatic environ-ment within a radius of 30 kmfrom the stations.

Tarapur Atomic Power Station —1 & 2

The station comprising of twoboiling water reactor CBWR> unitswith a capacity of 2 x 160 MWehas completed twenty years of

TAPS - 1 TAPS - 2

Nuclear PowerCorporationof India Ltd.

1. GenerationCin MUs)

2. Capacityfactor C%)

3. Availabilityfactor C%)

Period1.1.89

to

Period1.4.89

to

Period1.1.89

to

Period1.4.89

to31.12.89 31.12.89 31.12.89 31.12.89

892 60O

63.65 56.77

70.35 62.51

472 468

33.71 44.32

34.84 45.65

f

Tarapur Atomic Power Station

successful commercial operationlogging 4O reactor years as on 1November, 1989.

The cumulative electricity gen-eration from the station since thedate of commencement of com-mercial operation till end Decem-ber, 1989 is about 36.860 MUs.The station generated 1364 MUsduring the calender year 1989 and1068 MUs during the nine monthsperiod from 1 April to 31 Decem-ber, 1989.

The details of unitwise genera-tion, capacity and availability fac-tors, during the year are in Tableon page 2.1.

The unit-1 achieved availabilityfactors of 100% in February, April,May, October and November,1989 and a capacity factor of100% in November, 1989. Theeleventh refuelling and annualmaintenance works of the unitwere successfully completed in 99days from 19 June, 1989 to 27September, 1989.

The unit-2 achieved availabilityfactor of 100% during April, Juneand July, 1989 and registeredcapacity factors of 98%, 98% and96% in April. June and July, 1989respectively. The unit-2 had aforced outage for a period of 3months when the generator rotorground fault appeared in end De-cember, 1988, and was rectified.The unit had again to be shutdown

from 6 August, 1989 to 5 January,1990 due to the fault in high vol-tage winding of its main generatortransformer. A 100 MVA transfor-mer was obtained on loan fromGujarat Electricity Board, installa-tion completed, and unit res-tarted in January, 1990 at a res-tricted power level of about 80MWe. The regular replacementtransformer of full capacity hasbeen shipped to TAPS. This will beinstalled and commissioned inApril/May. 1990 to restore normalpower level operation of the unit.

Construction of storage facilityfor long term wet storage ofspent fuel is in an advanced stageof completion and expected to becompleted by middle of 1990.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Station

The Unit-2 of the station, which isa pressurised heavy water reac-tor CPHWR) of capacity of 22OMWe performed well during theyear 1989 The cumulative genera-tion of electricity from the unit is

about 9225 MUs since commercialoperation to end December, 1989.The details of generation of elec-tricity, capacity and availability fac-tors during the year 1989 are inthe Table below.

In addition to generation of elec-tricity as above, steam was sup-plied to the Heavy Water PlantCHWP), Kota from this unit equiva-lent to an electricity generation of145 MUs during the year 1989 andwith this the annual capacity fac-tor in 1989 was 71.11%. The unit-2recorded 100% availability factorin January and February, 1989 and99% in March, 1989. The capacityfactors including steam supply toHWP Kota during January, Febru-ary, March and November, 1989were 97%, 88%, 91% and 90%respectively. Annual maintenanceworks of the unit were carried outin a minimum period of 35 daysbetween 4 July, 1989 to 8 August,1989. The annual maintenanceoutage of the unit was taken upafter a spell of two years.

The unit-1 owned by DAE andoperated by Nuclear Power Cor-poration CNPC) on an agreement,had been operating at a restrictedpower level of about 90 MWesince the year 1987 when it cameon line after repair of the leaks inits south end shield. The limitationin power level to 50% of the fullreactor power is stipulated byAtomic Energy Regulatory BoardCAERB} consequent upon the re-pair of the south end shield. Thecumulative generation of electric-ity from the unit since the date ofcommencement of commercialoperation to end December, 1989amounts to 7217 MUs. The unit-generated 384 MUs of electricityduring the calender year 1989. Thegeneration of electricity during theperiod of nine months from 1April to 31 December, 1989 is 375MUs. In addition, steam was sup-

1. Generation in MUs2. Capacity factor %3. Availability factor %

RAPSPeriod1.1.89

t o31.12.89

122563.5879.69

- 2Period1.4.89

t o31.12.89

82056.4573.14

2.2

Rajasthan Atomic Power Station

plied to the Heavy Water Plant,Kota from the unit equivalent toan electricity generation of 26MUs during the year 1989.

Madras Atomic Power Station

The station comprising of 2x235MWe indigenous PHWRs has re-corded a cumulative electricitygeneration of 9271 MUs from thedate of commencement of com-mercial operation till end Decem-ber, 1989. The station generatedabout 1011 MUs of electricity dur-ing the calender year 1989. Thegeneration from the station duringthe period of nine months from 1April to 31 December, 1989 is 880MUs. TJne details of generation ofelectricity, capacity and availabilityfactors during the year 1989 areas follows for the individual unitsof the station.

due to a very unusual problem offailure of the smoothening bafflesCmanifolds) of moderator inletflow inside the calandria. The fai-iure of baffles resulted in damageto some of the calandria tubes.Hence fuel was unloaded froriineighbouring pressure tubes, thepressure tubes and calandriatubes were cut remotely to getaccess for inspection of damage.This necessitated development ofmany special engineering solu-tions such as remote inspectionand handling using radiation resis-tant video cameras. Alternateschemes were developed. Afterdepositing the debris in a pocketinside calandria using the BARCdeveloped manipulators, an in-terim modification has been im-plemented for supplying modera-tor heavy water through the out-let pipe of the calandria and taking

MAPS - 1 MAPS - 2

1. GenerationOn MUs)

2. Capacityfactor C%)

3. Availabilityfactor C%)

Period Period Period Period1.1.89 1.4.89 1.1.89 1.4.89to to to to

31.12.89 31.12.89 31.12.89 31.12.89

492 408 519 472

23.88 26.32 25.19 30.42

49.65 58.37 49.66 62.69

The performance of both theunits during the period under re-ference is below the mark mainly

out the moderator through thedump ports into the dump tank(located at the bottom of the

2.3

reactor). Before implementing theinterim solution elaborate compu-ter calculations and flow testswere done in BARC. AERB gaveclearance initially to raise powerlevel upto 50% and later in stepsupto 75%. The main considera-tions are flow pattern of modera-tor inside calandria with alteredrouting and avoidance of localisedhot water pockets.

The unit-1 which remained shut-down from 4 April to 24 June,1989 on account of the aboveproblem, was initially started andoperated at a restricted powerlevel of 50% full reactor powerfrom June, 1989. After assessingthe performance of the unit at thispower level, the reactor powerwas raised to 75% of full reactorpower from early November,1989. The electrical output at thispower level is around 160 MWe.The unit-1 recorded an availabilityof about 100% in July, 1989.

The unit-2 which experienced asimilar problem of moderator inletmanifold as that of unit-1 re-mained shutdown from 9 Januaryto 14 June, 1989 and was startedafter implementing the in-terim modifications as describedfor unit-1 and was initially oper-ated at a power level of upto 50%of full reactor power and laterfrom 28 October. 1989. powerlevel was raised to about 150MWe. The clearance of AERB asof now is for operating upto 75%of full reactor power. The unit-2recorded an availability of about100% in August, 1989.

R&D activities have been carriedout to evolve a scheme for restor-ing near normal flow pattern insidecalandria for the moderator whichwould enable to bring the unit tofull power operation. Procurementof materials and mock-up trials re-lating to these modifications are inprogress. These modifications arelikely to be taken up during thelater half of 1990.

NaroraUnit-1

Atomic Power Station

The first unit of Narora AtomicPower Station — a PHWR of 235MWe capacity, is the first of the

Madras Atomic Power Station

modified and standardisedreactor design among the IndianPHWRs. It achieved criticality on12 March, 1989. After the initiallow power experiments, the unitwas synchronised for the firsttime to the Northern Grid on 29

luly, 1989. The unit is presently inthe phase of infirm operation.Modifications and improvementsbased on the experience and re-quirements of AERB during infirmpower operation phase are beingimplemented. The unit operatedat a power Ifev/el of about 100 MWefor a period of about 20 days in

Narora Atomic Power Station

January. 1990. The clearance byAERB as of now is upto a powerlevel of about 10O MWe C5O% fullreactor power). Regular commer-cial power operation of the unit isexpected to commence duringearly part of financial year 1990-91after completion of testing andclearance from AERB at 75% and100% full power levels. As theNarora plant is the first of its kindof the standardised 235 MWePHWR units where considerableupgradation of the design hasbeen achieved, additional time be-tween criticality and commercial

power operation was taken forconducting low power experi-ments and collecting plant data atvarious power levels.

Projects Under Construction

Narora Atomic Power Project —

Unit-2

The erection activities are com-pleted excepting small residualworks, and commissioning of thesystems is in progress. During theyear, balance piping, electri'..-jl andinstrumentation works ware car-ried out. Station power supplieshave been energised. Air held test,of primary heat transport circuithas been completed. Testing ofmoderator system has been com-pleted and commissioning of thesystems has commenced. Theleak testing of reactor buildingcontainment is in progress. Tur-bine generator has been boxed upand oil flushing is in progress.

The land acquisition and rehabi-litation works for establishing 1.6km radius exclusion zone havebeen completed. Stringing of addi-tional 220 KV transmission linesfrom NAPP to Simbholi has beencompleted by the LJttar PradeshState Electricity Board CUPSEB).The stringing of 220 KV lines fromNAPP to Khurja is nearing comple-tion by UPSEB:

The current target date forachieving criticality is end August199O.

Kakrapar Atomic Power Project1&2 — 2 x 235 MWe PHWRs

Major civil construction works ofthe two reactor buildings and con-struction of service building andstack for both the units havebeen completed. The turbinebuilding for the first unit is com-pleted and induced draft coolingtower-1 (IDCT-1) for the first unitis nearing completion. Naturaldraft cooling tower-1 (NDCT-1) isexpected to be completed byOctober 1990. About 75% of thecivil works of waste managementplant is completed.

Eight steam generators re-quired for both the units were deli-vered to site. Installation of calan-dria tubing, coolant channels and

2 . 4

Construction activities at Kakrapar Atomic

Power Project

steam generators for the first unithas been completed and erectionof feeders is in progress. The maingenerator transformer and themain generator for the first unithave been installed. Alignment ofturbines is in progress. Nuclearand conventional system pipingworks are in full swing.

In respect of unit-2, installationof end shields, calandria, theiralignment and grouting of the endshields are completed. CalandriaCubing and nuclear and conven-tional piping works are in prog-ress.

The overall progress of both theunits put together till December1989 is about 8O%. The targetdates for achieving criticality areDecember 1990 for unit-1 and De-cember 1991 for unit-2.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Project3&4 — 2x235 MWe PHWRs

Infrastructue required to com-mence civil works has been com-pleted. Additional infrastructuralfacilities for further stages are inprogress.

The excavation for main plantbuildings has been completed dur-ing the year. Mud mat concretingfor the raft in Reactor Buildingunit-3 has been completed and

work on mud mat concreting hascommenced in Reactor Buildingfor unit-4 and control & servicebuildings.

Apart from calandria for unit-3delivered earlier during the lastyear, end shields, primary coolantpumps, and reactor headers forunit-3 have been delivered to siteduring the year. Manufacture ofcalandria for unit-4 has also beencompleted. Steam generators,turbine generators and boiler feedpumps are under manufacture.

Tender document for nuclearpiping contract is under prepara-tion. Specifications for selectedsupply-cum-erection packages inconventional mechanical systemshave been prepared and procure-ment action has commenced.

The project is progressing toachieve the target dates forachieving criticality in May 1995for unit-3 and November 1995 forunit-4.

Kaiga Project 1 6c 22 x 235 MWe PHWRs

Compensatory afforestation prog-ramme by the Forest Depart-ment of the Kamataka Govern-ment is in progress for whichprogressive payment has beenmade by NPC. Work on evolvingand implementing a scheme forprotection and improvement ofecology and environment at Kaigasite has been taken up by theMangalore University. Under thisprogramme, it is envisaged that anumber of forest tree speciespeculiar to western ghats will beplanted over a period of five years.

Land acquisition for the plantand township has been com-pleted. Infrastructural works atsite required for commencingmain plant civil works have beencompleted. Additional facilities forfurther stages are in progress.

Work on main plant civil workscommenced in full swing and ex-cavation works for main plantbuildings were completed. Afterdetailed analysis and review, clear-ance was obtained from AERB, toproceed with concreting of thecentral core of the raft in ReactorBuilding-1 and works were com-

pleted. Concreting of raft in thecentral core section of ReactorBuilding-2 is nearing completion.Concreting of the Turbine Gener-ator-1 foundation and columnfootings of Turbine Building-1 arein progress. A geodesic dome wasused during monsoon to proceedwith works during heavy rains.

Calandria for unit-1 is deliveredat site. Manufacture of calandriafor unit-2 and one end shield forunit-1 is completed. Manufactureof the second end shield for theunit-1 is nearing completion. Prim-ary coolant pumps for two unitshave been received. Manufactureof steam generators, turbinegenerators, condensers and feedwater heaters is in progress.Manufacture of boiler feed pumpsfor unit-1 is complete and for unit-2 is in advanced stages of comple-tion.

Tender document for nuclearpiping contract is under prepara-tion. Specifications for selectedsupply-cum-erection packages inconventional mechanical systemshave been prepared and procure-ment action is in progress. Theproject is progressing for achiev-ing criticality by June 1995 forunit-1 and December 1995 forunit-2.

New Projects

Kaiga Project 3 to 64 x 235 MWe PHWRs

The Detailed Project Report CDPR)was prepared and proposalfor project financial sanction wasendorsed by the Atomic EnergyCommission CAEO. No objectioncertificate from Karnataka StatePollution Control Board was re-ceived and data for environmentalappraisal has been submitted tothe Union Ministry of Environmentand Forests. A Committee consti-tuted by the Ministry is in the pro-cess of appraisal and clearance isawaited. After obtaining clear-ances from environmental andsafety angles, the proposal forproject financial sanction will beput up for the approval of the Gov-ernment of India. Advance pro-curement of selected long deliveryand critical components is in prog-ress. Raw materials for calandria,

2 . 5

Reactor Building-1 of Kaiga Project under construction

end shields, steam generators,reactor headers etc. are undermanufacture and part shipment.Orders for fabrication of calandriaand end shields and letter of in-tent for manufacture of primarycoolant pump motor assemblieshave been released. Letter of in-tents for fabrication of steamgenerators for three units havebeen released and for fourth isunder process. Action for place-ment of order for turbine gener-ators is in progress.

SOO MWe PHWR

Tarapur Atomic Power Project3 & 4 — 2 x 5OO MWe PHWRs

Site clearance from the AERBwas obtained in December, 1989.Details on rehabilitation plan werediscussed with State Governmentand Union Ministry of Environ-ment and Forests, New Delhi. En-vironmental clearance from theUnion Ministry is awaited. Theproposal for project financial sanc-tion with cost estimates updatedto March, 1989 price level was en-dorsed by Atomic Energy Commis-sion. The proposal for projectfinancial sanction will be put up forthe approval of Government of In-dia after obtaining environmentalclearance.

As part of advance actions, pre-paration of tender documents formain plant civil works is nearingcompletion. Work on setting up of

site infrastructural facilities suchas site construction offices, ware-houses, access roads, water,power supply have been taken upand are in progress.

Action has been initiated onsteps preparatory to acquisition ofland at plant site.

Detailed engineering of nuclearand conventional systems of 500MWe PHWR projects is in prog-ress. Advance procurement ofselected long delivery and criticalequipment and components is inprogress.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Project5-8 — 4 x SOO MWe PHWRs

Detailed Project Report (DPR)was prepared and proposal forproject financial sanction was en-dorsed by Atomic Energy Commis-sion. Provisional No Objection Cer-tificate CNOC) from RajasthanState Pollution Control Board wasobtained. Formal environmentalclearance from State Governmentis awaited. Data on environmentalappraisal was submitted to UnionMinistry of Environment andForests. A committee consti-tuted by Union Ministry of En-vironment and Forests is in theprocess of environmental apprais-al. The details for clearance of thesite from safety angle have beensubmitted to AERB and are underreview. The proposal for projectfinancial sanction will be put up forthe approval of Government of In-

dia after obtaining safaty and en-vironmental clearances.

As part of advance actions, pre-qualification of contractors forsite grading is in progress. Plan-ning of site infrastructural facili-ties is in progress.

Detailed engineering activitiesof 500 MWe PHWR projects are inprogress. Advance procurementof selected long delivery and critic-al equipment and components arein progress.

Engineering and advance pro-curement of selected long deliveryand critical components andequipment for 6 x 500 MWePHWRs (TAPP 3 & 4, RAPP 5 - 8)

Site layouts for TAPP 3 & 4 andRAPP 5 - 8 were finalised. Con-siderable progress has beenachieved in the design and analysisof main plant buildings. Design ofreactivity mechanisms, fuellingmachine carriages and convention-al systems (turbine generator andelectrical systems) has progres-sed well. Engineering work onother nuclear systems are in prog-ress. Engineering work is pro-ceeding for TAPP 3 & 4. Most ofthe engineering of nuclear sys-tems will be similar for RAPP 5-8.However, in respect of civil struc-tures and conventional mechanicaland electrical systems, engineer-ing work is being initiated in theareas where changes for RAPP 5-8 will be necessary.

Fabrication of calandria and endshields for first two 500 MWe un-its is in progress, raw materials forthe next four units are # undermanufacture and tendering forfabrication of the same is in prog-ress. Letter of Intent for steamgenerator forgings has been re-leased and tendering for fabrica-tion of the steam generators is inprogress. Primary coolant pumpmotor assemblies for the first 5OOMWe unit have been received.Subsequent manufacture ofthese for the second unit is inprogress -and letter of intent forfour more units have been placed.Letter of intent for turbine gener-ators and auxiliaries have beenissued. Procurement actions onother long delivery items are inprogress.

2.6

Public Awareness

A view of Kudanku/am site

Kudankulam Project (2 x 1O00MWe capacity WERs)

In accordance with the Inter-Govemmental Agreement signedbetween Government of India andUSSR on co-operation in settingup of 2 x 1000 MWe capacityWER type nuclear power reac-tors, work on technical assign-ment and various appendices tothe Detailed Project Report CDPR)contract was completed jointly bythe Indian and Soviet sides. A highlevei working group on 'NuclearPower1 has been constitutedunder the Indo-Soviet Inter-Govemmental Commission oneconomic, scientific and technicalco-operation to resolve any out-standing issues relating to the pro-ject. Issues related to maximumbasic cost of the project and costof preparation of DPR were dis-cussed in the first meeting of theWorking Group held in October,1989. In addition, it was agreed inthis meeting to review the possi-bility of preponement of targettedcommissioning dates of Decem-ber, 1998 CUnit-1) and December,1999 CUnit-2) by one year or so.Clearance has been given to

Soviet organisations to take upwork on preparation of DPR uptoMarch, 1990 as per provisionsagreed upon in the first meetingof the Working Group.

Clearance of the site from safe-ty angle has been received fromAtomic Energy Regulatory BoardCAERB). Environmental clearancefrom the Union Ministry. of En-vironment and Forests has alsobeen received. Advance action foracquisition of land required for theplant and township has beentaken up.

Indian scientific institutionssuch as the National GeographicalResearch Institute CNGRI), Hyder-abad, National Institute ofOceanography CN1O), Goa andother private specialist organisa-tions have been awarded worksfor detailed site investigations toobtain necessary data to sub-stantiate site related design in-puts.

Indian consultants are progres-sing with engineering of infras-tructural works such as fresh wa-ter pipe line, access roads, con-struction po.wer etc.

A public seminar to explain de-sign and safety features and oper-ational record of nuclear powerreactors in India and group discus-sions with environmentalists wereheld at Sirsi, Kamataka during theyear. Lectures were organised forstaff and students of schools inAnkola, Honavar and Sirsi in Karna-taka. Exhibitions were also heldalong with the seminars. NPC par-ticipated in the exhibition held atthe International Trade Fair, NewDelhi. A special media supplementwas published giving informationon the Narora Atomic Power Sta-tion on the occasion of the dedica-tion of the same to the nation. Avideo casette film prepared onNAPP was telecast from Luck-now Doordarshan. A video caset-te on Kaiga project has also beenmade for audiences in and aroundthe local area.

Financial Performance

During the period from 1 April, 1988to 31 March, 1989, the Companymade a net profit of Rs. 62.24crores from operating stationsand income from investments, afterproviding for appropriations to-wards contingency, general anddecommissioning reserves andprior period adjustments. Duringthe period 1st April, 1989 to 31stDecember, 1989 the provisionalnet profit is estimated at Rs.16.53 crores from operating sta-tions and income from invest-ments after appropriations. Thedecline in profit in the current yearis due to the unusual problem offailure of moderator inlet man-ifolds at both the units of MAPS 1& 2 leading to restricted oper-ational power levels of these twounits after implementation of in-terim solution for bringing backthese units on line, and the failureof main generator transformer ofTAPS-2. During the financial 1989-90, an amount of Rs.360 croreswas raised by NPC through bor-rowings from capital market forinvestment in its projects.

2.7

Heavy Water Plant at Tuticorin, Tamilnadu

Heavy WaterProjects

Heavy Water Plant (Nangal)

The Heavy Water Plant at Nangalis based on the production of pre-enriched hydrogen gas obtainedby electrolytic process from theNational Fertilizers Ltd. CNFD andlow temperature distillation of thesame at the Heavy Water Plant.The Plant has been operating in asteady manner commensuratewith the availability of power tothe energy intensive ElectrolysisPlant. The availability of power tothe Electrolysis Plant has beenrestricted and continued availabil-ity of power has been uncertain.To overcome the heavy de-pendency on power for the elec-trolytic process, a separate plantfor generation of pure hydrogenby Naptha reforming and pressureswing adsdorption, being set upby NFL, is nearing completion andis likely to be operational nextyear. Thereafter overall produc-tion is expected to improve.

Heavy Water Plant (Baroda)

The Heavy Water Plant at Barodais based on the mono-thermalammonia-hydrogen exchange pro-cess. Tha Plant operated steadilyduring the year. Some more im-provements have been effected inthe plant by installing six additionalcatalyst tubes in the main cracker,replacing leaky expansion bellowsand heat exchanger in the ammo-

nia converter and installing prtas-sium amide catalyst pump. Theseare likely to improve productionfrom the Plant.

A facility is being set up for up-grading non-nuclear grade heavywater to nuclear grade. Civil andstructural work is in hand. Criticalitems have been ordered.

Haavy Water Plant {Tuticorin)

The Tuticorin Heavy Water Plant isbased on the mono-thermalammonia-hydrogen exchange pro-cess. The performance of thePlant during the year has beenvery satisfactory because of highstream factor and some improve-ments carried out namely: (i) in-stallation of additional six catalysttubes in the main cracker, and Cii)commissioning of the recirculatingcompressor for improvement ofrecovery efficiency of the main ex-traction tower.

Heavy Water Plant CTalcher)

The Talcher Heavy Water Plant isbased on the bi-thermal ammonia-hydrogen exchange process. Theperformance of the Plant couldnot be established for want of in-puts from the fertilizer plant ofFertilizer Corporation of IndiaCFCD. However, as and when in-puts were available from FCI, re-sults of some modifications

2.8

already carried out during the longshut down of the fertilizer plant in1988, were observed and found tobe beneficial. Further modifica-tions, if any, required in the HeavyWater Plant to attain reasonableproduction levels would be work-ed out and undertaken after shortterm and long term measures tobe recommended by the Commit-tee appointed by the Ministry ofChemicals &. Fertilizers to improveperformance of the FCl fertilizerplant, have been implemented andtheir performance established.

Heavy Water Plant (Thai)

The Plant is based on the mono-thermal ammonia-hydrogen ex-change process. The Plant had un-anticipated long shut downs be-cause of the damage to tower in-ternals Ccable stage) during theplant start-up after its annual turnaround in April 1989 and non-availability of water due towashing away of a portion of theraw water line from Nagothane.The Plant also had constraint ofreduced supply of synthesis gasbecause of long shut down of oneof the two ammonia plants ofRashtriya Chemicals & FertilizersLtd. CRCF) for maintenance oftheir compressors and change ofcatalyst. The Plant is now operat-ing steadily.

An Additional upgrading facilityis being set up for which procure-ment of equipment and materialsis in progress. Civil and structuralwork will commence shortly.

Heavy Water Plant CKota)

During the year, the performanceof the plant, which is based on theindigenously developed dualtemperature hydrogen sulphide-water exchange process, wassatisfactory, but for the restraintimposed by AERB on increasingits operating pressure and fre-quent interruptions in supply ofsteam from the neighbouringpower station. The restraint im-posed by AERB is expected to beremoved in the near future. A Cap-tive Steam Generation Plant isunder construction and is ex-pected to be operational by mid1990 thereby improving the steamavailability and ensuring a higherstream factor of the Plant and pro-duction of heavy water.

Heavy Water Project (Hazira)

The Heavy Water Project at Hazirais based on the mono-thermalammonia-hydrogen exchange pro-cess. The project is in advancedstage of mechanical completion.Its commissioning is expected tobe achieved on schedule byNovember 1990.

An upgrading unit is being set up

for which procurement is in prog-ress and civil and structural workwill commence shortly.

Heavy Water Project (Manuguru)

The Heavy Water Project at Manu-guru is based on dual temperaturehydrogen-sulphide-water ex-change process, as adopted inHeavy Water Plant at Kota. A Cap-tive Power Plant is also being setup to provide power and steam tothe main plant. In the CaptivePower Plant practically all the au-xiliary units are under operation.The first of the three steam boil-ers and generator units has beencommissioned and is generatingsteam and power as per require-ment. The other two units are invarious stages of completion.In the main Heavy Water Plant allthe auxiliary units have alreadybeen commissioned and are in op-eration. Pre-commissioning of themain plant has also commenced inthe second exchange unit of theplant after completing the cold nit-rogen-water run, "hold on" testand hot run. Arrangements arebeing made for charging hydrogensulphide gas into the system forformation of the protective film.Test runs are being conducted onvarious machines of the first ex-change unit. It is expected thatlow pressure operation of theplant would begin by middle of1990.

2.9

t 0

Fuel bundles fabricated at the Nuclear FuelComplex for the Indian pressurisedheavy water reactors

Nuclear Fue!Complex

Fuel

Zircaloy clad fuel bundles forPHWRs are manufactured fromthe yellow cakeCmagnesiumdiuranate) received from UCIL,Jaduguda, by first converting touranium dioxide in the Uranium Ox-ide Plant CUOP) and then to finalbundles at the Ceramic Fuel Fab-rication Plant CCFFP). Similarly,two other plants namely the En-riched Uranium Oxide PlantCEUOP) and Enriched Fuel Fabrica-tion Plant CEFFP) work togetherto manufacture fuel bundles forboiling water reactors from theimported raw material namely en-riched uranium hexafluoride.

During this year, apart from reg-ular supply of replacement fuelassemblies for RAPS and MAPSadditional assemblies were sup-plied to NAPS-1. BWR bundleshave also been fabricated and sup-plied to TAPS. These include theimproved design (7 x 7 assembly)bundles. Besides the normalwork, the following significantprocess improvements have beensuccessfully carried out:

1. Standardization of batch pre-cipitation route for ADU.

2. High capacity rotary calcinationfurnace.

3. Increased batch size produc-tion of U3Oa in EUOP.

4. Introduction of sintering fur-nace of improved design.

2.10

7.

Process automation forpneumatic transfer of ADU,UO2 powder etc.Design of a centralised controlsystem for calcination and re-duction furnaces in UOP.Special lubrication process forUO2 pellet compaction.

A significant achievement thisyear is a much improved recoveryfrom the UOa powder to pelletstage because of the introductionof special lubrication.

Zircaloy Products

A chain of three plants namely,the Zirconium Oxide Plant CZOP),Zirconium Sponge Plant CZSP) andZircaloy Fabrication Plant CZFP)produce zircaloy tubes and compo-nents starting from the raw mate-rial zircon sand received from Indi-an Rare Earths Ltd. ZOP con-tinued with the production of zir-conium oxide and this year also,the production figures exceededthe design capacity.

Regular production work wasstarted in the new chlorinationbuilding of ZSP and the plant isexpected to achieve the targettedproduction figures this year.

In ZFP, the work of salvagingzircaloy scrap was continued. Reg-ular production of seam weldedcalandria tubes for KAPP-II andRAPP III and BWR fuel tubes were

Indigenously fabricated zircaloy tubes

continued. Technical problems en-countered in the production ofPHWR fuel tubes are being analy-sed and are expected to be solvedsoon. Other important compo-nents successfully fabricated inthis plant include thermal barriertubes for Dhruva reactor, TAPSchannel fastener assemblies andcomponents for cobalt absorberassemblies.

The following design and pro-cess improvements were intro-duced in the manufacture of zirco-nium/zircaloy products:

1. Introduction of high capacityfusion furnace for zircon sandfusion in ZOP.

2. Use of liner in the batch reduc-tion process of zirconium tet-rachloride to improve the pro-duction efficiency and re-covery.

3. Production of homogeneousZr-Nb ingots using thin Nbsheets in the briquettes.

4. Remelting of zircaloy crownsafter steel shot blasting andpickling treatment.

5. Introduction of a nibbling equip-ment for converting rejectedfuel tubes to a suitable formfor remelting.

6. Fabrication of Zr-Nb-Cu gartersprings including welding of gir-dle wire and interlocking theends with hook design.

7. On the spot reinforcementwork on flow tube assembliesat NAPP-ll site as per modifiedspecifications of NPC.

Special Tubes & Stainless SteelTubes

The various production para-meters for Zr-Nb seamlesscoolant tubes were standardisedand a first batch of tubes forKAPP II have been produced witha high recovery. Towards produc-tion procedure for SS 410 linertubes was modified by introducingadditional cold reduction step toimprove recoveries. To meet spe-cial requirement of MAPS, themoderator sparger tubes in zirca-loy-2 were produced for the firsttime. The inhouse fabricated coldpilger mill, HPTR 8-15, which in-corporates an online laser sizemeasurement system was putinto regular use for the productionof fuel clad tubes for PFBR andFBTR.

Besides these, the regular fab-rication work of seamless stain-less steel tubes was continued.

Development work in this area in-cludes seamless lncoloy-800 tubefor use in heat exchanger and SSfuel tubes for PFBR.

Fast Breeder Reactor ComponentFacility

A dummy PFBR fuel sub-assembly was successfully fabri-cated in the facility. The require-ment of antimony oxide capsulesand other components for FBTRat Kaipakkam was continued to bemet.

High Purity Materials

The Special Materials Plant CSMP)continued the production of highpurity (99.9999b) materials suchas gold, gallium, silver, indium,POCI3, selenium, tellurium etc, forelectronic industries and institu-tions. Besides these, the produc-tion of magnesium granules, zirco-nium metal powder and Zr-Nbmaster alloy were continued.

Process and other DevelopmentWork

The following significant develop-ment works for implementing inthe new projects were success-fully carried out during this year:

1. Fabrication of seven-zone UO2pellet sintering furnace (oper-ating temperature 17OO° Owith reduced pushing intervals,automatic charging — discharg-ing system and accuratetemperature control.

2. Completion of pilot plant stu-dies for the extraction purifica-tion of zirconium by amine sul-phate process.

3. Laboratory scale production ofUOa powder through AUCroute and further conversion ofthe powder to pellets withoutprecompaction and binder addi-tion.

4. Fabrication of shear strengthtesting machine for checkingthe individual welds of spacer/bearing pads on PHWR fuel ele-ments.

5. Fabrication of semi-automaticbearing pad welding machinewith improved design.

2.11

Semiautomatic machine fabricated at NFC far weldingbearing pads on PHWR fuel pins

6. Fabrication of a tumblingmachine for deburring of endplates and bearing pads.

7. Standardization of cold swag-ing process for size reductionof Zr-2 rods for end cap manu-facture.

8. Fabrication of bearing padsthrough cold drawn rectangularwire route.

9. Fabrication of thin walledC20x1.5 mm) seamless SStubes and Ti alloy tubes withstringent mechanical propertyspecifications for use as hyd-raulic piping in light combat aircrafts.

Such indigenous and inhouse de-velopment work has also resultedin saving considerable amount offoreign exchange.

Quality Assurance & Quality Con-trol

The Centralised Control Labora-tory and the Inspection Groupsstationed at various plants con-tinued the quality control activi-ties. Over 24,000 samples wereanalysed by chemical and in-strumental methods involving1,75,600 determinations. An eddycurrent testing procedure wasstandardised for inspecting Zr-Nbcoolant tubes. Necessary dif-ferential coils were designed and

Inhouse fabricated cold piiger mill which incorporates an online lasersize-measuring system

High temperature UQ2 pellet sintering furnace fabricated at NFC

fabricated for detecting internaland outer diameter defects.Analytical/testing proceduresswitched over to new instru-ments after careful standardiza-tion include:

1. Determination of Gd2O3 in UO2

samples by XRF spectrometry.

2. ICP spectrometric determina-tion of rare earths and Mo inUO2 and also Zr and Hf in zirco-nium pure solution samples.

3. Tensile testing of fuel tubesamples under accurate strainconditions and high tempera-ture testing of coolant tubesby the newly installed prog-rammable universal testingmachines.

As a part of the Quality Assur-ance Programme, various measur-ing instruments used in processand quality control were calibratedand certified.

2.12

Human Resources Development

For the third consecutive year,NFC has bagged the covetedShram Veer Award. Sustained en-thusiasm was shown in the qualitycircle programme and several casestudies were presented in orga-nised forums.

More than 30 training program-mes were conducted for the be-nefit of NFC personnel coveringvarious topics. A National Trainingand Certification Course on Ultra-sonic Testing-Level-3 was con-ducted in NFC in June-July 1989 incollaboration with UNDP/IAEA.

Medical, Health physics andSafety

Independent units functioning forthe purpose of medical, healthphysics and safety continued theirwork. Special medical check-upwith particular emphasis on car-diovascular and metabolic dis-eases for the employees was con-tinued. Computerisation of healthrecords and environmental sur-veillance data were also updated.A new lung-uranium counting facil-ity has been added to the HealthPhysics Unit which provides regu-lar internal domestic service to theUranium Plant personnel.

Civil Works

Various civil works connectedwith the expansion programmes,water-treatment plant for coolingwater system, residential blocksetc., were completed during theyear. The Central Industrial Secur-ity Force CCISF) Unit has beenshifted to newly constructedpermanent buildings.

Energy Conservation Measures

Constant efforts were on to bringdown the energy consumption byway of introduction of high capac-ity and high efficiency productionequipment such as the large fu-sion furnace for zircon and rotarycalcination furnace for ADU.Material transfer time losses wereminimised by the introduction ofautomated conveyor systems. Insome cases, process modifica-tions were resorted to for mini-mising power, time and materialconsumption. These include liner

batch production of zirconiumsponge and zircaloy bearing padproduction via rectangular wireroute.

Power Restrictions

This year also power cut upto 50%has been experienced and as onDecember 1989 the State Elec-tricity Board has imposed 4O%power cut. In view of this, part ofthe power requirement is beingmet with the help of captive pow-er generation. Erection of a 132KVA sub-station is also in prog-ress.

Revenue Receipts

The estimated revenue receiptsduring 1989-9O is Rs. 89 crores.

Expansion of Fuel & Zircaloy for10,000 MWe Programme

Corporate Plan

To increase the nuclear powergeneration to 10,000 MWe by theyear 2000, NFC will have to prog-ressively enhance the productionof PHWR fuel to about 1800 ton-nes-UO2/y (1600 tonnes-U/y) andzircaloy items 250 tonnes per yearby 1997. Towards this, a Perspec-tive Corporate Plan — consistingof both Continuing Schemes andNew Projects — has beenapproved in principle by the Ato-mic Energy Commission. The totaloutlay for executing the CorporatePlan is estimated at about Rs.1400 crores C1989 prices), out ofwhich about Rs. 1200 crores isrequired to be invested during the8th Plan and the balance duringthe early 9th Plan.

Implementation of ContinuingSchemes

Under Phase-I Expansion Scheme,all the equipment and machineryfor Zirconium Oxide Plant and Zir-conium Sponge Plant have beenreceived and installed, and relatedcivil and utilities works completed.These plants are now operating atthe expanded capacities. Commis-sioning of large-scale prototypereduction and vacuum distillationequipment for producing reactorgrade zirconium sponge in 750 kgbatches is scheduled for July199O. In Zircaloy Fabrication Plant,

2.13

most of the equipment andmachinery have been installed andproduction enhanced. In UraniumOxide Plant, major equipmentsuch as vacuum filters, turbo-dryer and calcination furnaceshave been commissioned and re-maining line equipment are undercommissioning. In Ceramic FuelFabrication Plant, civil, electrical,ventilation and other utility worksare nearing completion and someequipment have been received. InQuality Control Group, all the spe-cialty analytical equipment havebeen received and installed. Basedon the present state of progress,this scheme is expected to becompleted during 1990.

In the case of the other twoparallel schemes — namely, Aug-mentation of PHWR Fuel from 225to 300 tpy and Expansion of Zirca-loy from 5O to 80 tpy for meetingthe requirement of reactors uptoKAPP-II, procurement of equip-ment and machinery is in full-swing. These schemes are ex-pected to be completed during1990 on schedule. In view of thesevere constraints in procuringcustom designed special equip-ment, formation of a group totake up the indigenous design andmanufacture of these criticalequipment and machinery withthe support of industry is underconsideration. Separate sub-groups are executing some ofthese jobs.

New Projects

The long-term Plan involves thesetting up the following 8 newprojects, in the VIII Plan, out ofwhich some have to be completedduring the VIII Plan itself and theremaining by early IX Plan.

Sites for all the projects havebeen identified. Detailed projectreports have been got ready forthe New Uranium Oxide FuelPlant-1 St 2, New ZirconiumSponge Plant, ,and New ZircaloyFabrication Plant. Land acquisitionfor the New Zirconium SpongeProject at Pa'layakayal, Srivaikun-tam Taluq, Chidambaranar district,Tamil Nadu, is in advanced stageand the lands are expected to behanded over by 1990. Environ-mental impact studies at this sitehave been completed for two sea-

Continued on page 2.18

Tachaometric survey in the coastal sands ofNewra area. Ratnagih district, Maharashtra

Atomic MineralsDivision

The Atomic Minerals Division(AMD), through its countrywidemineral exploration, augmentedthe raw material resources of ura-nium, thorium, zirconium, tita-nium, niobium, tantalum andyttrium. Additional uranium re-serves were mainly contributed bydeposits at Dorniasiat in Megha-laya and Tummalapalli in AndhraPradesh with marginal additionsfrom five other areas. Uranium de-posits at Turamdih (South),Mohuldih and Garadih in Biharwere handed over to UCIL for ex-ploitation after AMD-UCIL jointevaluation. Delineation of fewnew uraniferous zones, proving ofheavy minerals resources of about8.2 million tonnes contained in 3deposits Con behalf of IRE),estimation of 48.6 tonnes of xeno-time in the potential category, andproduction of 3145 kg of Nb-Taconcentrates are some of the.other highlights.

Uranium Exploration AirborneSurveys

Airborne gamma ray spec-trometric and magnetometric sur-veys over an area of 34,754 sqkm,in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Oris-sa, Madhya Pradesh and Mahar-ashtra helped to identify 144radioactive anomalies for follow-up ground surveys. Detailed analy-sis of the remote sensing data of

some of the above areas was car-ried out for mineral targetting.

Ground Surveys

Significant uraniferous anomalieswere located through groundradiometric surveys (reconnaiss-ance 20656 sqkm, detailed 559sqkm) carried out over areasselected on the basis of geologicalfavourability and airborneradiometric and remote sensingdata. They are in (i) Chlorite schist,quartzites around Bana, Sekuetc., Uttarkashi district and nearKui, Song etc. Almora district,Uttar Pradesh, (ii) Brecciated felsi-tic rocks in the extension areas ofNawatola, Mirzapur district, UttarPradesh, Gii) Cataclasites of frac-ture/fault zone in basement rocks(NW of Rayachoti), Cuddapah andAnantapur districts. AndhraPradesh. (iv) Quartz-biotiteschists and calc-silicate rocks inand around Ladi-Ka-Bas area,Sikar district, Rajasthan, (v)Magnetite-quartzites and carbo-naceous phyllites of Subansiri dis-trict, Arunachal Pradesh, Cvi)Mahadek sandstone outliers andgranites in Mawkyrwat area, WestKhasi Hills district, Meghalaya, Cvii)gritty sandstones in the exten-sions of Bogan anomaly, Bastardistrict, Madhya Pradesh, and (viii)quartzites near sakra village,Bhandara district, Maharashtra.

2.14

X

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6 0

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10

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AIRBORNE SURVEYS

-

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GROUND RADIOMETRIC SURVEYS

85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89 89-90

YEAR

IinDin

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85-86 86-87 87-88

YEAR88-89 89-90

EXPLORATORY DRILLING EXPLORATORY MINING90

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85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89YEAR

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1000

8 0 0

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YEAR

TARGET

ACHIEVEMENTS

85-86 86-87 87-88

YEAR88-89 89-90 PROGRESS IN PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES

OF AMD

The various Gondwana basins ofthe country are being evaluatedfor their uranium potentiality.Geochemical surveys (over 6800sqkm) in parts of. Andhra Pradesh,Orissa, Assam, Meghalaya,Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh resulted in delineatingfive uraniferous anomalous zonesin Cuddapah and Kurnool district,Andhra Pradesh.

Geophysical surveys conductedat Jamenkhela-Bhalulata, Sunder-garh district, Orissa' (InducedPotential and resistivity), Killungand Tyrkhang blocks, West KhasiHills district, Meghalaya (magne-tic), and Sonrai-Tori tract, Lalitpurdistrict, Uttar Pradesh (regional

Exploratory drilling in Siwalihs

magnetic, gravity, I. P. and E.M.Surveys) helped to demarcate thepotential uraniferous zones.

Sub-surface Drilling and Explora-

Intensif ied exploratory and evalua-tion drilling in 45 uranium pros-pects aggregated 66,384 m(48,039 m by AMD rigs and 18,345m by Public Sector Undertakings),the highest ever achieved. Evalua-tion drilling was undertaken atDomiasiat (Meghalaya), Tummala-palle-Gadankipalle (AndhraPradesh), Mohuldih, CentralKeruadungri, Rajgaon andKanyaluka in Singhbhum ThrustBelt (Bihar) and Jajawal (Madhya

Pradesh). Of these, sizeable re-serves were proved at Domiasiatand Tummalapalle with small butsignificant contributions from theremaining areas. Significant sub-surface mineralisation was inter-cepted by exploratory drilling atKasha-Kaladi, Rajpura (HimachalPradesh), Umra (Rajasthan),Mawkyrwat (Meghalaya), Pakni-Dumhat (Madhya Pradesh),Mogarra (Maharashtra).

Exploratory mining for evalua-tion of deposits at Khya and Anda-lada (Himachal Pradesh), Bagjata(Bihar) and Domiasiat (Meghalaya)totalled 527 m.

Small scale mining is in progressat Kandi, Simla district, HimachalPradesh and the extracted ore isbeing treated, at site, in ex-perimental heap leaching plants.

Beach Sand and Offshore Inves-tigations

Heavy mineral reserves of 8.2 mil-lion tonnes were identified inthree deposits, and handed overto IRE for exploitation; the de-posits are 1) Nagamayyapalem-Annavaram, Bhimunipatnamcoast, Andhra Pradesh (2.94 mil-lion tonnes of heavy minerals), 2)Newre, Ratnagiri coast, Mahar-ashtra (0.73 million tonne of heavyminerals), and 3) Kudiraimoli Teris— Phase I, Chidambarnar district,Tamil Nadu (4.53 million tonnes ofheavy minerals). Investigations onthe dredge sands of Vishakhapat-nam port Andhra Pradesh, werealso completed. Area covered forheavy mineral investigations total-led 260 km and 22 sqkm for recon-naissance and detailed surveys re-spectively.

AMD collaborated with GSI inoffshore investigations (49,800sqkm area covered) and partici-pated in the cruises off the coastsof Kalingapatnam and Gopalpur onthe east coast and off-Varakla,Chavara and Anjengo on the westcoast. In the tract surveyed (con-tinental shelf zone), off the eastcoast, 10-16% of heavy mineralswere identified. Deep sea inves-tigations including magnetic andbathymetric surveys upto the ex-clusive economic zone (EEZ),were also undertaken off Tamilna-du — Pondichery and off AndhraPradesh coasts.

2.16

Rare Metal and Rare Earth Inves-tigations

Investigations Cover 2151 sqkm)for rare metals and rare earths ledto enhancement of the potentialresources of xenotirne by 48.6tonne at Baljhora nalla. Raigarhdistrict, Madhya Pradesh and Deoriver, Gumla district, Bihar. Thenew potential areas identified forrare earth resources are, the gra-nites near Sitapalle CLa-Ce), EastGodavari district and the phospho-rite bands interbedded with theOwk shales in Kurnool formationsin Andhra Pradesh.

Pilot recovery plants produced3145 kg of Nb-Ta mineral concen-trates at Marlagalla, Karnatakaand 28 tonnes of heavy mineralconcentrates containing 5°/o ofxenotime at Siri River, MadhyaPradesh. A new recovery unit wasinstalled at Kanyaluka, Singhbhumdistrict, Bihar and initial tests re-sulted in production of 7.7 kg ofxenotime concentrates.

Re-evaluation of cassiterite/col-umbite-tantalite resources in thethree blocks of Katekalyan area,Bastar district, in collaborationwith the Directorate of Geology &Mining, Madhya Pradesh andMadhya Pradesh State Mining Cor-poration led to proving of 155.5tonnes of cassiterite/columbite-tantalite resources.

Geotechnical Investigations

AMD scientists participated in thesite selection of nuclear installa-tions in the country and in geolo-gical, geotechnical and seis-motectonic investigations of reac-tor sites at Ujani, Jaitapur,Kudankulam, Kalpakkam, Kaigaetc. Geological-cum-structuralmapping of reactor sites at Kaigaand radiological background stu-dies at Kudankulam were alsotaken up.

Laboratory Investigations

The various laboratories providedsupport to field investigations be-sides carrying out research anddevelopment related to explora-tion. New physics laboratorieswere set up in the Regional Cen-tres at Jaipur, Baroda and Hyder-abad.

The Physics Group was engagedin processing of airborne gamma-ray spectrometric and magne-tometric survey data using the in-house computer facility, fabrica-tion and maintenance of instru-ments for airborne and groundradiometric surveys, radiometricanalysis of surface and mine sam-ples (16427 nos.), gamma ray log-ging of boreholes/probe holesC88263 m), radiometric assay ofborehole cores (9,302 m), shieldedprobe logging of mine faces/tren-ches (7,400 m), bulk ore gradingof mine tubs (1,423 nos.), analysisof monazite samples (149 nos.),and estimation of trace elementsby neutron and gamma activationand isotopic X-ray fluorescencetechniques C435 nos.). The Groupdeveloped software packages forevaluation of performance of theairborne survey system and forFortran-Cobol link.

Age determination of 254 geolo-gic samples by Rb-Sr and Pb-Pbdating methods and estimation ofstrontium, neodymium, uraniumand sulphur isotopic ratios in 42samples were carried out in theGeochronology Laboratory.

Chemical Laboratories carriedout 86,887 determinations fordifferent radicals in 21,000 sam-ples of which 339 samples were

analysed for complete chemicalanalysis. Two mobile geochemicallaboratories in Andhra Pradeshand Meghalaya provided quickfeed back of analytical data. Stan-dardisation of methods of estima-tion of rare earth elements in ura-nium and thorium rich geologicalmaterials and thorium in monaziteby ICP-AES, were taken up as re-search and development prog-rammes.

The Mineral Technology Labor-atories processed 265 samples foruranium leachability and heavymineral beneficiation studies be-sides running test heap leachingplants at Andalada and Kandi,Himachal Pradesh. Microbiologicalstudies on ore samples continued.

The Petrology Laboratories in-vestigated 1 734 samples for pet-rographfc and mineragraphic char-acterisation of atomic mineralsand rocks. The spectrograph, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffrac-tion laboratories analysed 2265,1220 and 247 samples respec-tively.

Human Resource Development

A Training School at Hyderabadwith field training centres at Jubla-tola CBihar), Hamirpur (HimachalPradesh) and Cuddapah (AndhraPradesh), was established and 73

Pitchblende CU) with syneresis cracks filled with chalcopyrites CCu) Dariba, Rajasthan

2.17

geo-scientists were impartedtraining in different disciplines.

AMD brought out its first pub-lication, 'Exploration and Researchfor Atomic Minerals' in its en-deavour to share its experienceswith the wider scientific com-munity.

Over hundred scientists partici-pated in the national seminars/symposia/workshop on varioustopics for presentation of technic-al papers, and as delegates. Ninescientists participated in the va-rious international symposia/semi-nars/conferences held at China,Thailand, Italy, USA and Vienna.

Collaboration

The AMD's collaboration with sis-ter organisations such as GS1,NRSA, ONGC, MECL, NMDC,State Governments and other

agencies in the mineral explorationfield enabled radiometric loggingof the boreholes drilled by some ofthese organisations and, identi-fication of the following fields forcollaborative work namely: withGSI in Antarctica research; De-partment of Ocean Developmentin the ninth Antarctica expedition;NRSA in the application of remotesensing data in mineral targetting;ONGC in airborne radiometric sur-veys C9195 sqkm over Cauverybasin, Tamil Nadu) and geochrono-logical studies; Directorate ofGeology and Mines, Uttar Pradeshfor copper-uranium investigationsand Directorate of Geology, andMining and State Mining Corpora-tion, Madhya Pradesh for assess-ment of tin ores in Bastar district.Analytical facilities at AMD HeadQuarters and regional centreswere extended to the various uni-

versities, central and state gov-ernment organisations.

Under the UNESCO sponsoredInternational Geological Correla-tion Programme CIGCP), AMD con-tinued its participation in four pro-jects, namely, (i) Precambrianevents in Gondwana Fragments;Cii) Metalliferrous black shales; (iii)Precambrian dyke swarms; andCiv) International geochemicalmapping.

Two expert teams of AMD sci-entists visited Vietnam and Syriaunder the bilateral co-operationprogramme; seven scientists fromVietnam, Cuba and Syria under-went training in AMD in the fieldof uranium exploration. Under theco-operation programme betweenDAE and COGEMA, France, threegeo-scientists visited AMD.

Continued from page 2.73

sons. Land acquisition for theNew Uranium Oxide Fuel Plant-2,at Turamdih, Singhbhum district,Bihar, is in progress. Action hasalready been initiated to obtain en-vironmental clearances fromAERB and the concerned stateand central agencies for the va-rious project sites. Sanctions for atotal of Rs. 151.99 crores havealso been secured for these fourprojects for taking advance ac-tions such as land acquisition, in-frastructure development, andprocurement of critical and longdelivery' equipment and machin-ery, for some of which the quota-tions are under evaluation. Finan-cial sanction for the four projectsis expected by April 1990.

Consultants have already beenappointed for taking up detailedengineering and construction ofNew Uranium'Oxide Fuel Plant-1 &2. With respect to New ZirconiumSponge Plant and New ZircaloyFabrication Plant, tender evalua-tion is on hand and consultants willbe appointed by March 1990.

For the Uranium Fuel AssemblyPlant-1, the draft DPR receivedfrom the Consultant is under scru-tiny.

The above projects will need anadditional manpower of around4,700 in various categories. Prop-osal for their sanction and plans

for recruitment and inductiontraining are on hand.

Structural changes in the orga-nisation is also on the anvil to takeup the execution of these newprojects, commensurate with thehuge investments and tight timeschedule envisaged.

In view of the plans for quantumjump in the level of production,efforts are also on hand: CD to up-date process technology toachieve higher recoveries and re-duce energy consumption and Cii)development of automated andhigh-capacity equipment incorpor-ating mechanised material hand-ling.

2.18

l i t

A panoramic view of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

BhabhaAtomicResearchCentre

Nuclear Physics

With the commissioning of theMedium Energy Heavy IonAccelerator CMEHIA) C14 UD Pel-Ietron Accelerator) facility in De-cember 1988, heavy ion beams ofsufficiently high energy suitablefor advance research in nuclearphysics became available for thefirst time in the country. Duringthis year, setting up of the fourbeam lines and associated ex-perimental equipments around thePelletron Accelerator Facility werecompleted. The experimental faci-lities included a general purposescattering chamber, BGO gamma-ray detector multiplicity set up,target irradiation facility forradiochemical studies, andCAMAC-based multiparameterdata acquisition system. Whilemany basic nuclear physics re-search programmes utilised thePelletron Accelerator Facility,several research programmeswere also carried out with thecharged particle beams fromTrombay Van de Graaff accelera-tor and the VEC at Calcutta. Neut-ron beams from Cirus reactor atTrombay were also utilised for fis-sion studies.

The field of study of resonancesin heavy ion collisions with thebeam of MEHIA accelerator hasbeen initiated with the study ofthe reaction 12C(16O.4He)24Mg.

The excitation function of thisreaction leading to several excitedstates upto 22 MeV in 24Mg wereobtained and the data have givenevidence of three intermediatestructure resonances at excitationenergies of 42 to 47 MeV in 28Si.

In order to -investigate the im-portance of "threshold anomaly",the strong energy dependence ofthe real part of optical potentialobserved at near barrier energiesfor the system 16O, 209Bi and4He + 209Bi, detailed elastic scat-tering angular distributions for16O and 4He on 209Bi target havebeen measured at several ener-gies near the barrier.

The fission fragment angulardistributions have been measuredfor 9Be, 10B, 12C.. 16O and 19Fions on 232Th target, with a viewto check the predictions of thetheoretical model proposed earlierby Trombay scientists to explainthe anamolous fragment anisotro-pies observed in heavy ion inducedfission. Results of the preliminaryanalysis of the data are found tobe in agreement with the abovetheoretical prediction that thereshould be a transition in anisotropyvalues across a critical mass asym-metry.

Angular momentum distribu-tions in O + Ag and O + In reac-tions were deduced for various

channels by measuring the gammamultiplicity distributions using theBQO gamma ray multiplicity set-up.

Energy spectra of prompt neut-rons emitted in thermal neutroninduced fission of 235U was mea-sured together with the energiesand angles of the coincident fis-sion fragments at Cirus reactor.The data were analysed to obtaininformation regarding tempera-tures of fission fragments emit-ting thesa neutrons.

Charge exchange reaction of thetype (6Li, 6He) and C7Li. 7Be)were taken up for study at thepelletron accelerator and the initialruns have indicated the feasibilityof studying these low cross sec-tion reactions.High energy gamma ray (5 to 40MeVO measurements were madeon various targets (Co to Au) bom-barded with alpha beams fromVEC, Calcutta, and heavy ion C7Li,16O) beams from MEHIAaccelerator. Properties of hotgiant resonances in nuclei andultradipole photon cross-sectionswere extracted.

Direct reaction1 analyses of thereactions 13CC3He,4He)12C lead-ing to ground and first excitedstates of 12C studied withTrom-bay Van de Graaff acceleratorhave given significant quantitativeevidences of the direct 9Be clus-ter transfer at sub-barrier ener-gies.

•Alpha particle induced fission of235U was investigated in deepsub-barrier energy region C2-4MeV) with the Van de Graaffaccelerator. At these energies,fission cross sections were foundto be several orders of magnitudelarger than that expected, andthese suggest that the processcontributing is the fission ofCoulomb excited target state nuc-leus.

Further theoretical work on nuc-lear level densities were carriedout by analysing the experimentaldata on the particle yields andenergy spectra in proton inducedreactions on molybdenum iso-topes.

Progress in the understandingof the delta production reaction

depends upon our ability to con-struct the t-matrix for the descrip-tion of the pp n + + reaction. Ti ust-matrix has been constructed andfound to fit all the available datafrom threshold to 4 GeV on thisreaction. This work also suggeststhat the size of the nucleon in nuc-lei is less than 0.5 fm, which isagainst the currently held belief ofthe bloating of the nucleon.

For the analyses of knock-outreactions, a new symmetric 3-body Schroedinger equation hasbeen set up which gives exactsolution when one of the distort-ing optical potentials vanish. Thesolution of the new equation cor-respond to angular momentum de-pendent distorting potentials inthe conventional treatment.

A Monte Carlo computer code tosimulate nuclear collisions atultrarelativistic energies based onthe coherent tube model has beendeveloped which predicts .the ex-perimental results very satisfac-torily. The code is being modifiedto run on a parallel processingcomputer to reduce computingtime. The code is now beingadopted to simulate backgroundevents in the Kolar proton decayexperiment.

The multiplicity distribution ofcharged particles in hadron colli-sions at high energies, calculatedon a parton branching model, fitsdata well. Predictions of the multi-plicity distributions expected atsuperconducting supercolliderenergies have also been made.

Parallel Plate Spectrometer fordetection of electrons produced inthe decay of atoms excited in thebeam foil interaction has beentested for performance and itscalibration constant has been de-termined. Similar studies for Cylin-drical Mirror Analyser are in prog-ress.

Proton induced X-ray emission(PIXE) technique was utilised tostudy trace element concentra-tions in cancer tissues and leadlevels in blood samples of children.The XRF method was applied foranalysis of trace elements in tea,soil and high Tc superconductingmaterials.

3.2

233U breeding optimisation from232Th bombarded with 14 MeVneutrons have been studied incylindrical geometry with MonteCarlo calculations. Fast neutronspectrometric studies have beencarried out in Fusion Blanketassembly irradiating CR-39 SSNTDdetectors.

Detailed design analysis of aspallation neutron source forsimulation of radiation damage at400, 600 and 1 200 MeV has beencarried out for materials like iron,chromium, manganese, nickel,stainless steel-316 and DIN-1.44914. Preliminary studies ofthorium breeding using a spallationsource have been carried out.

Under a contract with IAEA,Vienna, neutron induced multi-particle reaction cross-sectiondata for 58Ni and 60 Ni have beengenerated for energy range upto3O MeX/ using different nuclearmodels. 25 group photon interac-tion cross-sections have beengenerated to facilitate investiga-tive studies pertaining to mineralexploration.

Accelerator Programme

The Medium Energy Heavy IonAccelerator facility set up at theTata Institute of Fundamental Re-search jointly by Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre and Tata Insti-tute of Fundamental Research be-came fully operational in October1988 and was formally inaugu-rated on 30 December, 1988.With the commissioning of thisfacility, experimental nuclear phy-sics programmes utilizing energe-tic heavy ion beams' could bestarted for the first time in thecountry. During this year, theaccelerator was put into round-the-clock operation for advancedresearch in nuclear sciences utilis-ing energetic heavy ion beams andabout 50 research experimentswere undertaken. For these, ionbeam species such as 6Li, 10B,12C, 16O, 19F, 27Al, 28Si, 31P,32S and 35CI at ion energies rang-ing from 40 to 130 MeV wereaccelerated and delivered to theexperimental stations. The ionbeam currents at the target variedfrom 2-300 nanoamperes depend-ing on experimental requirements.

The experimental programmes in-cluded studies of sub-barrier fu-sion, heavy ion induced fission,high, energy gamma ray emission,gamma ray multiplicity distribu-tions, elastic scattering, transferreactions, heavy ion molecular re-sonances and nuclear life times.Experiments were also carried outin the area of ion-solid interac-tions, condensed matter physicsand radiochemical studies.

The major problems relating tomachine operations during theyear were caused by accidentalrupture of charging chains. Ontracing that this problem is prob-ably due to higher speeds of thedrive motors, steps have beentaken to replace the existingmotors with those havingappropriate speeds. Two addition-al beamlines were commissionedduring this year, making a total offour beam lines for different ex-periments. The remote controlsystem for the experimentalbeamline was also integrated withthe main CAMAC control system.A number of electronic circuitswere incorporated for remotemeasurements of tank pressures,chain drive motor positions andtesting beam p.rofile monitorcalibration, etc.

Work on fabrication of RF re-sonators for the superconductingLINAC made further progress atthe Central Workshops. Techniqueof lead plating the RF resonatorswas also further improved and aprototype RF resonator tested forRF performance producedaccelerating field of 2.4 MV/meterat a dissipation of about 6 watts.The design of the cryostat moduleto accommodate four RF resona-tors was completed and the workof its fabrication was started.Electronic design of RF controllercard of each resonator was takenup along with the work of procure-ment of the required RF electro-nics.

The RF tank for the 150 keVdeuteron RFQ accelerator hasbeen machined and tested forvacuum. The tank has been cop-per electroplated. The supportstructure for the tank is fabri-cated. The RF coupling loop, RFtest assembly, tuning fixture and

RF pick-up probe assemblies are inprogress. All parts of the Duplas-matron ion source for RFQ linachave been fabricated and vacuumtested. A vacuum of 5x10~6 Ton-has been achieved in the asserrvbly. The 30 kV high voltage sup-plies of the ion source and the gassupply system have been tested.First stage of the 30 kW, 45 MHzpower amplifier has been de-signed and tested.

Reactor Physics

Major reactor physics work wasdone in connection with variouspower reactor systems like TAPS,RAPS and MAPS. Analysis of ex-periments on the first approach tocriticality and phase-B reactor phy-sics for Unit I of NAPP was com-pleted. Further investigationswere carried out on the spatialcontrol and kinetics of proposed500 MWe PHWR. A new supercellmodel for simulating reactivity de-vices in PHWRs was formulated.Several IAEA benchmark calcula-tions on in-core fuel managementof PWR, BWR and VVER wereperformed in order to validate theindigenously developed computercodes.

Basic reactor safety coeffi-cients and other parameters havebeen computed for the 500 MWePrototype Fast Breeder Reactor.

Fusion Research

A number of diagnostics includingX-ray spectrometers to investi-gate the laser produced plasmaswere developed. X-ray spectros-copic studies related to XUV andlaser induced fusion were carriedout. Batch production of glassmicroballoons to be used as spher-ical targets for fusion plasma wascontinued.

Condensed Matter Research

Neutron diffraction studies atDhruva carried over a wide rangeof temperature in the disorderedspinel system 2nxCo1-xFeCrO4revealed the existence of highlyperturbed magnetically orderedstates with uniaxial random ferri-magnetic phase, the canted ran-dom ferrimagnetic phase and thespin glass phase occurring in diffe-rent ranges of temperature. Small

angle neutron scattering (SANS)studies were pursued in a varietyof CTAB micellar solutions with aview to understanding themechanism responsible for largechanges in viscosity in these solu-tions. Electrolytic loading ofdeuterium in Pd was observed ona real time basis using neutron dif-fraction techniques; under theloading conditions used in the ex-periment, loaading proceeds onlyupto pdDO.55. Critical scatteringstudies on solution of Triton X-100in D2O revealed the nature offorces responsible for phaseseparation of the solution at 62oC.Lattice dynamics calculations andcomputer simulation studies car-ried out in the high Tc supercon-ductor YBa2Cu3O7-x were able topredict correctly the observedcrystal structures, phonon densityof states, thermal expansion andthe orthorhombic to tetragonalphase transformation. A pro-totype spin echo spectrometerusing supermirrors was designed,fabricated and tested at the Cirusreactor and several spin echooscillations were clearly observed.

Position annihilation studies inthe quasicrystalline systems Al-Mn-Si have been carried out forthe first time. Evidence has beenfound in support of the 'glassmodel'. Mossbauer spectroscopystudies on Al-Fe system haveshown that the quasicrystalA178Fe22 with a stoichiometriccomposition very close to thecrystalline phase AI13Fe4 getstransformed to the crystallinephase when subjected to thermalcycling down to liquid nitrogentemperature. This is believed tobe first such observation.

Resonance Raman scatteringstudies of forbidden LO phononmodes have been carried out inlnGa0.53As0.47, a technologicallyimportant material. The results in-dicate that the resonance curvedoes not broaden with respect toGaAs on alloying. Quantum sizeeffects in small semiconductorparticles are of importance forrealising microdevices; Ramanstudy of phonon line shapes in CdS5e small particles C 100A) have re-vealed features distinct from bulksamples.

3.3

Measureable hysteresis in mag-netisation can be seen in onlythose superconductor samplesthat have a non-zero demagnetisa-tion correction. The problem ofshielding in such superconductorshas been solved for the first time,allowing the computation of com-plex susceptibility and ac losses.Magnetic hysteresis and transportmeasurements have been used tostudy critical current in a variety ofhigh temperature superconduc-tors.

History-dependent effects inthe magnetization of niobium hu\/ebeen established in collaborativeexperiments at TIFR.

Based on extensive Mossbauerspectroscopic studies on YBa2-Cu3-x FeOx-7 . it was concludedthat the principal reason for theoxide to be superconducting,is not the change in thestructure Cfrom tetragonal toorthorhombic) or the oxygen con-figuration around the Cul site, butthe change from semiconductingto metallic nature of the oxide aschanges from 1 to 0.

A number of highly disorderedoxides have been studied; inCo0.5Zn0.5FeCrO4 and LiTi fer-rites, the Mossbauer probe Fe ex-ists in Fe3+ state, whereas inFeln254, FeGa2O4, ion is in Fe2 +state. In all cases, characteristicsof spin glass phenomena areobserved in macroscopic ACsuseptibility and magnetizationmeasurements. It was shownthat these are mainly due to su-perparamagnetic clustering whenion is in Fe3+ state but true spinglass behaviour due to magneticfrustration occurs in spinels con-taining Fe2 + ions.

Calorimetric, NMR and X-ray dif-fraction studies have been carriedout on the structure and protonmobility in model membranes andits interaction with antileprosydrugs.

The protein structure has beendetermined for the first time inIndia with 2.8oA resolution by pro-tein crystallography..High activitycarbonic hydrase II from theerythrocytes of Indian water buf-falo has been isolated, purified,crystallised and structure deter-

mined by molecular replacement,method. Structures of multi en-zyme complex, and inhibitor/drugcomplex have been studied.

A gas gun to generate shockpressures on samples has beenbuilt and tested, The shockanamoly present in zirconium at 27GPa has been analysed by bandtheory and attributed to the ome-ga phase change.

Theoretical Physics

In the area of quantum optics,new quantum effects in the in-teraction of light with two-levelRydberg atoms placed in a high —Q microwave cavity were studied.The dynamics of an effective two-level atom undergoing transitionby simultaneous absorption oremission of two photons was in-vestigated. The behaviour of twoand three-level atoms driven by acoherent field in a broad-bandsqueezed vacuum was analysed.New theoretical results on thequantum jumps experimentallyobserved in coupled transitions ina single three-level ion localized inan electromagnetic trap wereobtained. Theoretical studies onthe linear and nonlinear opticalproperties of quantum — dotswere carried out.

In the field of quantum chaos,the spectral properties and natureof eigenfunctions in some newpseudointegrable systems werestudied. Application of white-noise calculus to treat Feynmanpath integrals and further develop-ment of the density functionalmethods were pursued.

Laser and Spectroscopy

Most analytical work, like analysisof Uranium samples (analysedspectrographically hitherto), isbeing carried out on freshly instal-led ICP spectrometer. Samplesanalysed include reactor water forboron and cadmium, rare earths,steels, copper alloys, etc. About1300 samples involving over 7000determinations were reported.

The 400 mJ Excimer Laserpumped Dye Laser is being used ina number of programmes. Starkeffect measurements in Rydbergstates of potassium atoms havebeen made. Time evolution andspectroscopy of laser ablated cop-per plasma have been studied uti-lizing emission from both auto-ionizing and normal states. ,A facil-ity for laser induced site selectionspectroscopy for the study of rareearth ions in solids upto liquidhelium temperatures is being set

Laser

3.4

up. Barium metal in a heat-pipehas been investigated for auto-ionization studies by observingboth photons and Ba+ ions in alaser induced multiphoton ioniza-tion experiment. Utilizing the 571 -606 nm region of the Rh 6G dye,la? -»r induced photo-acousticspectra has been recorded forNd:YAG crystal, cobalt-chlorideand graphite.

Isotope studies have been car-ried out in a large number of spec-tral lines of Yb +, Nd, Nd +: Opticalspectroscopic investigations in-volving plasma diagnostics havebeen carried out using the 2kJplasma focus device.

lR spectra of the constituentsof high temperature superconduc-tor materials like YBa2Cu3O7 havebeen recorded. Laser optogalvanicstudies in ammonia have been car-ried out using a carbon dioxidelaser.

Interfacing of a Jarrel Ash mic-rophotometer with an IBM PC anddevelopment of interface hard-ware and software to coupleJobin-Yvon sequential spectro-meter with an IBM PC has beenaccomplished. For signal detec-tion,, processing and control forthe indigenously built FourierTransform Spectrometer, anamplifier, a phase shifter and aband pass filter have been fabri-cated and tested.

Diverse variety of laser gradeoptics has been designed andfabricated, among them being mir-rors for copper-vapour lasers withover 99% reflectivity, beam split-ters for Nd-YAG laser and high re-flecting ' optics in 330-370 nm re-gion to be used in formaldehydeenvironment.

A remote viewing hot cellmacrograph for viewing post-irradiated metallographic speci-mens has been designed atnd fabri-cated.

An axial fast flow CW CO2 lasergiving an output power of 500Watts was developed. Develop-ment of a CO2 laser chain capableof producing 75 J, 1.5 nS laserpulses was undertaken. A hybridoscillator along with a pulse slicerwas assembled and tested. Anelectron beam preionized high

pressure CO2 amplifier was de-signed, and electron beam sourcefor the same has been assembledand tested for vacuum.

In view of the growing import-ance of dye laser as finely tunablewavelength sources, efforts weredevoted to enhance output powerof the dye lasers developed indige-nously.

A mass spect. ometer for on-lineanalysis of nuclear fuel has beenbuilt, evaluated and commissionedat site. An argon extraction sys-tem for rock samples was madeand supplied to National AtomicAgency, Indonesia. This system ismeant to be used with the massspectrometer supplied earlier forK-Ar dating of rocks. Two massspectrometers for heavy wateranalysis were supplied to HeavyWater Project, Manuguru. De-velopment of a high resolutionmass spectrometer was con-tinued and a resolution of nearly5000 has been obtained in pre-liminary tests.

Fabrication and testing of thefifth 600 kW variable d.c. powersupply was completed The instal-led capacity of the system is now3MW and the system is being usedfor the testing of reactor compo-nents. The ultraviolet photoelec-tron spectrometer has been fullyintegrated with helium lightsource and is undergoing finaltests. Nd: YAG laser rods fabri-cated from grown crystalsshowed effeicient laser emissionat 1.064 m. Clear non-linear opticalcrystals of MgO doped and un-doped LiNbO2, have been grown.Work on the growth of crystals fornuclear particle detectors and IRdetectors was pursued, while theroutine production of alkali halideand KDP crystals and differenttypes of semiconducting surfacebarrier detectors continued.

Work on the production ofXenon flash lamps for use in lasersand hollow cathode lamps for usein atomic absorption spectro-meters by various DAE units andoutside organizations was con-tinued. High pressure glass tometal seals for use in Heavy WaterProjects and seals for cannedmotor were fabricated and sup-plied.

Computer SoftwareA data communication library hasbeen developed for FORTRAN us-ers working on Norsk Data andHORIZON systems. It is very use-ful in establishing communicationbetween two programs running intwo different systems connectedby local network. Execution timecan be considerably saved forcomputationally intensive jobsprovided they are partitioned inmodules which may be .executedparallely in two interconnectedsystems. Parallel data communica-tion library allows transfer of databetween two systems in anyFORTRAN acceptable formatsuch as real, integer and charac-ters.

A set of programs were de-veloped for running in parallelmode using parallel data com-munication library. These routinescan be used in FORTRAN prog-rams and the modules of the para-llel programs can be initiatedsimultaneously in the intercon-nected systems. Parallel comput-ing techniques were developedfor Monte Carlo techniques.

Parallel processing environmenthas been developed for UNIX-based HORIZON systems in C lan-guage. It offers the facility for par-titioning programs into • indepen-dent processes, defining parallelexecution of these processes ininterconnected systems, andestablishing communication be-tween two parallel processes be-longing to the same job but run-ning in different systems.

Two computer-intensive FOR-TRAN programs have been para-llelized using parallel data-communication library.

A three dimensional solid mod-elling package has been developedon Norsk Data computer systemsfor designing and displaying solidobjects on advanced colourgraphics terminals. This packageplays an important role in manyscientific and engineering applica-tions as a design tool for creatingcomplex objects and assemblies.This solid modeller allows genera-tion of a complex solid from sim-pler primitive solids such as block,cylinder, cone, sphere and torus.

3.5

Any geometrically definable objectcan be modelled and its informa-tion can be stored for furtheranalysis and production of pro-totype models. This package hasuser friendly menu facilities forvariation operations on primitivesand visualization.

Interactive molecular modellingis being increasingly used for re-search in frontier areas of molecu-lar biology and pharmaecology.Now this facility has been pro-vided at the Computer Centre by asoftware package "ANIMOL"This program has been developedand implemented on Norsk DataComputer System using advancedColour Graphics Terminal. The in-teractive modelling program ANI-MOL offers Ci) Real-Time rotation,i.e., rotating the displayed molecu-lar model about the cartesian axesby programmed keys, Cii) Bond-colour, i.e., drawing of any desiredbond in any one of the seven avail-able colours, and CiiD Atomic-colour, i.e., controlling the c^'ourof an atom in the space fillingmode or the solid mode of molecu-lar drawing by either the atomname or the sequential position ofthe atom in the co-ordinate dataset. This program can handle upto10000 atoms.

A software package has beendeveloped on Norsk Data Compu-ter to draw smooth 3-dimensionalribbon models of proteins on adv-anced colour graphics terminal.

An Expert System packagewhich gives advice on the choiceof analytical method to be usedfor the separation of an impurityelement from a given pure mate-rial has been developed. The sys-tem also suggests suitablemeasurement techniques to beused for the quantitative estima-tion of the impurity element. Con-ventional rule-based approach hasbeen taken for this system. Tostart with, the knowledge basehas been built around the ion-exchange method which is one ofthe most popular methods ofseparation. The system has beenimplemented on an IBM PC usingPROLOG language.

A screen editor called PC-PEDhaving word processing capabilityand equipped with powerful edit-

ing features, developed on IBMPC, has been implemented onUNIX based .Horizon computersystem where it makes use oftermcap database library. It hasbeen implemented on variouskinds of printers that are currentlyavailable for IBM PC and exploitsmany of their useful features.

A new integrated voice/datatelephone exchange with a capac-ity of 1200 voice extensions, 200public telephone lines and 300data channels has been installed inBARC. It has several types of ter-minal instruments. A vast cablingnetwork has been laid for im-plementing the network. To facili-tate maintenance and manage-ment of this set-up a networkmanagement database has beendeveloped on PC. The database isdivided into two record types,telephone record and user record.The telephone record gives tech-nical information such as type ofinstrument, physical address of itsinterface circuit, cable route andlocation. This can produce statis-tic il information required for themanagement of the network. Theus ar record gives information ab-o i t the personnel associated witheach telephone and is useful foradministration purpose and print-ing and updating of telephonedirectory. The telephone directorycan be obtained with differenttypes of cross referencing such aslisting under divisions, groups,locations, names and telephonenumbers.

Motion planning is the first steptowards the realisation of intelli-gent robots. A motion plannergenerates a sequence of statesthrough which a robot may movetowards its goal without collidingwith any obstacle in its environ-ment. Typically, a motion planneroperates in the configurationspace spanned by the degrees offreedom of the robot. The con-figuration space is formed by map-ping the objects in the physicalspace into the configurationspace. Thus, for a planer robotmoving among polygonal obsta-cles one needs to determine theranges of angles through which alink polygon may be oriented with-out intersecting with any obstaclepolygon in its environment. An

3.6

efficient algorithm has been de-veloped for the determination ofthese ranges of angles. It is animprovement over an existingalgorithm for the same purpose.The improvement comes fromcharacterising an edge of a poly-gon depending on whether it isexposed to collisions during ananticlockwise or a clockwise rota-tion of the polygon about the spe-cification. The algorithm has beenimplemented and tested exten-sively on an IBM PC. A graphiceditor allows one to define the linkand the obstacle polygons. Theprogram computes and displaysgraphically the configurations atwhich the link touches one or theother obstacle polygons.

Isotope software package hasbeen developed on IBM PC for iso-tope sales order processing. Atany point of time it gives the sta-tus of any order pending and givesthe cause of the delay. It auto-matically generates reminders tocustomers after a given intervalfor the return of isotope. It alsohelps scheduling the production ofisotope for optimum utilization ofthe facilities and to keep the in-ventories at minimum. Completesale profiles and revenue gener-ated can be obtained at any givenpoint of time.

A software package for com-puterised control of receipt andclearance of materials received byCentral Stores Unit of BARC is de-veloped for IBM compatible per-sonal computer system runningunder MS-DOS.

Seismology

The field installations for monitor-ing world-wide seismicity oper-ated continuously to detect andidentify seismic signals due tounderground nuclear explosions.The methods developed for discri-mination of earthquakes and ex-plosions are extended to otherfields, eg. medical diagnostics andpicture processing.

The AT-386 based system tomonitor safety of undergroundmines is in final stage of comple-tion for being installed at deeperlevels (depth of 2 km) at BharatGold Mines Ltd.

The 12-station radio-telemetered seismic networkestablished at Bhatsanagar oper-ated continuously and the data isbeing analysed. It is seen thatseismicity in Bhatsa region is veryweak with a few shallow seismicsources located in and around thecatchment area upstream of thedam.

Nuclear Research Laboratory, Sri-nagar and High Altitude ResearchLaboratory, Gulmarg

Gulmarg Gamma-ray Telescopehas detected two episodic emis-sions of gamma-rays of energygreater than 2 TeV, from the X-raybinaries. Herculis x-1 and cas-sopeia gamma-1.

Further study of the cataclys-mic variable binary system, AMHerculis, involving a magneticwhite dwarf instead of a neutronstar, has confirmed the steadyemission of photons of energygreater than 2 TeV from thesource displaying a' morphologicalsimilarity with the phase depend-ence of the circularly polarizedlight, underlying the crucial roleplayed by the magnetic field of thewhite dwarf in the generation ofgamma rays. Analysis of Cos Bsatellite data has led to the detec-tion of two other similar objects, E14O5-451 and W* Puppins, atphoton energies of greater than50 MeV.

Several technical innovationshave been incorporated in thegamma ray telescope such asnovel method for stabilizing thethreshold of the telescope and anew majority nanosecond coinci-dence circuit which identifies theactive input channels.

X-ray fluoroscence CXRF) tech-nique has been used to study theelemental composition of 2OOOyear-old.archeological coins disco-vered in Kashmir valley. A microp-rocessor-based themnoluminesc-ence spectrometer has been de-veloped which stores tempera-ture and glow curve data in theRAM and transfers it to PC over aserial link. The system has beenused for dating of the potterysamples from an archaelogical sitein Kashmir. The estimated age of2000 years B.C. of this pottery

agrees well with the accepteddate of the site.

PANBIT source continued to beused as a regional facility for thesterilization of medical productsfrom local hospitals and industrialunits. Study of radiation effectson Pharmaceuticals like tetracy-cline and sulpha drugs was con-tinued using PANBIT gammasource of 80,000 curie. A' differen-tial pulse polarographic methodwas developed to determine sul-pha drugs at extremely low con-centrations which cannot beotherwise detected by spec-trophotometry. A similar differen-tial pulse polarographic methodhas been developed to detect lowlevel toxic nitrate ions in lake orriver water samples.

A PC based multipurpose FrontOffice Posting Machine has beendeveloped for the Indian PostalDepartment which can handle va-rious types of inland and overseasmail producing a detailed franklabel and a customer receipt: Thefield trials of the machine weresuccessfully conducted at Srina-gar GPO and the Department ofPosts is presently evaluating it forintroduction in a large number ofpost offices in the country.

A microprocessor based digitalmeter has been developed for themeasurement of speed and speedvariations in low speed drive sys-tems. The meter is expected tohave industrial application.

The operation of two seismo-meters at Srinagar and Gulmarghas been continued to augmentthe data at other installations inthe country.

Plasma Physics

Studies related to the applicationsof thermal plasmas Cin the temper-ature range 2000-20000 degrees)in engineering technology werecontinued. Theoretical studiesconnected with plasma propertiesand flows, and experimental in-vestigations on plasma cuttingand spraying have been carriedout.

Based on the experiments car-ried out on a 100 kW transferredarc plasma cutting torch, a 1 MW

underwater plasma cutting torchhas been designed and is underassembly. The dc power supplyhas been installed and the torchhead fabricated. The current ex-perimental programme includesdevelopment of diagnostic instru-ments. Fluctuation measure-ments in plasmas in kHz regionhave also been carried out. A mic-ro torch for welding thin foilswhich has been developed isundergoing trials.

Plasma sprayed superconduc-tors of yttrium basedY1Ba2Cu3O7 compounds havebeen prepared with supercon-ducting transition temperaturesaround 9O K. These coatings havebeen tested for electromagneticshielding applications over a rangeof frequency and field intensities.Bend tests on stainless steel co-ated with superconductors havebeen carried out at liquid nitrogentemperatures tq study theirsuitablity for various applications.

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

The design parameters of the va-rious subsystems of ISOL, such asion-source, dipole and quadrupolemagnets, vacuum system, tapetransport device etc., have beenfinalised. Fabrication and installa-tion of these subsystems arenearing completion. The LCW andcompressed air lines have beenconnected to the respective sub-systems. A prototype ion-sourcehas been tested successfully. Thevarious power supplies needed fordipole and quadrupole magnetsare being tested. The facility is ex-pected to be operational by June1990

Fabrication of all magnet coilsand the vacuum chambers forECR ion-source is complete.Vacuum chambers have beentested and installed inside themagnet yoke along with the highvacuum pumps. A pressure of 1 x10~7 Torr is achieved. The complexjob of making sextupole magnetshas been' planned for fabrication.Microwave generators have beenpurchased. ECR source is ex-pected to be tested by the end of199O.

A Superconducting SwitchingMagnet has been designed to

3.7

Variable Energy Cyclotron

bend the beam in experimentalareas of VEC Cyclotron by 15°The design includes the cryostatand other cryogenics transferlines. Fabrication of various partsis underway at VECC Workshops.The magnet has a pill-box designand the coil will be fabricated outof Nb-Ti wire made at Trombay.

The CAMAC based data acquisi-tion system on ND-560 that isbeing used since 1985 has beenaugmented with many new fea-tures. Now it provides zero-suppression at hardware level formultiparameter data. It is alsoequipped with the facility of ac-quiring multiple singles event veryefficiently mixed with the existingmultiparameter facility. A newhardware development allows theuse of CANBERRA high resolutionADCs in CAMAC.

A proposal to study nuclei farfrom beta-stability using projectilefragmentation technique atRIKEN, Japan was approved bythe Programme Advisory Commit-tee of RIKEN. The experiment willbe the first collaborative effort be-tween VECC and RIKEN. The de-tector systems fabricated andtested at VECC were sent toRIKENs and two of our scientistshave gone there for the experi-ment, scheduled in February1990.

Magnetohydrodynamics

Experiments have been carriedout on mercury-air two phase li-quid metal magnetohydrodynamicCLMMHD) system to investigatethe interaction of liquid metal flowin magnetic field.

The fabrication and inspectionof the components of the 500 Wprototype LMMHD system is com-plete. Currently the assembly ofthe 6.5 meter high system is inprogress.

Pulse Power and Particle BeamTechnology

The interaction of RelativisticElectron Beam (REB) with neutralgas and plasma is an importantarea of research and has signifi-cant applications in the fields offusion research and generation ofintense sources of particles andelectromagnetic radiation. An ex-periment to study the interactionof an electron beam with neutralgas at low pressure (4OOm Terr to2.5 Torr) has been carried out us-ing KALl-200 system. A speciallydesigned diagnostics device hasbeen used for the measurementof the radial distribution of theplasma current in REB gas interac-tion studies.

In order to inject preformedplasma into the axial mirrormagnetic field for REB-plasma in-

teraction and plasma confinementstudies, a coaxial plasma gunwliich can generate a plasma inthe density range 10'1-10M cm-3was assembled on KALl-200system.

Pulsed high magnetic fields upto30 Tesla have been generated inlaboratory by sudden release ofenergy stored in capacitor bankinto an air-cored electromagneticcoil. The resultant discharge cur-rent to the coil is in the form ofdamped sine waves lasting tens ofcycles.

The stored energy in the capaci-tor bank used earlier for garterspring repositioning in NAPP-1 hasbeen successfully enhanced from40 kJ to 85 kJ to handle the stuckgarter springs. It incorporates theoriginal ideas of double triggeredtrigatron gaps and a multiple pulsegenerator which generates 16simultaneous pulses of 15 kV7i5Ons, the maximum jitter being 20ns. However, the axial and radialmechanical stresses on the elec-tromagnetic coil have increasedenormously. Design modificationson the coil based on the use ofcopper-beryllium in place of cop-per, and additional mechanicalreinforcement by axial and radialpre-compression, are being im-plemented to enable its use in fu-ture PHWRs.

Electron Beam Technology

The small chamber high vacuumE.B. Welding machine developedlast year is undergoing initial trials.This machine has a work chamberof about 30 litre volume and has ashort pump down time. It is a lowcost machine and is ideal for E.B.welding of small cylindrical compo-nents such as gear and assemb-lies, transducers etc. It canaccommodate components upto100 mm diameter, 100 mm lengthand 1 kg in weight. This low costmachine will popularise the adv-anced welding technique in Indianindustry.

During the last few years, a vari-ety of special components werewelded using indigenously de-veloped EB welding machine. Thishas helped in creating awarenessabout the process as well as in-digenous technology. Because of

3 . 8

Superconducting wire developed at Trombay

the rise in the international pricesof E.B. welding machines (aver-age price being Rs. 1OO lakhs ormore), many potential users haveshown interest in acquiring thesemachines from BARC. At presentnegotiations are going on for build-ing of 6 machines with the coop-erative effort of local industry, en-suring the saving of valuable fore-ign exchange.

Industrial Design

The set up for the aircraft experi-ment on gravitation is in the finalstages of assembly.

The R.F. oscillator supplied byVEC has delivered power upto 1 .2kW. The power supply and RFoscillator system are being mod-ified to achieve power levels upto3 kW. A new inductance is beingmade to bring down frequencyfrom 1 5.8 MHz to 1 3.6 MHz.

Superconductors

The single-phase superconductingcompound of bismuth, lead, cal-cium, strontium and copper oxidewith a critical superconductingtemperature of 12O K was suc-cessfully synthesised, and it wasfound to show some unique fea-tures. The superconducting com-pounds, Bi2Ca1-xYxSr2Cu2O7 (x =O to 1). showed a correlation be-tween Tc and some of theirstructural features. Enhancement

of Tc from 80 K to 100 K. wasachieved by suitable substitutionin (Tl/Pb) CaSr2Cu2O8. A processhas been developed for the synth-esis of TI-2223 single phase com-pound which showed a recordhigh Tc of 129 K. An interpretationof the temperature dependenceof resistivity of the superconduct-ing compound YBa2Cu3O7- aboveits Tc has been proposed.

A point-defect model forstructural phase transitions in thehigh temperature superconductorY-Ba-Cu-O has been proposed.This model explains the ferro-electric response of the material,which is of practical importance inincreasing the critical current de-nsity.

Studies on high temperatureceramic superconductors werecontinued. The batch size of pro-duction of 123 compounds hasbeen scaled up and high densitysintered discs uptc 40 mm dia-meter have been fabricated bycold compaction — sinteringscheme. An alternate fabricationprocess involving hot pressingtechnique is under investigation.The influence of several substitu-tions in Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O and 1 23 sys-tems has been studied and thebeneficial effect of Pb substitu-tion upto <20°/o for Bi in stabilisingthe 2223 phase has been clearly

3.9

established. Work on oxide-metalcomposites and explosive bondingwas continued to improve fabrica-bility and density, and an increasein current density upto 94% TDhas been obtained in 123 system.

Good quality superconducting(Tc 84 K) material ofBi2Sr2CaCu2O (2212) as singlecrystal and thick polycrystallinefilm has been produced. In situ su-perconductivity in rf sputteredfilms of yttrium, barium and cop-per oxide compound has beenachieved.

Silver sheathed tapes of 4 mmwidth x 0.2 — 0.5 mm thicknessand in lengths of few meters havebeen fabricated using 'powder intube1 technique. The highest cur-rent density of 1 70 A/cm2 at 77 Khas been obtained for 0.5 mmthick tape sample made from 1 -2-3 powder with 50 wt^b Ag addi-tion.

Cold hydrostatic extrusion pro-cess is being investigated for thefabrication of Nb-Ti superconduct-ing wires. This process is ex-pected to prevent the formationof inter/metallic phase at the Cu/NbTi interface usually observed inthe Nb-Ti superconductors fabri-cated by conventional hot extru-sion process. 0.5 mm diameterNb-Ti wire comprising 6 filamentshas been fabricated. The highestcurrent density value obtained onshort sample is of the order of1100 A/mm2 at 5 T field and 4 Ktemperature. Further trials areplanned at NPL, New Delhi, forimproving the current density byoptimising fabrication parameters.34.6 kg of 45 filament Nb-Ti super-conductor wire was drawn from0,7 to 0.5 mm dia.

Cold Fusion

Several research groups in BARChave devised and set up experi-ments to verify the cold fusionphenomena and all these groupsworking independently of eachother have now confirmed theoccurrence of cold fusion reac-tions. The first neutron burst in-dicative of such reactions weredetected at Trombay on 21 April1 989 in two separate electrolyticcells. A consolidated report sum-marising the BARC studies in cold

fusion upto end of September1989 has recently been publishedCBARC Report No. 1500 dated 1 stDecember 1989).

The most important result toemerge out of the Trombaymeasurements is that the primaryproduct of d-d reactions- is tritiumrather than neutrons. The yield oftritium is found to be over a milliontimes higher than that of neut-rons. The BARC experiments havealso shown that cold fusion reac-tions occur in metallic samples ofPd and titanium in which deuter-ium is absorbed in the gaseousphase. Further studies arB con-tinuing to understand the physicalbasis of this new discovery. It maybe noted that in view of itstremendous potentiality to the fu-ture of nuclear technology, stu-dies in cold fusion are being pur-sued in many countries of the

world. _ .Experiments on elec-

trochemically induced Cold Fusionof deuterium were carried outwith heavy water electrolyte andpalladium as cathode and platinumas anode. Data on heat measure-ments, neutron emission and tri-tium production were collected.

Basic Chsmistry

Basic research in front-line areasof materials science, chemicaldynamics, radiation and photoche-mistry, molecular beam chemilu-minescence, isotope effects, in-terfacial phenomena, orga-nometallic and metal organic che-mistry, etc. was carried out.However, considerable attentionwas also devoted to applied re-search such as development ofhigh temperature superconduct-ing materials, catalyst develop-ment, development of other hightechnology materials, cold fusionstudies, nuclear reactor-relatedproblems, etc.

The first direct evidence for theformation of uraniumCVO in thephotoreduction of uraniumCVD inaqueous solution was obtainedand some properties of this ura-niumCV) species were studied.Sorption of uranyl ions on hydrousoxides in presence of sulphate andother anions has been explained interms of surface hydrolysis modelon the basis of the existence of a

hitherto unknown uranyl hydrox-osulphate complex.

A molecular level theory whichcould explain ion exchanger selec-tivity for alkali metal cations hasbeen formulated.

Analysis of thermodynamic dataon some ironGI) complexes sug-gests, for the first time, that con-tinuous type of spin state transi-tion occurs when cooperative in-teraction between molecules isweak.

Noble metal based catalystscapable of retaining their activityin the presence of water havebeen developed for the quick re-moval of hydrogen likely to be re-leased in nuclear power plantsunder accident conditions invojv-ing loss of coolant.

Infrared laser chemistry was ex-tended to sensitised reactions ofstrained molecules like ethyleneoxide, and surface-catalysed de-composition of molecules like 1,2-dichloroethane on barium sul-phate. It was observed, for thefirst time, that absorption of car-bon dioxide laser radiation by thecatalyst surface induced decom-position of the adsorbed gas.

The reactions of a number oflaser dyes such as coumarins,biological molecules like bilirubin,radiation sensitising drugs likephenothiazine and vinyl monomerswith radiolytically produced prim-ary species and other radicalswere investigated on nano andmicrosecond time scales by pulseradiolysis.

Basic research on heter-ogeneous catalysis in carbonmonoxide oxidation and hyd-rogenation reactions, studies oncatalysts developed for the re-combination of carbon monoxideand oxygen in carbon dioxide las-ers, radiation damage studies onmetals and alloys, development ofcoatings for various applicationssuch as candidate materials for fu-sion reactors, superconductingmaterials, etc. are being carriedout.

A multistream hydrogen moni-tor to detect the hydrogen level inexcess of 4% in the air has beensuccessfully designed and fabri-

cated for Heavy Water Plants. Agas chromatograph capable ofseparating hydrogen and tritiumisotopes has been fabricated foruse in the production of tritiumwith high specific activity.

A Scanning Electron Microscopehas been commissioned, whichshould go a long way in providing avital probe for various surface stu-dies in materials science program-me, including radiation damagestudies.

Several special and high puritycompounds were prepared andsupplied to various users for R&D.This includes a thermolumines-cent phosphor supplied to Divisionof Radiation Protection for use inradiation dosimetry resulting in asaving of foreign exchange to thetune of Rs. 15 lakhs.

Work has been initiated on CDradiolytically generated metalatom clusters, C2) radiation dam-age studies on candidate materialsfor the first wall in fusion reactors,and C3) studies on cold fusion.

Structural elucidation of alkalimetal monouranates with the in-corporation of small amounts ofalkaline earth elements has beencarried out with a view to under-standing the chemical state ofirradiated fuels.

The characteristics of molecularions formed in a spark ion sourcehave been investigated usingseveral matrices including nuclearfuel materials.

Complexes of Al with severalmonocarboxylic acids, viz., glycine,picolinic acid, triethylene tetra-mine hexaacetic acid, etc., wereinvestigated by NMR technique tounderstand the stereochemicalaspects.

Applied Chemistry

The sol-gel process used in thepreparation of fuel microspheresis being exploited to suit the con-ventional ceramic technology, andhigh purity alpha alumina powderhas been prepared. High tempera-ture yttrium-barium-copper oxidebased superconducting ceramicpowders were also prepared usingsol-gel process.

3.10

Various aspects of macrofoul-ing, marine biofouling, biofilmformation and microbiologically in-duced corrosion were pursued. In-vestigations were continued onwater quality of cooling water atboth FBTR cooling tower andMAPP jetty to ensure smooth op-eration of the system. Effects ofchlorination on sea water at Bom-bay harbour and at MAPS werestudied to determine kinetics ofchlorine uptake.

A dilute chemical formulationwas developed for removal ofradioactive corrosion and fissionproduct deposits from surfacesimposed in the PHT system ofnuclear reactors. The efficency ofthis was demonstrated using con-taminated metal test couponswithdrawn from the MAPS-II PHTsystem.

Investigations were carried outon the stability of lithium pentabo-rate decahydrate from the pointof view of its use in NAPP secon-dary shut down system. The pos-sibility of radiolytic generation ofdeuterium beyond the safe limitdue to air ingress arising becauseof changes in operating conditionsin MAPS was evaluated. The che-mistry control parameters in boththe primary and secondary side ofthe proposed 500 MWe unitwere scrutinized. Diffusion of acti-vated corrosion and erosion pro-ducts in steam generator tubematerials and release of 133Xefrom sintered uranium dioxide pel-lets of varying particle sizes werecarried out.

Fuel Chemistry

Laboratory scale studies on thepreparation of advanced fuelshave resulted in the successfuldevelopment of internal gelationprocess for the preparation ofthorium oxide based fuel materialsin the form of microspheres. Thisprocess can also be used for thepreparation of mixed thorium, ura-nium oxide microspheres. Thework on carbon dioxide gel parti-cles has been extended to mixeduranium-plutonium-carbon gelparticles which could be used inthe preparation of MOX pellets.

Additional quantities of 233Umetal required for Kamini reactorhave been prepared.

Kinetics studies on the oxida-tion of UN microspheres havebeen carried out under non-isothermal heating conditions. Theformation of uranium nitride as anintermediate was identified by X-ray diffraction studies. Reactionmodels were suggested to explainthe mechanism.

With a view to widening thescope of the existing methods forchemical quality control of nuclearfuel materials, a new method forthe determination of uranium em-ploying biamperometry has beendeveloped. Different experimentalparameters have been investi-gated for the sequential deter-mination of thorium and Plutoniumfrom the same solution. Chemicalanalysis of non-metallic impuritieslike carbon, hydrogen, oxygen andnitrogen and total gas content hasbeen carried out routinely on fuelmaterials.

Preliminary investigations con-firmed the feasibility of using rubi-dium uranium sulphate as a che-mical assay standard in nuclearmaterials accounting and chemicalquality control programme. A sta-tistical evaluation of the standardfor assigning a value of the ura-nium content is underway.

The recently upgraded facility ofthermal ionisation mass spectro-meter coupled with variable multi-collector system has been usedfor the determination of isotopiccomposition and concentration ofa number of elements including B,Zr. U and Pu. Methods have beendeveloped for the precise andaccurate determination of traceamounts of uranium in pure pluto-nium oxide and also of zirconium inU-Al-Zr alloy fuel samples. Quan-titative determination of 233U inthe slag obtained after the fabrica-tion of 233U fuels has been car-ried out for material accounting.

The multielemental analysisfacility of spark source mass spec-trometer has been used for thedetermination of trace amounts ofboron in special steel samplesused as reactor materials. Traceconstituents particularly boron in233U fuel materials have alsobeen determined usinr; this instru-ment.

24OPu/239Pu atom ratio is re-quired for the determination ofPlutonium concentration by iso-tope dilution alpha spectrometryCIDAS) and is generally determinedby thermal ionisation mass spec-trometry CTIMS). With an objectiveto obviate the need of TIMS for240Pu/239Pu atom ratio, experi-ments have been carried out usingthe recently introduced passi-vated ion implanted detectorsCIPE) for high resolution alphaspectrometry for resolving theclose lying alpha energies of239Pu C5.155 MeV) and 24OPu(5.168 MeV) The preliminary re-sults obtained are encouragingand these IPE detectors appearpromising for resolving other closelying particle energies of 233U,234U, 238Pu and 241 Am.

Investigations on the uptake ofPlutonium from alkaline carbonate/bicarbonate media by oragnic/in-organic ion exchangers haveshown encouraging results in-dicating the feasibility of removalof plutonium from aqueous car-bonate streams of reprocessingplants.

Plutonium recovered and puri-fied from fuel fabrication scraphas been converted to fuel gradeoxide through oxalate route for re-cycling.

Information on inventory anddistribution of nuclear' materialslike plutonium, uranium and nuc-lear pure thorium is collected fromvarious DAE facilities and stored ina dedicated computer, and month-ly Inventory Status Reports fromthe database are prepared.

A quality control study of thedata pertaining to O.29fo yieldstrength and percentage totalelongation for zircaloy claddingtubes for BWR fuels were carriedout using control chart techniquesand some recommendations weresuggested.

Radiochemistry

Investigations were carried out inbasic nuclear chemistry withcharged particle beams from theVariable Energy Cyclotron at Cal-cutta and the Pelletron atBombay.

3.11

Isomeric yield ratio of iodine-132(metastable and ground state) hasbeen determined radiochemicallyin the helium ion induced fission ofuranium-238 at various energiesand the fragment angular momen-tum has been found to increasewith increasing input excitationenergy and angular momentum.The fission cross sections of gold-197 with 40 to 55 MeV helium ionshave been measured using the fis-sion track technique. In alpha-particle induced fission of ura-nium-233, measurement on angu-lar distribution of fission productswith respect to alpha particlebeam direction has helped inunderstanding the stage at whichthe mass division of the fissioningnucleus is decided.

Doppler broadened annihilationradiation CDBAR) spectra havebeen studied as a function oftemperature for several hightemperature superconductors andthey show the involvement of ox-ygen valence electron in supercon-ductivity.

Electron paramagnetic reso-nance and thermally stimulatedluminescence studies of unirradi-ated and gamma irradiated thor-ium and plutonium doped calciumchlorophosphate have been car-ried out and the results show theradiolytic formation of certainradicals containing chlorine andthermal destruction of hydrogenand oxygen radicals. The speciesformed during the synergistic ex-traction of uranium and Plutoniumby dialkyl amides and a beta dike-tone have been identified. The ex-traction of uranium and plutoniumby bi£(2-ethyl hexyl) sulphoxide indodecane from nitric acid solu-tions has been studied with a viewto using it for reprocessing irradi-ated fuels. An atomic emissionspectrometric method using in-ductively coupled plasma has beendeveloped for the determinationof rare earths in thorium oxidematrix after separation by solventextraction.

Analytical Chemistry

The electrochemically catalysedfusion of deuteron in metal lat-tices was intensively investigatedusing different materials for the

cathode. Three aspects of thephenomenon were examined: (i)generation of excess enthalpy, Cii)production of tritium and (iiO pro-duction of neutrons. Controlledcalorimetric measurements indi-cated a 70-80% excess heat gen-eration in the Palladium-Platinumcell as opposed to the Platinum-Platinum cell, using 0.1M LiOD asthe electrolyte. Extended elec-trolysis with current pulsingshowed significant tritium genera-tion in some cells with Pdcathodes, but no tritium wasfound in cells with titanium or tita-nium-nickel memory alloys.Measurement of neutron emis-sion from the cells was monitoredthrough 6LJ scintillation as well as3He detectors and through cap-ture gamma rays of gadolinium,with the HPGe and NalCTI) detec-tors. The neutron emission rateswere very low, with occasional'bursts'. The results indicate thatthe tritium channel is favouredover the neutron channel, withthe tritium to neutron branchingratio of the order of 1O8. Tritiumproduction was established in thesame electrode on three succes-sive occasions after the elec-trodes were cleaned and recon-ditioned and the tritium enhance-ment varied from 10A-10

Characterisation of precursorsof superconducting oxides byThermogravimetry and Differen-tial Thermal Analysis establishedthe presence of carbonates andbasic carbonates in calcium-barium-copper-oxygen com-pounds and yttrium-barium-copper-oxygen compounds atlevels not detected by X-ray dif-fraction, through quadrupole massspectrometric measurements ofthe evolved gases.

Problems that have been refer-red for investigation and dealtwith include CD determination ofboron in heavy water for NAPP, CiDmeasurement of moisture insteam entering the turbine fromthe point of efficiency and corro-sion, Ciii) analysis of structuralmaterials for Heavy Water Project,Hazira, to help establish the causeof failure, Civ) gas chromatog-raphic estimation of dissolvedgases in transformer oils, of car-bide carbon in AIN, He content in

poison rods and hydrocarbons,helium, carbdn dioxide and carbonmonoxide in natural gas.

Developments in analyticalmethodoliges include: Preconcen-tration and determination of CrtVOat ppb levels by ion exchangeadsorption and reflectance spec-troscopy; determination of hyd-rogen peroxide at 1-100 ppm byelectrochemical method; deter-mination of ppb levels of zinc, alu-minium, vanadium in high puritygallium by spectrochemicalmethods and separation methodsfor magnesium from high purityaluminium and fluoride from natu-ral waters. The work on the con-struction of the major facilities atthe National Centre for Composi-tional Characterisation of Mate-rials, Hyderabad, has been initi-ated following the demarcationand isolation of the area andground breaking in early Septem-ber 1989. The experience gainedfrom the clean laboratory moduleset up at Trombay has been in-corporated into the facilities ofthe ultra-clean laboratory-Heavy Water

Pilot plant for detritiation of reac-tor heavy water by chemical ex-change — cryogenic distillation,being set up at BARC, is nearingcompletion. All the critical equip-ments for this test facility havebeen fabricated and performance-tested.

The multipass absorption cell forlaser isotope separation studies,designed and fabricated in BARC.yielded a maximum optical pathlength 32 times its fundamentallength. Pulsed UV beam from ex-cimer laser pumped dye laser wasutilised to conduct laser isotopeseparation studies on formaldehy-de in this cell leading to high en-richment factors.

The pilot plant for production ofhigh purity hydrogen sulphide gasby direct reaction of hydrogen andmolten sulphur over a suitablecatalyst was operated smoothlyover extended periods of time. SS446 was found to be quite suitablematerial of construction for thereaction vessel.

Reconcentration plant at BARChas been operating smoothly and

3.12

the downgraded heavy waterfrom Dhruva and Cirus reactor hasbeen treated and upgraded to re-quired concentrations.

Heavy Water Upgrading Plant atNarora, consisting of two indepen-dent units, has been successfullycommissioned. Based on vacuumdistillation, this plant has been de-signed and engineered at BARCIncluding this, nine such units havebeen commissioned and are underoperation in the country, utilisingthe high efficiency tower internalswhich have been fabricated, acti-vated and performance evaluatedin BARC. All these plants are oper-ating as per design intent.

Preparation and supply of va-rious chemicals labelled withdeuterium in the required con-figurations were continued fordifferent users in the country andabroad.

Experimental studies to investi-gate the cold fusion phenomenon,utilising various electrodes indifferent electrolyser cells werecarried out. Studies on the loadingof deuterium on various metalsand alloys in different shapes havealso been conducted. In-depthstudies of the results obtained areunder progress.

Rare Earths and Other Materials

During the year, further progresshas been made on developingtechnology for separation of rareearths by solvent extraction tech-nique. Process developed for pro-ducing high grade yttrium, dyspro-sium and neodymium oxides isunder test at Indian Rare EarthsLtd., Alwaye.

Based on the solvent extractiontechnology - developed earlier,techno-economic feasibility hasbeen made and deqision taken forsetting up India's first commercialplant to recover uranium fromphosphoric acid at FACT, Cochin.A small pilot plant to study theprocess under various conditionsis also being set up at Cochin joint-ly by BARC and FEDO. A new pro-cess to recover uranium from nit-rophos acid produced by RCF Ltd.at Bombay has been developed inthe laboratory.

BARC is extending its expertisein the field of metal extraction tocommercial organisations. Underthis programme, processes for re-covery of nickel values from thindigenous laterites and ofniobium and tantalum from cuttingtool scrap are under development.This effort will help reduce the im-port of these high value metals.

Research on synthesising themetal extractants, which are cur-ro' Lly imported, is now in hand.Method for synthesising DEHPA,one of the solvents, is now at anadvanced stage of research.

Studies on the recovery andpurification of uranium, lithium andhelium gas. and preparation ofstable isotopes, fluorine gas, label-led compounds, scintillation che-micals and carbon specialitieswere continued.

Studies on the electrolytic de-composition of nitric acid em-ploying lead oxide coated graphiteand titanium anodes were com-pleted. Work on separation of hyd-rogen isotopes during decomposi-tion of sodium amalgam is in prog-ress. A separation factor of eighthas been achieved. Design and en-gineering work undertaken for thenew thorium plant of IRE has beencompleted. Assistance was givento IRE in the preparation of tendersepcif ications and procurement ofvarious equipment components

and instruments required for theproposed plant. Work has been in-itiated for determining the feasibil-ity of producing uranium oxidepowder with high flowability bythe Ammonium Uranyl Carbonates(AUO route.

Work on the development of anelectrolytic fluorine cell for theproduction of fluorine gas is inprogress. The large fluorine cellwith improved design parameterswas operated satisfactorily andthe fluorine gas produced was util-ised for the production of metalfluorides. The operation of thepilot plant for the production ofscintillation chemicals PPO andPOPOP was continued to meetthe increasing demand of the nuc-lear power plants and other re-search organizations. The produc-tion and supply of plastic scintilla-tor blocks are also continued. Stu-dies are in progress to develop va-rious carbon products for special-ised applications.

Production of epoxy bondedsamarium-cobalt permanent mag-nets was continued and a largenumber of cylindrical magnets 10mm diameter x 10 mm height havebeen produced to meet the inter-nal demand. Compaction studiescarried out using small amounts ofbinder have demonstrated thepossibility of producing stronggreen magnet compacts at con-

3.13

siderably lower pressures. Signifi-cant progress has been made inthe process development foryttrium metal, and calcio thermicreduction of yttrium chloride inpresence of a low melting eutecticand magnesium followed by pyro-vacuum treatment has beenfound to yield the metal well sepa-rated from the slag.

Metallurgy

Production of boron carbide wascontinued and over 25 kg ofgraded powder having a bulk de-nsity of more than 1.6 gm/cc hasbeen supplied for fabrication ofTAPS control rod blades. A newproduct "polyboron" containing 3-5% boron in the form of boric acidin a low density polythene CLDPE)matrix has been developed em-ploying the hot pressing techni-que. There is a large demand forpolyboron for neutron shieldingapplication. For the preparation ofboron metal powder a new pro-cess has been developed involvingelectrorefining of boron carbideanode. The metal powder thusproduced has been evaluated atthe Ordnance Factory, Pune, andfound suitable for pyrotechnic ap-plications. Work has been takenup on the preparation of cobaltand vanadium metals required forthe production of magnetic alloyfor use in CANDU type reactors.The first trial run on the extractivedistillation for separation of zirco-nium and hafnium from theirmixed chlorides has been success-fully conducted.

The tin demonstration plant atRaipur, MP, has been in regularoperation and plans are underwayto scale up the production to 10Tfy. Work on the preparation of adetailed project report for theestablishment of a commercialproduction plant (100T of tin/year)is presently in progress. A newall-metal assembly was fabricatedfor the ultrapurif ication of hafniummetal, and a bright high purity haf-nium crystal bar of 12 mm dia hasbeen successfully test produced.Work on cold rolling of zircaloysheets was continued and a largenumber of cold rolled sheets indifferent dimensions were sup-plied for use as reflectors in theKamini reactor and as spacers for

fuel bundles in TAPS. A majorevent during the year has beenthe transfer of technology for theproduction of Al-Zr master alloysto a private entrepreneur.

Work on advanced ceramics,machinable ceramics and their fab-rication technology has been in-tensified. Considerable successhas been achieved in the produc-tion and fabrication of silicon nit-ride ceramics when reactionsintering was done in the pre-sence of preformed -Si3N4. Forthe fabrication of ceramics, injec-tion moulding — a popular formingtechnique- employed for thermo-plastic polymers — has been suc-cessfully adapted by a properchoice of plasticizer and powdercharacteristics. A composite con-taining alumina, partially stabilizedzirconia, iron and zinc metals hasbeen moulded by this, technique.Basic studies on defect structurecharacterisation, defect interac-tions and their influence on chargetransport and sintering in ceramicshave been continued and goodcorrelations have been achieved inyttria-doped cerium oxide.

The corrosion research wasmainly focussed on long termcorrosion and compatibility stu-dies of zircaloy and Zr-2.5 Nballoys, s.s., inconel, nickel and du-plex stainless steels. An importantobservation has been the effec-tiveness of -quenching in prevent-ing the nodular corrosion of zirca-loy-2 in BWRs. An experimentalalloy called 'zerlo' (Zr-1Nb-1Sn-0.5Fe) has been taken up forcorrosion evaluation because ofits superior properties over zirca-loy. In addition, a large number ofspecification .tests have been car-ried out on various as-received andfabricated components used inreactors, heavy water and otherplants.

In the context of design de-velopment of 5OO MWe reactors,information has been generatedon the corrosion behaviour of Zr-2.5 Nb coolant tubes in CO2 gasenvironment. Several techniqueshave been investigated for H2-charging in zircaloy-2 and the dataare being documented. Under theIndo-US co-operation programme,studies on thermomechanical

treatment of different s.s. gradesare i'n progress to prevent theirfailure due to 5CC. Work on elec-troless nickel plating has beencontinued to produce metallisedceramic feed-throughs to with-stand high vacuum of the order of10~9 torr. A facility has been setup to produce around 2000 suchcomponents per month. Also,hard chrome plating has been de-veloped on s.s. components usedin tray rod assembly for isotopeproduction in Dhruva.

Materials Science

Welding trials were conducted forwelding of Zr-Nb-Cu and Zr-2 com-ponents of liquid zonal controlrods. Fabrication trials were car-ried out for the garter springs ofmodified designs.

Considerable progress wasmade in the development work onfabrication of control rods andwelding of ring type spacers onfuel tubes. .Development workwas also carried on the TIG weld-ing of end plugs for PHWR fuelelements and thermo-welds forPIS, Reactor Group.

For DAE units and outside agen-cies, various material evaluationand specialised NDTjobs, machin-ing, welding, mechanical forming,pressing, sintering and other heattreatment jobs were undertakenagainst specific requests.

Hot hardness and in turn creepdata for uranium-zirconium alloyswere evaluated upto 700°C with avickers diamond indentor. Notice-able creep was observed beyond500 °C. The activation energy ofcreep for U-Zr alloys was found toincrease with zirconium content.

Hot hardness and creep prop-erties were also evaluated forThO2-UO2, ThO2-PuO2 and (UPu)N fuels upto 12OO°C.

Fracture toughness and frac-ture surface energy of UO2, ThO2and ThO2-UO2 samples were ev-aluated from the crack length de-veloped during indentation beyonda certain critical load. The datawere found to b-3 in close agree-ment with what has been re-ported for these materials usingconventional techniques.

3.14

Fatigue properties of sinteredUO2 pellets were evaluated by re-peated indentation on a metallog-raphically polished sample until itresulted in the formation of lateralchips.

As a part of FBTR and PFBRfuel development programme,thermal diffusivity and thermalconductivity of U-Zr alloys and (U,Pu)N of both uranium and pluto-nium rich compositions were ev-aluated by laser flash technique.

The chemical compatibility be-tween plutonium rich CU.Pu) N, acandidate fuel for FBTR, and S.S.316 C2096 C.W.) cladding was ev-aluated by making miniaturehelium bonded-capsules contain-ing S.S. 316 discs between sin-tered mononitride pellets. Thecompatibility capsule was heatedto 700°C for 1000 hours. No majorcarburisation or nitridation of S.S.316 cladding was observed, con-firming excellent fuel-clad com-patibility.

Four garter springs from chan-nels D8, E8, E9 and F9 of RAPS-1were evaluated for dimensionalchanges, residual extension duringloading, mechanical strength andhydriding status. The.se springshad experience 3.6 effective fullpower years (EPY) of reactor op-eration and were found to havesatisfactory load bearing capacity.

All the springs were physically in-tact. The hydrogen content wastypically about 30 ppm and thehydrides were randomly oriented.In OPS spring, massive hydride blis-ters penetrating 3% thicknesswere observed.

The results of the earlier TAPSpressure vessel surveillance prog-ramme were re-evaluated as perthe latest revision of the ASMERegulatory Guide 1.99. The analy-sis revealed that the life of theTAPS pressure vessel can be safe-ly extended beyond its design lifeof 40 years.

Quantitative estimation of neut-ron induced embrittlement usingfracture toughness method re-quires irradiation of large sizedspecimens. To overcome the diffi-culty involved in irradiation of largesized specimens, test procedureshave been developed for estimat-ing static as well as dynamic frac-ture toughness using sub-sizedspecimens of Charpy V-notchgeometry.

Detailed examination of a num-ber of samples of small armammunition brass cups and stripswas carried out to identify thecauses of cup-cracking occurringduring drawing. The investigationsrevealed presence of internal de-fects in the form of inclusions in-side the cup material which, wereresponsible for cup-cracking.

Reverse Osmosis equipment developed at BARC

Desalination and Hydrogen Pro-duction

425 m3/day Multistage FlashCMSF) Desalination Plant is beingcommissioned after satisfactorysubsystem testing. Performancedata of the 30 m3/day shipbornedistillation desalination plant indi-cated the achievement of designobjectives and the technology hasbeen made available for transfer.Technoeconomic evaluationswere carried out for a 1200 m3/hrdual purpose MSF desalinationplant coupled to the proposed 2 x1000 MWe nuclear power stationat Kudankulam. Feasibility analy-sis for a 750 kg/hr thermo-compression based desalinationsystem was carried out.

The Reverse Osmosis CRO) pilotplant for low level radioactiveeffluent treatment was success-fully operated. It was demons-trated that Reverse Osmosis cangive better decontamination andvolume reduction factors than theexisting processes other than eva-poration which in any case is ener-gy intensive. In the quest for highperformance synthetic polymericmembranes for radioactive wastetreatment and other applicationsin nuclear industries, aromaticpolyamide type membranes withupto 99.4% solute rejection havebeen successfully developed.Large scale production of the po-lymer is in progress and pilot plantstudies with these membranesare being planned. These mem-branes are also good for singlepass sea water desalting and ashipbome reverse osmosis unit isunder construction. A number ofReverse Osmosis (RO) demon-stration units were fabricated andexhibited at various S & T exhibitsin the country. Work on the de-velopment of an advanced ROmodule and setting up of sea wa-ter RO plant is in progress. Twotraining courses on Water QualityTesting were conducted fortrainees from State Governmentsunder the National Drinking WaterMission Programme.

The 33 Nm3/hr Hydrogen Plantbased on advanced electrolysiscells has been commissioned afterthe satisfactory testing of. subsys-tems. After performance studies,

3.15

the Technology will be availablefor transfer next year.

Beryllium Technology

Along with the development ofberyllium technology, productionof vacuum hot pressed "(VHP) be-ryllium metal and copper-berylliumalloy shapes was continued start-ing from Indian beryl. About 3.--'tonnes of Indian beryl was con-verted in the plant into differentproducts and intermediates. Ab-out 1.7 tonnes of the major in-termediate, viz. ammonium beryl-lium fluoride, was produced main-taining the stock pile of about 5tonnes of the material built up in1988.

A simple cyclone air classifiersystem was set up to study anddemonstrate on a laboratory scalethe possibility of separating 10micron size beryllium powder, suit-able for making instrument gradeberyllium blocks required forspace applications. VHP-berylliumsamples produced from the pow-der product of this classifier haveshown average grain size C10 mic-rons), beryllium oxide content andthe PEL values were within theacceptable range. Based on thisexperience, a cone type classifierof larger capacity has been de-signed and fabricated and is cur-rently being commissioned for theproduction of about 1 kg/hr of 10micron size powder.

Besides continuing the produc-tion of copper-beryllium alloys inthe cast form, methods have alsobeen successfully standardizedfor the production of extrudedrods of about 20 to 60 mm dia-meter required by industries in thecountry. Billets of copper-beryllium produced in the plantwere successfully hot extruded torods of about 60 mm diameter.The alloy shapes produced in theplant were tensile-tested undervarious temper states and thestrength values obtained werecomparable to those reportedelsewhere.

3.6 kgs. of VHP-beryllium metaland 130 kgs. of copper-berylliumalloys were supplied to the De-partment of Space, 2 kgs. of be-ryllium metal and 46 kgs. of cop-per-beryllium alloys to the Depart-

ment of Atomic Energy and about380 kgs. of copper-beryllium alloysto DMRL and other industries-

For better safety, various mod-ifications were incorporated in thedesign and operation of a numberof process equipment.

Radioisotope Production

Radioisotops production in Dhruvaand Cirus reactors were carriedout by regularly loading samplesfor irradiation in the reactors. Ab-out 1OOO sample capsules wereirradiated during the year in thereactors. Major radioactive mate-rial produced included 750 Ci ofMolybdenum-99, 375 Ci of lodine-131, 16.800 Ci of lrridium-192 and26 Ci of Sulphur-35. A specialsource of 1500 Ci Antimony-1 24was prepared in Dhruva reactorfor incorporation into the start upneutron source assembly of FastBreeder Test Reactor at Kal-pakkam.

Under the Seventh Five YearPlan, a special project CDhruva Uti-lisation for Isotope Technology) isbeing completed. The project en-visages setting up of handling faci-lities for different isotopes suchas Iodine-125, Carbon-14, Tritiumand Molybdenum-99. Standardisa-tion of methods for separation ofthese isotopes is also being car-ried out.

Radiopharmaceuticals

A number of immunoassay techni-ques were developed and standar-dised. These include Radioimmu-ncassay, Enzyme irrmunoassayand Immuno radiometric assay. Aprotocol for the purpose ofroutine analysis of prolactin usingheterogeneous system has beenstandardised. Immuno radiometricassay methodology has beenworked out employing bothmonoclonal antibodies and polyc-lonal antibodies. A system basedon high specific activity monoclon-al antibody for HCG and solidphase separation has been stan-dardised for routine clinicalassays. Enzyme assays offer analternative to RIA. Enzymemethod for thyroid such as T3 andT4 has been standardised. Steroidimmunoasay technique has alsobeen developed. The develop-'ment of RIA for testosterone is

3.16

useful for routine screening fordope test in sportsmen.

Tracer Applications in Industryand Hydrology

Bombay- Pune petroleum productpipeline was tested for blockage,if any. A section of pipeline fromthe refinery in Bombay upto Kho-poli at a distance of 60 km hasbeen tested using a cobalt-60radiotracer.

Sediment movement pattern inthe Madras harbour area was stu-died with the help of radiotracerScandium-46. The investigationestablished that the dredgedmaterial from proposed dumpingsite would not move towards thenavigation channels in the har-bour.

To monitor the progress of theinjected water in the Bombay HighOil field, radiotracer tritium ismixed with the injected water.The production wells will be moni-tored for arrival of tritium tracerfor the next few years.

Radiation Technology

Methods and techniques for thepreparation of radiochemicals,fabrication of radiation sourcesand appliances, and promotion oftheir application in vital areas ofindustrial, medical and other re-search activities were developed.The existing and the potentialareas of development are expand-ing at a very fast rate with techno-economic benefits to industry andsociety in general. A brief surn-mary of the work carried out in thevarious areas is given below:-

Radiometric examination offractioning towers and column forlocating defects/blockages in on-line systems were carried out forIndian Oil Corporation Refineries atMathura, and Alkyl Amines Che-micals Limited, Patalganga. Theshielding integrity of 1.0 metrethick concrete wall which acts asa primary structure for the newWMD facility being built at Trom-bay was checked radiometrically.A number of Cu-Be alloy ingotsproduced in Vashi Beryllium Plantwere inspected radiographicallyfor cavities, shrinkages, voids andother discontinuities. An auto-radiographic technique is being de-

veloped to check the uniformity ofdistribution of cesium-137 activityin a glass matrix developed inBARC. Developement of com-puterised radiographic system isbeing taken up. Necessary soft-ware and engineering design para-meters-are being evaluated.

A process has been developedfor the radiation degradation ofPTFE CTeflon). At an integrateddose of 50-100 kGy combinedwith a short heating cycle, teflonyields a product which can bepulverised easily to particles of 10microns size. These degradationproducts are being extensivelyused as additives to greases, lubri-cants and corrosion resistancecoatings.

Design and layout of the multi-purpose gamma irradiator for De-fence Laboratory, Jodhpur, and li-quid proccessing irradiator for theradiation valcanisation of naturalrubber latex at Kottayam has beencompleted.

In the Electron Beam Accelera-tor, (a) many improvements andmodifications have been carriedout in the accelerator facilitybased on the operational experi-ence gained; Cb) air exhaust sys-tem has been modified and a con-veyor with remote control variablespeed drive was designed, fabri-cated and installed; (c) basic for-mulation work for the radiationcross linking of wire and cable in-sulation has been identified andtrial irradiations using electronbeam has given encouraging re-sults in the improvement ofphysical characteristics like abra-sion resistance and weight to cutthrough property.

The chemical processing ofradioactive products like 95Zr,103Ru, 91Y, 140Ba were carriedout and several •• consignmentsgiven to user institution for theiruse. Development work was com-pleted for the preparation ofcaesium borosilicate glass contain-ing vermiculite for the absorptionof 137Cs activities. This is beingused for the preparation ofbrachytherapy sources in the newfacilities set up. The installation ofthe facilities for the fabrication ofcesium-137 brachytherapy sourceand other industrial source is com-

pleted. Trial runs are in progressand regular fabrication and supplyof these sources are slated tocommence soon.

The installation and commission-ing of the SHR1 project facilities isnearly complete. The plant isawaiting clearance of AERB foroperation. Dose distribution stu-dies in the irradiator and sludgerecirculation system are in prog-ress.Reactor Engineering

The main thrust of the R & D prog-ramme in reactor engineering con-tinued to be towards generationof design information and designdetails for the 500-MWCe) PHWRas well as for fuel handling systemof 5OO MWe PFBR, technology de-velopment for repair and mainte-nance activities of operating reac-tors and ongoing safety research.

As a part of programme for in-digenisation of various equipmentand hardware, a number of com-ponents were tested under simu-lated high pressure and hightemperature conditions similar topower reactors. Notable amongthese are the sixth FuellingMachine for Narora Atomic PowerProject, high pressure couplingsused in coolant channel feeders,high pressure and high tempera-ture nuclear valves, special filters,etc. Some of the components ofFuelling Machine have also beenevaluated through specially de-signed tests. These are modifiedballs screw with external circula-tion, various types of high torquelow speed motors, water lubri-cated bearings, side stops, fueltransport shuttle, etc.

A number of new designs ofhardware were evolved andtested out for checking their per-formance. The magnetic couplingwhich enables position of FuellingMachine Ram-C to be measuredwithout the need to penetrate thepressure housing was developedas a replacement for the failureprone Ram-C potentiometer. Amodified design of Jig-saw panelwhich is used as thermal insulationbarrier on the reactor face ofPHWRS has been worked out witha view to minimise the manremrequired for removal and reinstalla-tion of these panels while attend-

3.17

ing to any work connected withcoolant channels. A modified de-sign of garter spring using inconelx-750 which can be used as tight-fit garter spring for the coolantchannel has also been evolved.This design has been optimised tokeep the burnup penalty tominimum.

In addition to the work on hard-ware required for reactors, a num-ber of items for use in other R & Dprogrammes have also been de-veloped. Notable among these aregas gun facility which has beencompleted for carrying out studiesunder high pressure. The facilitywould also be used for study ofhigh speed impact problems. Thedesign of vacuum shroud for coldneutron guide tubes was finalisedbased on the feed back obtainedon mock up and final fabricationdrawings were cleared for theirmanufacture. A new design forthe scintillation counter drive hasbeen developed for improvedmaintainability on light shuttermodule and is being integratedwith the working prototype of thisdrive. A pick pellet module hasbeen designed for nuclear fuelcomplex as a part of drive to intro-duce automation in fuel fabrica-tion plant. Considerable engineer-ing support was provided for in-digenous manufacture of turnstilegates for access control at nuclearinstallations.

The problems faced with thesecondary shut down system atNarora were investigated in a fullscale mock up. The design datafor the secondary shut down sys-tem for 5OO MWe PHWR wasgenerated in terms of dischargerates, growth of jets and spreadangle in a facility specially built forthe purpose. This data is beinganalysed for working out the finaloptimum configuration whichwould be qualified on a full scalemock up. The reactivity worth cal-culations corresponding to theobserved black body growth arealso being done in parallel using acode which has been specially de-veloped for this purpose. The de-sign of fuel handling system for500MWe PHWR was finalised tak-ing into account the feed backfrom operating stations. The de-tailing is currently in progress. The

conceptual design of the fuelhandling system for prototypefast breeder reactor was revisedand finalised. The detailed designwork of components like Rampstilting mechanism and transfer pothave been completed for 500MWe PFBR.

Work related to design of ship-ping cask for transportation ofradioactive substances was takenup and a shipping cask for trans-portation of irradiated antimonyoxide capsule has been com-pleted. A drop test facility for im-pact testing of shipping casks hasbeen designed for Board of Radia-tion and Isotope Technology. Inorder to augment the capacity fortesting fuelling machine for 235MWe PHWRs, an additional Fuell-ing Machine Test Facility has beenconstructed at Engineering Hall 3.Testing of machine on this facilitywould be taken up soon. A de-tailed analysis of Fuelling Machinemounted on supports along withcoolant channels mounted oncalandria end shield structure hasbeen initiated for assessment ofsafety under earthquake- condi-tions. This problem is being hand-led through a number of differentanalysis packages. Some initial cal-culations considering the in-linemovement of coolant channel andfuelling machine have been com-pleted. Another area which hasbeen studied in detail relates tobehaviour of reactor buildingunder earthquake loading.

Aspects like uplift analysis of reac-tor building raft, detailed analysisof internal structures consideringstochastic loading has been com-pleted. Instability analysis of endsr lisld diaphragm, seismic analysisof fuel transfer system, impactanalysis of fuel transfer cask andracks have also been completed.Elastoplastic analysis of seal dischas also been done.

A zero clearance rolled joint hasbeen developed for joining Zr-2.5% Nb alloy pressure tubes tostainless steel fittings. Toolingand equipment for carrying outassembly of such zero clearancerolled joints during site installationwork have been developed. Thisprocedure will be used at KAPP-2for the first time. The conceptualdesign scheme for a semi-

automatic remote operablecoolant channel replacementmachine has been worked out.Different subsystems of thismachine are in various stages ofdevelopment.

A preliminary physics feasibilitystudy for an advanced heavy wa-ter reactor has been carried out.The motivation for studying thissystem is to arrive at a reactordesign which could extend thethermal reactor phase to wellbeyond 10,000 MW programmeutilising minimum plutonium in-puts. It is envisaged that this reac-tor would run on thorium andwould have a number of featuresfor improved economics and safe-ty. As a part of initiating Plutoniumrecycle in some of the PHWR un-its, a scheme to change over theexisting core to thorium once-through refuelling mode has beenworked out and is being detailedfurther.

irradiation testing of fuel pinsto prove out various new manu-facturing techniques has beentaken up. A detailed programmefor improved utilisation of inpilefacilities has also been drawn up

One of the most important con-tribution during this year was to-wards rehabilitation of both unitsof Madras Atomic Power Stationwhich had suffered considerabledamage to the moderator inletmanifolds. A detailed review ofthe condition of the two reactorswas made using data availablefrom remote micro-video inspec-tion which was specially en-gineered in the shortest possibletime. A special remote tool wasdeveloped which had the capabil-ity to relocate the debris parts intoregion 'away from the main flow.The units were restarted aftermodifying the moderator inlet pip-ing so as to enable entry of mod-erator through the old outlet man-ifold and exit of moderatorthrough the dump ports. Detailedinvestigations were necessary tounderstand the thermal hydraulicbehaviour in the new configura-tion. Investigations were also car-ried out to assess structural de-sign of both inlet as well as outletmanifold with a view to under-stand the mechanism of failure ofinlet manifold and to regain confi-

3.18

dence on the safety of outletmanifold. After observing the per-formance of the units at 50%power for some time a re-evaluation of the thermal hydraulicparameters was carried out with aview to assess feasiblity of furth-er increase in power that can beachieved. As a result of detailedexperimental and analytical stu-dies it has been possible to in-crease the reactor power to 75%full power and both units aresteadily operating at this power atthe, moment. A detailed plan ofaction for the permanent rehabi-litation of these units had beendrawn up. The design of modera-tor inlet spargers at the lower endof the calandria has been workedout in detail alongwith all otherassociated development activi-ties. The actual work at Sitewould be taken up depending onthe availability of the units for thiswork as it is expected to involvean outage time of around 3months.

In the light of the experience atMAPS, vibration monitoring hasbeen carried out at RAPS toassess the condition of moderatormanifold. It is inferred that themoderator inlet baffles in RAPSare likely to be in reasonably goodcondition.

The 3 MW Boiling Water Loopwhich was commissioned earlieroperated well during the year, andextensive loop characterisationtests were completed. As a partof the design support of 5OO MWreactors, pressure drop studiesfor measurement of pressuredrop acrossjunction between twofuel bundles as well as pressuredrop in the fuel locator with diffe-rent configurations were com-pleted. With a view to assesssafety of fuel during fuel transferoperations steady state tempera-ture analysis for 500 MWe PHWRspent fuel during dry transfer wascarried out. A test was carried outat NAPP-1 to confirm the effec-tiveness of thermo-syphon cool-ing mechanism in removing heatfrom the core at low powers.

Analysis of heat removal capa-bility of steam generators forNAPP with reduced secondary in-ventory was carried out usingcomputer code RELAP4/Mod 6.

Analysis was also carried out forconditions of station black out forNAPP reactor. Pump start up tran-sient analysis was also carried outfor ,NAPP using REL.AP4/Mod 6.Pretest analysis of loss of feedwater transient test in SPES ex-perimental facility in Italy wascompleted. The predicted resultshave been sent for comparisonwith the actual test data. The ex-perimental programme in the areaof thermal hydraulics is being con-tinuously augmented. Design anddevelopment of directly as well asindirectly heated fuel rod simula-tors has been persued.

The probabilistic safety assess-ment level 1 study of a standar-dised 235 MWe PHWR has beencarried out. This study has re-vealed that the core damage fre-quency of a PHWR is towards thelower end of the spectrum forrange of these values for variousreactor systems. This -work isbeing extended to other reactorsas well as towards developmentof systems for improved operatorsupport. A detailed programme ofdevelopment of PSA work hasbeen identified.

Following special componentswere fabricated and supplied : 4B4C control blades for TAPS, 5liquid shut off rod assemblies forNAPP-II, 7 mechanical shutoff rodassemblies for KAPP-I, 11 Zr-2guide tubes for mechanical shutoff rods for KAPP-I, replacementof wire rope assemblies in 9 InitialAccelerating Spring Assembliesreceived back from NAPP-ll andnitriding of 4353, 17-4 PH SS com-ponents for NPC.

Dis-assembly of 2 MW inpile loopat Hall-7 has been completed andinstallation of piping system andequipment at Dhruva has beenstarted. Design of 2 MW impileloop auxiliary systems was com-pleted and their fabrication is inprogress. Loop design manual andreport on out-of-pile commission-ing of the loop at Hall-7 was pre-pared and submitted to ReactorSafety Committee. Safety analy-sis of the loop at Dhruva is beingdone. The causes for higher levelof pump vibrations and its damagewere identified. Necessary mod-ifications of the pump are beingdone.

Loop piping and equipment lay-out at Dhruva has been prepared.Fabrication of equipment and pro-curement of instrumentation is inprogress. Loop design and safetyreport is being prepared. Fabrica-tion of buggy and buggy drivemechanism for X-ray inspectionfacility for Dhruva irradiated fuel isnearing completion. Preparation ofsite for its installation in storageblock at Dhruva is in progress.Fabrication of shield blocks is inprogress.

Cold/hot commissioning of in-strumentation controls for HighTemperature Loop was carriedout. Instrumentation and controlfor renovation of Fuelling MachineTest Facility in Hall No. 3 is in anadvanced stage of installation. In-strumentation and controls for. anumber of small experimental testfacilities used for the develop-ment, works pertaining to 235 and500 MWe power reactors werecompleted.

Performance evaluation ofXLPE and PVC cables for life timeintegrated dose of 70 mega radsand seismic qualification was car-ried out.

Reactor Analysis

Thermal hydraulics analysis ofPHWR reactor systems has beenextended to the steady and tran-sient states for specific applica-tions. Full-load and part load hyd-raulic analysis for 500 MWe sys-tems for different pump combina-tions have been done. Loss ofCoolant Accidents analysis withtemperature transient states inthe hot channel has beenachieved.

The basic structure of the fullscope Training Simulator de-veloped completely indigenouslyhas been installed at the NuclearTraining Centre, Kota. Models forfull range of operation, start up,pump operation and shut downhave been demonstrated. A fewmore transients such as load re-jection, reactor trip as well as sta-tion islanding have been success-fully implemented.

Taking advantage of the com-missioning of NAPP Unit-1, lowpower, physics experiments have

been planned and successfullycompleted. Data obtained will alsohelp in validation of the codes de-veloped which can be extended to500 MWe systems. A new con-cept of sector symmetric fuel re-load pattern for Tarapur reactorshas been developed. Core physicsdesign ror 1000 MWe units withuse of a burnable poison and lowleakage has been evaluated.

Development of seismic analy-sis techniques have been con-tinued. Ground motion, responsespectra, response spectra com-patible time history have beengenerated for specific sites. Be-sides, compatible spectra andspectral density for strong motionhave been generated for reactorsites and statistically analysed.

Experimental Reactor Physics

A microprocessor-based systemwas developed and used for on-line surveillance of neutron popula-tion in the reactor during the approach to criticality and other star-tups of NAPP-I. The system wasalso used for collecting other dataduring the measurements and fordirect analysis of some of thedata.

Procedures for physics-relatedmeasurements during commis-sioning of NAPP-1 as well as theirresults after commissioning werescrutinized in detail. Technical re-ports on features of the measure-ment programme, on some of theobserved data during themeasurements, and on errorestimations were also preparedfor Design and Safety review ofthe reactor.

Measurements of axial flux dis-tribtion in an empty channel ofNAPP-1 were made in five con-figurations of control rods usingcopper wires. An automated sys-tem using microprocessor controlwas used for wire movement anddata collection during the scanningof the wires after irradiation andremoval from the reactor.

Technical aspects were consi-dered with chemists of NAPP sitefor on-line measurements ofboron concentration in moderatorusing chemical method and com-pared with the physics-based

3.19

method using neutron absorp-tiometry which is also being de-veloped.

Computations of gamma fluxesand gamma heating in the core of500 MWe PHWR were per-formed and whole-core' computa-tion has been undertaken.

Participatory work has been in-itiated for preparing commission-ing-stage measurements to bedone on 500 MWCe) PHWR.

Methods for measurement ofneutron received by materials inreactors were further improvedfor accounting for spectral effectsand applied to measurements forpressure vessels of Tarapur reac-tors.

Study was made on possible useof noise analysis techniques forsurveillance of PHWR reactors todetect boiling in channels if itoccurs.

A long crystal of silicon wasirradiated for inducing transmute .doping and subsequent use byBHEL for making test devices.

Continuing work was pursuedfor evaluation cf nuclear data foruse of thorium in reactors.

Work was continued for de-veloping improved transporttheory methods for radiationtransport calculations.

Reactor Control

The control panel and field wiringfor the 30 kW 233U Al alloy fuelledreactor Kamini have been com-pleted and functional tests arebeing conducted. The reactor andcontrol system of Purnima-IH (zeroenergy mock-up reactor of Kamini) are undergoing final check-upsfor reactor start-up. Kamini wouldgo into operation shortly after Pur-nima-lll.

The instrumentation and controlsystems in research and powerreactors are being modernized byexploiting advantages offered bycomputer based systems. Thesesystems enable implementationof advanced control algorithmsand offer better man-machine in-terface and enhanced reliability.

Instrumentation and controlsystem for KAMINI research reac-

tor has been installed at site andprecommissioning tests havebeen carried out. These tests in-clude checking the functioning ofall systems against simulated sig-nals. Tests have also been carriedout for operation of safety controlplates, reactor coolant heat trans-port system, waste disposal anddemineralized water systems,process controls and process in-formation systems.

Various components for PURNI-MA III critical facility for testingand validation of reactor core para-meters have been fabricated.Other components such as fuelsupport structures, beryllium re-flector boxes, control rod guideplates and fuel extraction toolshave also been fabricated.

The Pneumatic Carrier Facility atDhruva has been equipped with acontrol system which facilitatesloading and irradiating samples inthe reactor as per predefined cy-cles.

"he computer control of FuelHandling System for Integral Ther-mci Facility at Hall-7 is being usedfo calibration and testing of fuell-ing machine heads for variouspower plants. This facility has

been upgrade i with an advancedminicomputer system to providefull auto mode operation and im-prove its availab lity. In addition, itprovides improved operator inter-face and on-line diagnostics.

A Digital Recording System wasdeveloped earlier to replace a largenumber of electro-mechanical re-corders. Two such units, with acapability to record 48 parametersmeasured every two seconds forfour days, have been installed atMAPS. In addition, the systemalso computes moderator temper-ature change during power stepoperations.

Channel Temperature Monitor-ing Systems in PHWRs are beingused to monitor the outlettemperatures of 306 reactor chan-nels. Two CTM systems havebeen installed at NAPP-2 and pre-commissioning has been com-pleted. The operational experi-ence with CTM systems at MAPSand NAPP has resulted in adoptionof a system based on a single mic-rocomputer for the two RTD in-stallations at KAPP.

The Channel Temperature Moni-toring System for 500 MWe hasdual functions of monitoring

Indigenous 100MW high flux research rorfctor Dhruva

3.20

coolant outlet temperature for392 fuel channels and providing areactor set back signal. The dataacquisition unit is designed to befault tolerant for higher availabil-ity. The use of PCs with colorgraphic monitor makes it possibleto display information to the oper-ator in the form of history, trendgraphs, etc.

The preliminary analysis ofReactor Regulating System andhardware configuration for 500MWe Reactor Regulating Systemhave been completed.

A Programmable Digital Compa-rator System to replace the sys-tem indicating alarm meters hasbeen developed and supplied toKAPP.

The shut-off rod drive mechan-ism for Dhruva has been upgradedto extend wire-rope service lifeand to improve the level of on-demand scram functions. A mic-roprocessor based test consolefor automatic testing of adjusterand shut-off rods with print outfacility for various parameters hasbeen developed and commis-sioned.

The design of advanced shut-offrods for KAPP has been com-pleted. This design permits on-linemonitoring of health of themechanism, higher lubrication ofrotating components for ex-tended life and modular construc-tion, resulting in imprpved servicelife and operational reliability.

A large number of adjuster roddrives are required for each of thepower plant. A prototype twophase servo motor alongwith thyr-istor control amplifier has been de-veloped and tested in the lab. Abatch of 20 such motors along-with drive assemblies are beingsupplied to KAPP.

A new test station for the test-ing of 500 MWe control mechan-ism has been commissioned withabsorber assembly, head gear andtest facility which will be exten-sively used for design verificationand to evolve specifications for allmechanisms used in 500 MWePHWRs.

Reactor Operations, Services andMaintenance

The 100 MW research reactorDhruva continued to operatesatisfactorily at its rated power. Arecord uinterrupted continuousoperation of 1 9 days at rated pow-er was established in the month ofMarch 1989. Some difficulty inquick identification and location offailed fuel assemblies was en-countered. Efforts to improve theFailed Fuel Detection System areon hand. An experimental fuelassembly with the fuel pins manu-factured by extrusion processwas test irradiated and its per-formance was found to be satis-factory. Regular production ofmiscellaneous radioisotopes hasbeen streamlined. Long term irra-diations for production of cobalt-60 are being continued.

The 40 MW thermal researchreactor Cirus was operated at itsdesigned power level till mid-August 1989. Thereafter, theoperating power level has been lo-wered to 20 MW towards conserv-ing fuel. Both Cirus and Apsarareactors continued to operate in asafe and efficient manner and pro-vided facilities for neutron re-search, neutron radiography, test-ing of neutron detectors, isotopeproduction, gem-grade diamondirradiation, etc. and for staff train-ing. Over 1500 samples wereirradiated for isotope production inboth the reactors. Silicon crystalirradiation experiments for uni-form phosphorus doping werecontinued at Cirus.

Over 1800 isotope sampleswere evaluated for reactivityeffect, heat production and radia-tion shielding for irradiation inTrombay reactors. About 37,000chemical samples of light water,heavy water, helium ion exchangeresins, etc. were analysed for che-mical control of Apsara, Cirus andDhruva reactors at Trombay.

Towards better reliability andoperational flexibility, some of theservices such as compressed air,demineralised water and- chilledwater systems were intercon-nected between Dhruva andCirus. For Dhruva reactor, mod-ifications and mock-up trials werein progress with a view to increase

the reliability and improved per-formance of shut-off rod drivemechanism. Procurement actionfor equipments, values, piping andpipe fittings of Emergency CoreCooling System Phase-ll is in prog-ress. For the on-power handling ofisotope tray rods, design reviewfor the consequent modificationsto components were carried outbased upon mock-up tests.

To assess the pattern of accu-mulation of silta near sea watersystem caisson, a depth studywas conducted in coordinationwith Bombay Port Trust author-ities. Performance of the main seawater pumps was improved bymodifying certain critical compo-nents.

Assistance was provided toNuclear Power Corporation foranalysis of raw water samples forKAPP and Kaiga, for supply ofheavy water standards to NAPPand for analysis of moderatorheavy water samples for theirboron content during criticality ex-periments at NAPP.

Certain problems of Dhnjvareactor Power Regulating Systemwere successfully solved. To im-prove the Failed Fuel DetectionSystem, a flow set-up facility wasmade to collect data. To avoidflooding of operational and otherareas during monsoon, necessarymeasures • were carried out atCirus and Dhruva.

The performance of the newmicroprocessor based system forFailed Fuel Detection and Loca-tion System in Dhruva is beingobserved. The out-of-pile testingof a prototype instrumented fuelassembly with thermocoupleswas carried out. A new in-strumented fuel assembly isunder fabrication for being instal-led in the Dhruva reactor.Ore Dressing

Studies on the feasibility of ap-plication of wet magnetic separa-tion for beneficiating uraniumvalues from copper plant tailingsol" Singhbhum were continued. Ithas been shown that about 759bto 85% of uranium values can berecovered in the magnetic fractionin 45% to 50% weight from thetailings of Rakha, Surda and Mosa-

3.21

bani copper beneficiation plants.Magnetic separation thus has thepotential of application to reducethe bulk of tailings to be proces-sed by acid leaching to recoveruranium from this important re-source. Preliminary studies carriedout on selective removal of acidconsuming carbonate gangueminerals from a uranium ore sam-ple from Tummalepalle in AndhraPradesh have given encouragingresults.

A number of beneficiation inves-tigations have been taken up dur-ing the year at the request ofother government agencies. Aprocess flow-sheet for recoveringcassiterite from placer-type de-posits from Bastar was communi-cated to Madhya Pradesh StateMining Corporation Limited. Flow-sheets were developed for the re-covery of tin values from twotypes of lode-type tin ores fromTosham, in Haryana. Since the'cassiterite occurs in varying sizesdown to ultrafine disseminations,the process developed irtvolvesmultistage operations includinggravity separation, reverse flota-tion, regrinding and magneticseparation. Studies on the benefi-ciation of tungsten ore fromKhobna in Maharashtra were com-pleted, and a process flow-sheetwas developed to recover tung-sten values occurring in the formof both scheelite and wolframite.These studies on Tosham tin oreand Khobna tungsten ore werecarried out at the request ofMineral Exploration Corporation Li-mited, and preliminary project re-ports have been submitted. De-velopment of a process flow-sheet to upgrade chromite orefrom Orissa to market specifica-tions is nearing completion, thework having been taken up at therequest of Orissa Mining Corpora-tion Limited.

Several fundamental studies onvarious unit operations of oredressing were continued. Impor-tant among these is studies onmodelling and simulation of dif-ferential comminution and libera-tion of minerals during grinding ofores.

Uranium Fuel FabricationThe fuel and other componentsrequired for Cirus and Dhruva reac-

tors were fabricated and supplied.112 U metal fuel rods (x-rods) and1864 sub-assembly componentswere delivered to Cirus. 20 ThO2 Jrods were supplied to Cirus. 199uranium fuel clusters, 170 Alshields and 191 seal plugs weresupplied to Dhruva.

Development work was carriedout for improving recovery in fab-rication by reducing rolled rod dia-meter and introducing automationin some of the operations.

The prototype oxide fuel fab-rication facility was extensivelyutilised for production of high de-nsity sintered UO2 pellets, con-forming to PHWR fuel specifica-tions. More than 4 tons of UO2pellets have been fabricated with7096 or more recovery and havebeen supplied to NFC, Hyderabad,for encapsulation and use inPHWRs. From NFC, either re-jected UO2 powder lots or UO2powder lots with low recoverywere used for this fabricationcampaign. The modifications in-corporated in the fabrication flowsheet for producing high densitypellets meeting all specificationsinclude sieving and separatinghard UO2 granules, ball-milling,admixing zincbehenate lubricant,using WC die-punch set, dewaxingand sintering UO2 pellets in anatmosphere of nitrogen and hyd-rogen.

The Mixed Oxide CMOX) fuel fab-rication plant at Tarapur has beengiven provisional clearance byAERB for plant operations withdepleted/natural UO2. The im-mediate programme is the fabrica-tion of reprocessed UO2 fuel pel-lets. This material presently beingprocessed in the plant has about0.3 ppm of plutonium. This cam-paign enables the plant to test itsproduction lines on suitability forhandling bulk quantity of pluto-nium.

The MOX plant is duplex type :having two parallel lines of fuelfabrication — one for thermalreactors (PHWRs) and the otherfor fast reactors. The depletedUO2 fuel production work is takenup in the PHWR line. The installa-tion of the fast reactor fuel fab-rication line is to be taken up dur-ing 8th Plan, wherein manufactureof Prototype Fast Breeder Reac-tor (PFBR) fuel will be carried out.

Quality Assurance

Quality surveillance jobs on fuelbundles, zircaloy components,garter springs, coolant and calan-dria tubes for PHWRs, fuel bun-dles for TAPS, and on various S.S.and other materials and compo-nents wasregularly carried out.

Kamini Fuel assembly

3.22

Plutonium and 233U Fuel Fabrica-tion

High density UO2 and UO2-49bPuO2 fuel pellets conforming toPHWR fuel specifications werefabricated by sol-gel-microsphere-pelletisation (SGMP) process. Thegel microspheres were preparedby internal gelation process fromuranyl and Plutonium nitrate solu-tions; Pellets fabricated by SGMPprocess were found to have about109b higher thermal conductivitycompared to pellets of equivalentdensity prepared by conventional"powder-pellet" route.

As part of Plutonium fuels de-velopment programme for FastBreeder Reactors, UN and CU,Pu)N fuel pellets of relatively lowdensity C85 + 1% T.D.) and ofboth uranium and Plutonium richcompositions have been fabri-cated by carbothermic reductionof oxide-graphite in flowing nit-rogen. Sol-gel-microsphere-pelletisation CSGMP) and conven-tional "powder-pellet" routeswere optimised for preparation ofmononitrides containing minimumoxygen and carbon impurities. Thehigh specific surface area of sol-gel derived oxide-graphite parti-cles enhanced the kinetics of car-bothermic reduction process.Further, SGMP process ensuredexcellent microhomogenity, led tocontrolled pore structure, mini-

mised fabrication steps, avoidedhandling of fine powders and inturn minimised radiotoxic dusthazard and fire hazard (associatedwith fine MC and MN particles).Further, dust-free and free-flowing nature of microspheresmade the SGMP process amen-able to automation and remotisa-tion.

Fabrication of aluminium clad Al-233U fuel for Kamini researchreactor at 1GCAR, Kalpakkam, isan important milestone in our in-digenous nuclear fuels technolo-gy. The Kamini fuels assemblyconsists of 8 fuel plates of alumi-nium clad, Al-209b233U containingapproximately 8 gm of 233U perplate. Nine fuel assemblies consti-tute the Kamini core. The feedmaterials for Kamini fuel ^re 233Uand A) metals. The major fabrica-tion steps are master alloy prepa-ration, melting-casting of fuelalloy, hot and cold-rolling of fuelmeat, encasing fuel meat in alumi-nium picture-frame and roll-bonding. Several innovative non-destructive testing CNDT) techni-ques were developed during thefabrication campaign to meet thestringent specifications on dimen-sion, chemical composition andbond quality of Kamini fuel platesand sub-assembi.es. X-ray radio-graphs and their micro-densitometric scans have been

Spent fuel cask being lowered in the fuelstorage pool

used for location of fuel meat andfor confirming homogeneous dis-tribution of the fissile species inthe fuel alloy. In this connection, acontinuous motion radiographicset up has been commissioned foravoiding beam effect in radiog-raphic images. The bonding be-tween the fuel meat plate and thecover plates were evaluated by"blister test" and "immersionultrasonic" techniques'.

Post Irradiation Examination

DIE of Al clad U metal fuel rodsfrom Dhruva research reactor andzircaloy clad UO2 fuel pins fromMadras Atomic Power Station(MAPS) was carried out. The HotCells Facility was also utilised forsuccessfully repairing a damagedApsara fuel assembly and retriev-ing 64 capsules of valuable radio-isotopes.

Detailed examination of twofailed MAPS fuel bundles con-firmed that their failure was dueto massive hydriding of the endplug.

The PIE activities also includedanalysis of the inside surface ofzircaloy cladding of UO2 fuel ele-ment from Tarapur Atomic PowerStation (TAPS) by SEM and EPMAfor valuable information on fuelcladding chemical interaction.

Fuel Reprocessing

The Power Reactor Fuel Repro-cessing Plant, Tarapur (PREFRE)and the Plutonium Plant at Trom-bay operated successfullythroughout the year, the formerprocessing the spent PHWR oxidefuel and the latter the researchreactor metallic fuels.

After successfully completingthe reprocessing campaigns,based on the operating experi-ence, necessary additions and re-placements in hardware are beingcarried out to bring about furtherimprovments in process engineer-ing. This is being done as a part ofthe annual mainatenance outage.

The construction of the repro-cessing plant at Kalpakkam ismaking steady progress. En-gineering design of the processand utility system is almost com-plete. Civil construction activities

3.23

Waste Immobilising Plant at Tarapur

are in an advanced stage of com-pletion. Installation of processequipments and mechanical andelectrical systems in the main pro-cess building has been started.Design reports are being sub-jected to critical safety analysis in-ternally before submission to theregulatory body for obtainingnecessary clearances.

In keeping with the long terminterest in exploiting the potentialof the vast reserves of thorium forfuture breeder programme, an en-gineering scale facility for separat-ing U-233 from irradiated thoriumfuel elements is being set up atTrombay. This facility is expectedto firm-up the design concepts tobe adopted in the industrial scaleplants to be built in future. All theactivities of the project such asengineering design, fabrication ofequipments, procurement of com-ponents, etc. are in progress.

In order to make available suffi-cient reprocessing capacity totreat the spent fuel arisings of the10,000 MWCe) nuclear powerprogramme and to create a pluto-nium base for the future FastBreeder Reactor CFBR) program-me, it is necessary to build addi-tional reprocessing plants of largercapacity. Work on their conceptualdesign has been taken up. Propos-al for starting construction of onesuch plant has been put up forinclusion in the 8th Plan.

In the fulfilment of the short andlong term objectives of the spentfuel reprocessing, R&D activitiesare being pursued, as a on-goingprogramme, in a variety of areassuch as process chemistry and en-gineering, instrumentation,measurement techniques andcorrosion. The main thrust of theR&D efforts is to bring about in-novations in the general hardwareand process for achieving costeffectivness. During this year re-sults of the some successful R&Dventures were promptly adaptedfor plant application. Multidisciplin-ary collaboration has been initiatedto solve some of the problems.Notable among these efforts is inthe field of robotics for applicationin high radiation fields.

Radioactive Waste Management

An important milestone wasachieved in the mastering of theentire nuclear fuel cycle technolo-gy-in this country when the WasteImmobilisation Plant, Trombay,fixed for the first time significantradioactivity from the actual acidicwaste from the reprocessingplant, in a glass form sealed instainless steel canisters.

The first phase of these opera-tions were carried out with somedilution of the waste. During thesubsequent phases the feedactivity in the waste will be in-

3.24

creased by concentration to high-er levels before vitrification.

Radioactive waste mangementfacilities at Trombay, Tarapur, Ra-jasthan and Kalpakkam functionedsatisfactorily throughout the year.Different types and categories oflow and intermediate solid and li-quid wastes were processed priorto disposal. The treated liquideffluents were discharged to en-vironment after satisfying all safe-ty requirements prescribed by theconcerned regulatory agencies forindividual sites. Activity dis-charges made at different siteswere less 8°/o of the permissiblelimits. The radioactive concen-trates were conditioned in suit-able matrices before disposal intothe engineered containment sys-tems such as RCC trenches andtile holes at the solid waste man-gement facility at each site. Activ-ity thus retained was about Q0°/oof the activity received for treat-ment. Surveillance of the disposalsites was carried out at regularintervals by monitoring theradioacativity of the water and soilsamples drawn from nearby hot-wells. No migration of radioactivitvin the surrounding soil was noticedat any site.

The decontamination centres atdifferent sites received contamin-ated protective wares and reus-able components of some criticalmachineries. These were decon-taminated and recycled.

Construction of process buildingand ancillary structures of theWaste Immobilisation Plant, Trom-bay (WIP-Trombay) is in progress.This plant will treat the wastesfrom the Plutonium Plant, Trom-bay. Detailed engineering designof the process and utility systemsis progressing and the procure-ment activities are proceedingsatisfactorily.

Work on the design of processand engineering systems for theWaste Immobilisation Plant at Kal-pakkam is in progress. This plantwill treat the high and intermedi-ate level wastes arising from theKalpakkam Reprocessing Plant.

The pre-commissioning trial runson the first stage of the chemicaltreatment systems in the Waste

Management plant, Narora(WMPN) were carried out.

Augmentation of waste man-agement facilities as a part of theaway from reactor spent fuel stor-age facility (AFFO at Tarapur is inprogress.

A proposal for building an in-terim storage facility at Kalpak-kam for retrievably storage alphabearing high level wastes hasbeen finalised. A detailed reporton this is under preparation.

Keeping in mind the need totreat the waste arisings of the10,000 MWCe) nuclear poowerprogramme envisaged by the De-partment of Atomic Energy,plants are on to set up Waste Man-agement Centralised Facilities(WMCF) at different reactor sitesviz., Kota, Kakrapar, Kaiga andTarapur. Design basis reports de-tailing process schematics, ser-vices and man power require-ments, cost estimates etc. havebeen submitted to NPCIL.

The thrust of laboratory scalestudies is towards developmentof new processes and techniquesfor the treatment and safe con-tainment of a variety of solid, li-quid and gaseous radioactivewastes generated at differentstages of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle.

Inactive simulation experimentswere continued through-out theyear in the sub-terranian researchchamber about 1000 meters deepat a mine site to study the long-term effect of storing solidifiedhigh active wastes in geologicalformations. Valuable data on thebehaviour of the host rock arebeing collected continuously formodelling studies. The ex-perimental activities will be ex-panded in the second researchchamber under construction now.

The shallow land disposal site atKakrapar for low and intermediatelevel radioactive solid wastes hasbeen taken up for detailed inves-tigations of its geo-hydrologicalcharacateristics.

Health Physics

Safety surveillance for the variousnuclear fuel cycle operations at allthe DAE installations in the coun-

try were provided. Safety relatedR&D activities were also under-taken to support the programme.

In the uranium mining and millingoperations, the exposure to work-ers is mainly from radon daughterproducts which accounted for80% of the dose. Efforts to re-duce this exposure by providingbetter ventilation is planned forthe new mine projects. Environ-mental surveillance around UOL atJaduguda was continued. Effortsare being made to further reducethe radium release to the environ-ment by introducing additionaltreatment. The pilot plant studiesfor this were completed. HealthPhysics surveillance for theOSCOM project at Chatrapur, Oris-sa, was initiated. The improveddesign features at the new RareEarth Plant, Alwaye (MOHUR),enabled the exposure to be re-duced to half that in the presentplant. Health physics coverage forthe decommissioning of the oldRare Earth plant is being provided.Design safety at NFC expansionproject was evaluated. A steelroom for the lung counting of ura-nium in NFC workers was commis-sioned at NFC, Hyderabad.

Health physics services and sur-veillance for the operating nuclearpower stations were provided.Manrem budgeting and planningfor the special operations such ascalendria rehabilitation at MAPSand for the outages at TAPS,RAPS and MAPS were providedwhich enabled the operations tobe carried out with minimumpossible exposure to workers.The collective dose for the powerreactors for 1988 decreased by34% from that for 1987. Healthphysics planning enabled manremconsumption for Dhruva and Cirusoperations to be kept low. Thetechnical specifications foreffluent discharge limit for theoperating plants were revised toconform to the latest ICRP recom-mendations, taking into accountmultifacility sites. The apportion-ment of site dose for each plantwas worked out. Health physicsservices were provided at theNarora Power Station for theattainment of the first criticalityand synchronisation to the grid.Probabilistic safety analysis for

the Narora Power Station was car-ried out. Design safety of theplants under construction andsafety evaluation of operatingplants were reviewed.

Environmental safety surveill-ance at the nuclear power plantsites was undertaken. The en-vironmental survey laboratoriesand meteorological stations wereoperated at all NPP sites. On thebasis of the analysis of environ-mental and food samples, thedose to the public from the opera-tion of the PHWRs at the siteboundary during 1989 was esti-mated to be less than 5 mRem.ESML lab for KAPP at Kakrapar isunder construction. Pre operation-al met data are being acquired forthe various new sites — Kaiga andKudankulam .

Analysis of marine sedimentcore samples at Trombay andTarapur is in progress. No effectof the releases could be detectedat Tarapur beyond 3 km. Workwas initiated on study of distribu-tion of 210Pb and 210Po in marineecosystems. Depth profile of21 OPb in sediments has been usedfor estimation of sedimentationrates.

At the back end of the fuel cy-cle, the O & M operations at thereprocessing plants at Trombayand at Tarapur continued to beprovided with exposure controland man-rem planning. The healthphysics planning for the Kalpak-kam reprocessing plant was car-ried out. Design safety of WiP andPEP projects at Tarapur was re-viewed. The health physics activi-ties for these plants have beeninitiated with the starting of theoperations. Design review ofTrombay WIP project was alsodone. The Waste Management op-erations at Tarapur and Trombaywere given health physicscoverage.

A steel room for lung countingof plutpnium in workers, a shadowshield counter, radioactive assaysystems and a real time environ-mental hourly dose logging sys-tem were made operational at theHealth Physics Laboratory, Tara-pur. The computer system at theLaboratory has been providedwith remote terminals at the va-

3.25

BARC developed Dosimeters

rious health physics units on thesite to evolve it as a computerbased emergency preparednesssystem.

The Site Emergency ControlCentre at Trombay was equippedwith met and environmental doserate logging facilities and real timedisplay of these on a site map. Thecentre is also equipped with in-struments and protective equip-ments for use in emergency. Twomobile monitoring vans were de-signed and under fabrication.These will augment emergencymonitoring capabilities consider-ably.

Studies on atmospheric modell-ing and aquatic modelling to evalu-ate the dispersal of radionuclidesreleased to the environment werecontinued. Interactive computerprogramme for personal compu-ters was developed for use inemergency preparedness. En-vironmental impact assessmentfor the Managuru Heavy WaterPlant was carried out. Computercode (Mathew-ADPIO for predict-ing long range C200 kms) disper-sion of pollutants to assess theimpact of accident scenarios arebeing adopted for the computersavailable at Trombay.

A GM counter based digital dosi-meter with PC interfaceability hasbeen developed and is being fieldtested. An image analysis systemfor evaluation of track densities inSSNTDs have been set up fordosimetric applications. HPD 4Kmulti-channel analysers continuedto be set up for radio analyticalwork and for on-line applications.Environmental dosimetry using TI_dosimeters at the various DAE un-its were continued. No significantincreases in the dose rate outsidethe plant boundaries werenoticed. Cancer mortality data ofDAE employees and their familieslocated at Bombay and Tarapurwas analysed. Work on the Indianreference man is being taken upunder an IAEA-RCA coordinatedresearch program.

The operating power stationsand the associated active facilitieshave maintained an excellent allround safety record throughoutthis year. The high safety stan-dard is reflected by the following:CO Personnel exposure to radiationwas well within the permissiblelevels, Cii) There was not a singleincident of fatal or disabling injury,CiiD The radioactivity in the liquidand gaseous effluents dischargedfrom the plants into the environ-

3.26

ment was far below Cfew percentof) the authorised limits.

Radiological Protection

Implementation of radiation safe-ty programme in non-DAE institu-tions all over the country usingradioisotopes and radiationsources for medical, industrial andresearch applications was con-tinued. Personnel monitoring ser-vice was provided to both DAEand non-DAE institutions. 15,079radiation workers in 2,106 institu-tions were monitored with filmbadges and 19,279 radiation work-ers in 802 institutions were moni-tored with TLD badges. PC baseddensitometer developed in BARCwas used for taking readings andevaluation of doses from filmbadges. Since more radiationworkers are being monitored withTLD badges, effort has beenmade to reduce the reading timefor the badge. Three times morecards can be read on the semi-automatic and the multiprobereader as compared to the manualreader. During the year, 145 caseswith more than 10 mSv exposurewere detected and 9 cases under-went chromosome aberrationtest. BARC participated in IAEAcoordinated research programme

on intercomparison for individualmonitoring and the results weresatisfactory.

Installation plans were approvedfor 27 medical, 1 3 radiography, 60nucleonic gauge and 34 researchinstitutions. Authorizations wereissued for procurement of 917radionuclide consignments, 76new radiography cameras and re-placement sources for of 945 oldradiography cameras. 13 tele-cobalt source replacements and220 radiological protection sur-veys were carried out. Unused905r ophthalmic applicators from2 hospitals were brought back toBRIT. 307 radiography cameraswere inspected for radiation safety and type approval of several in-dustrial radiation devices and theiraccessories was given. 3262 mgof radium from 1 3 hospitals wascollected and disposed off inBARC as waste.

A treatment planning softwarefor use in radiation therapy whichcalculates 2-dimensional dose dis-tribution for beam and brachyther-apy has been developed. Thisprogramme can be run on any IBMcompatible PC/XT/AT and will beuseful for radiation therapy cen-tres in the country. It is mandatorythat all X-ray units marketed in In-dia are type approved by AtomicEnergy Regulatory Board CAERB).In this connection, procedures fortests of X-ray units were designedin detail to ensure safety of theunits from the operational andradiation safety points of view.Kits for the above tests have beenfabricated. To train medical physi-cists for carrying out this program-me, two workshops were con-ducted in which 86 physicistsfrom 23 states and union territor-ies participated.

Several specialized dosimeterssuch as secondary standard dosi-meter, clinical dosimeter, and TLDdosimeter were supplied to va-rious cancer hospitals and institu-tions in the country. The technolo-gy for the fabrication of TLDbadge reader was transferred toM/s. L & T Gould, Mysore, to meetthe growing demand. The col-oured indicator for the identifica-tion of radiation sterilized medicalproducts were supplied to morethan 13O user companies:

Calibration services for variousradiation instruments were pro-vided to the different units ofDAE and otlur users of radiationsources in industry and radiationoncoloyy. These included calibra-tion of therapy level dosimeters,monitoring of teletherapy unitsusing mailed thermoluminescentdosimeters, calibration of protec-tion level monitors, reactor moni-tors and detectors, supply of stan-dard radioactive sources andcalibration of neutron sources andfluxes. Dose intercomparison ofmedical accelerators was carriedout using the FBX chemical dosi-meter. An electron captureradionuclide standard was pre-pared for international intercom-parison. Characteristics of multis-phere neutron spectrometer werestudied. A theratron-60 cobaltmachine was installed for calibra-tion of dosimeters and monitors.

The analysis and certification ofabout 500 samples of importedmilk powder and pulses and cere-als meant for export, were carriedout. 90Sr content was analysed inabout 30 samples of milk powder,vegetable and tea using the sol-vent extraction method based onTributyl Phosphate (TBP).

The operation of 1 2 monitoringstations round the country, includ-ing a new station at Shillong, forfallout samples was continued.

The coal mines in Assam were sur-veyed in detail for radon activity.

Country-wide monitoring of in-door radon was continued and ab-out 1AOO dwellings were studied.The levels varied from about 0.1 to15.0 mWL, the geometric meanvalue being 3.7 mWL. The season-al variation of radon in homes wasalso studied.

RF and ultra sound surveyswere carried out for twenty sevensources which included inductivelycoupled plasma atomic emissionspectrometers, plastic weldingmachines and diathermy units.

The measurement of severalpollutants like SO2.NO2, CO,heavy metals, hydrocarbons, etc.have been carried out in a numberof samples including atmosphericair,rain, industrial areas, mines,and in biological samples includingblood, teeth, etc. Specialiseatechniques like gas chromatogra-phy, voltammetry, X-ray fluoresc-ence, etc. are used in these stu-dies.

Monazite Survey Project

Cytogenetic studies on humanpopulation residing in the mona-zite-bearing high backgroundradiation areas of Kerala and ad-joining regions were undertaken.The objective of this study was tocompare the incidence of con-

Monitohng instruments

3.27

genital abnormalities, sentinelphenotypes, morbidity and mortal-ity rates, fertility indices, etc. ofpopulation groups residing in nor-mal background radiation withthose living in high backgroundradiation areas of Kerala coasts.For this purpose, two surveys(newborn and epidemiologicaDwere carried out in collaborationwith the State Government involv-ing participation of Primary HealthCentres and other hospital unitsserving this population. For new-born survey work, six hospital un-its were identified. Over 14,000newborns were screened for con-genital abnormalities. Karyotypeanalyses of over 1,116 cord bloodsamples of babies born tomothers residing in the normalbackground radiation as well ashigh background radiation areaswere completed. The prevalencerates for congenital abnormalities,karyotype anomalies as well aschromosome aberrations amongnewborns were estimated. Thedemographic data on populationgroups covering 6,160 house-holds, comprising of 7,600 couplesand total population of 38,100 indi-viduals were covered in two pan-chayats. The data on abortions,still births, multiple births, sexratio, infertility, consanguinity,etc. of the study population werealso made. The data do no.t seemto indicate any significant differ-ences between population groupsfrom normal background radiationand high background radiationareas.

Chromosome aberration fre-quency estimates for populationgroups at various DAE units, occu-pationally exposed to permissiblelevels of low level radiations, werecarried out. These studies arebeing extended to Uranium Cor-poration of India (limited, Jadugu-da, where the employees are pre-dominently exposed to internal ex-posure from radon and to a limitedextent from external gammaradiation. During February-March1989, over 300 samples were pro-cessed for chromosome aberra-tion analysis which are in prog-ress.

Instrumentation

A demonstration of the OpticalData Link developed in BARC was

arranged for Videsh SamacharNigam. The data link has beenmodified to extend its range from1 km to 2 kms.

Electronic circuits for all theamplifiers of 1 kJ: 1 n5 glass laserhave been developed. A SMPsupply for charging of energy stor-age capacitor is being developed.

An Explosive Detector was de-veloped for bulk detection of ex-plosives for Ministry of HomeAffairs. It uses a radioactivesource for transmission of fastneutrons from the matter underobservation. It is used for sear-ching vehicles for explosives hid-den behind door panels, sills andother cavities.

A fast optical radiometer incor-porating a PIN photodiode hasbeen fabricated for use duringsafety surveys of industrial andlaboratory optical sources.

Six numbers of fixed filter betagamma continuous air monitorshave been fabricated. Of these,four are for Waste ManagementFacility, Tarapur, and the remain-ing two for Radiometallurgy Divi-sion, BARC and IGCAR, Kal-pakkam.

One NO2/NH3 monitor withalarm facility was supplied toHeavy Water Plant, Thai. Studieswere also carried out to determine

the conversion of NH3 to NO inthe cracker units of Heavy WaterPlants.

A variety of nuclear instrumentmodules such as the low noisecharge-sensitive pre-amplifiers,constant-fraction timing analys-ers, 4K and 8K nuclear spectralData Acquisition System based onPersonal Computers, and Scintilla-tion Counting Systems have beendesigned, fabricated and suppliedto users. Some of these units arealso being transferred for produc-tion at ECIL, in view/ of their con-tinuous demands in nuclear in-dustry.

Development of a Video FrameProcessor for visualising differ-ence — images in industrialradiography, template matching,intruder detection and such di-verse applications has been com-pleted and the know-how/ trans-ferred to a private industry for in-dustrial exploitation. Based onsuccessful preliminary trials, anacoustic under-water ambientnoise recording system, housed ina hydrostatic chamber and oper-ated by battery power, has beendeveloped for NIO. Goa. foroceanographic studies. Elec-tromyograph useful for neurolo-gical studies has been successful-ly evaluated and it is being offeredfor industrial exploitation undertransfer of know-how.

Intelligent [Braille Interpreter with voice recognition capacity

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Twenty-five sophisticated elec-tronics instrumentation systemsfor radiation safety and healthassessment, of both environmentand operating personnel, havebeen supplied to different DAEpower projects.

Procurement of materials andinstallation for the setting up of aflow calibration facility for a flowof 0-3500 Ipm was completed andthe actual erection of the facilitywas taken up. Evaluation testswere carried out for tube fittings,solenoid valves, ultrasonic flowmeters, temperature transmit-ters, etc. Setting up of variousstandard facilities under Central-ised Process Instrumentation Unit(CPILO is in progress.

Modification of proces instru-mentation and controls for theAcid Regeneration unit, OSCOM,IRE, Orissa was completed andthe plant was commissioned suc-cessfully with the newly installedinstruments.

Computer Based Instrumentation

A PC based Data Station for dif-ferential scanning calorimeter forthe study of thermal properties ofvarious materials has been de-veloped. It automates the controlof data acquisition and processingof the data from differential scan-ning calorimeter.

A PC/AT 386 based system hasbeen designed for recording andanalysing induced microseismicevents in the champion reef areain the Kolar gold mines. The sys-tem will be installed at a depth of 3kms in the mine. Event status in-formation is transmitted to theearth station online for moni-toring.

A personal computer based in-terface for the Scandig photomet-ric microdensitometer has beendeveloped. The microdensito-meter was earlier equipped withinterface to the PDP-11 compu-ter. This interface has been rede-signed without changing the inter-face signal levels.

A personal computer based in-terface for low resolution organicmass spectrometer has been de-veloped for carrying out theroutine analysis of mass spec-trum.

A PC based data acquisition andprocessing system for pulseradiolysis experiments has beendeveloped.

The technique of pulse radioly-sis is a very powerful tool for thestudy of mechanisms of fast che-mical reactions initiated by ionizingradiations in very short time dura-tions of the order of nanoseconds.The manual processing of datagenerated in the form of oscillo-scope trace is cumbersome andtime consuming. A personal com-puter has been interfaced withthe storage oscilloscope using aGPIB port to acquire data andsoftware has been developed tocompute the kinetic parametersby a linear least fit procedure.

A personal computer based highspeed multiparameter data ac-quisition system for processingdata at the rate of 10.000 eventsper second was deveJoped and in-stalled at Pelletron Laboratory.TIFR.

A 50 MHz 11 bit ADC has beendesigned, developed and pro-totype engineered. Two ADCshave been supplied for the posi-tion sensitive detector assemblysystem and they are already func-tioning satisfactorily. Two moreADCs have already been made foruse at the Pelletron. These ADCsare undergoing final tests.

A nanosecond delay systemwhich generates very accuratefast delay for the experiments us-ing gas gun for studying the be-haviour of materials under highpressure has been developed. Theinstrument produces three inde-pendent delays. Delays are select-able through thumbwheel switch-es. The delayed outputs are usedto trigger different units situatedat distances upto 20 metres. Pro-totype model has been fullytested by user. The final unit con-sisting of 3 delay modules hasbeen fabricated and tested and isready to be installed at user site.

Physical Protection System con-sisting of perimeter protection,access control and CCTV surveill-ance system was commmissionedat Narora Atomic Power Stationand Rajasthan Atomic Power Sta-tion. Indigenisation of Central Con-

3.29

troller of access control systemwas completed. An access controlsystem suitable for OEM cardreaders was also developed. Amicrocontroller based system forCCTV camera control with a singlevideo cable for video signal andcommand transmission was de-veloped.

One IBM-PC based image pro-cessing and analysis system wasdeveloped for Health Physics Divi-sion, BARC, for radiation damagestudies. Software was developedfor shading correction and greylevel image processing.

A system was developed and in-terfaced to Scanning ElectronMicroscope at Indira Gandhi Cen-tre for Atomic Research. It con-sists of hardware and softwarefor correlation of electron imageand X-ray image map for chemicalanalysis.

A phonetic code based schemeof issuing multipurpose identitycards was prepared and submit-ted to Election Commission. Itwas accepted in the All India Con-ference of Chief Electoral Officersat Tirupati in June 1989, for intro-duction as a pilot project in theState of Goa. Implementation ofthis Scheme in the State of Jam-mu & Kashmir was also under-taken.

A low cost high security identitycard making machine was de-veloped for Ministry of HomeAffairs. The system consists of avideo camera, IBM-PC/386 compu-ter system and laser printer. Theidentity card details are composedfor 8 I-Cards for printing on an A-4size sheet. A photo base is main-tained along with the personaldata for retrieval and verification.

A non-contact flow measuringsystem was developed. Experi-ments were carried out on a 2"pipe-section at Engineering Hall-7,BARC. The actual flow rate iscomputed using an IBM-PC/ATcomputer. Accuracy of measure-ment at room temperature was +3%.

For Heavy Water Projects, on-lira multichannel hydrogen moni-toring system was developed. Thesystem provides signal proces-sing, data displaying, hard copy

generations, dual alarm levelannotation and operator's interac-tion facility. Constant detectorblock temperature controlled bydigital PID controller reducesambient temperature drift effect.

Control Engineering

Manufacturing and testing of 15Ocanned motors has been taken upfor Heavy Water Plant at Hazira. Afirst batch of 100 motors has beenmanufactured and delivered tosite for installation. Since con-siderable expertise is available ondesign and manufacture of can-ned motors and these machinesfind wide application in petroche-mical and other industries, tech-nology transfer is planned. De-velopment of a range of cannedmotors for DAE use and also fortechnology transfer is under-taken.

The Giant Meter Radio Tele-scope Project envisages control ofthirty four numbers of 45 metreparabolic fully stearable antennasspread over a distance of 14 kmsfrom a central control room. A pro-totype DC servo drive and controlsystem has been fabricated tostudy the controllability from cen-tral station, interference of theservo drive from radio star signalsand the capability to position andtrack stars within accuracies de-manded.

A 16-bit microprocessor baseddata acquisition and control sys-tem for six axes neutron spectro-meter has been designed andfabricated for use in Dhruva forCrystrallo-graphic studies. Thesystem is being used in conjunc-tion with a PC for data storage andanalysis. A single station can caterto the control of six spectro-meters.

Civil Engineering

The main construction activityduring the year was continuationof superstructure works for theWaste Immobilisation PlantCRs.9.58 crores) which were com-menced in July 1987. The civilworks for service building in thecomplex are completed and worksin process building including cellsand ancillary structures are in adv-anced stage of progress. Con-

struction of 100 metre high RCCstack (Rs. 30.5 lakhs) is in prog-ress. These structures comeunder the nuclear category and in-volve heavy RCC works and cellswhich demand rigid quality con-trol, consistency in quality ofmaterials and high degree ofworkmanship.

Construction of CD Undergroundwater tank of 50 lakh litres capac-ity for alternate water supply lineto BARC CRs. 78.6 lakhs), Cii) Lowcost covered shed for DPS atTrombay Village CRs. 26.26 lakhs),0ii) HT & LT Substation attachedto Prip Shed CRs. 4.52 lakhs). Civ)RCC trenches in Zone 12 in RSMSarea, Trombay CRs. 2O.72 lakhs)and other miscellaneous workswere completed during the year.

Financial sanctions for expan-sion to BARC Hospital atAnushaktinagar including residen-tial accommodation to HousemenCRs. 190.00 lakhs) and construc-tion of Bank and Post Office build-ing at Trombay CRs. 22.78 lakhs)have been received and detailedplanning and tender action are onhand.

Further schemes under planningare proposed extension toRadiometallurgy Division — HotCell Facility CRs. 163.00 lakhs),Glass House and Service room forBiology and Agricultural DivisionCRs. 8.9O lakhs), and coveredparking for cars and scooters atNorth Gate CRs. 8.73 lakhs).

Due to ageing of the structuresover the years, structural repairsfor Ci) RCC jetty for Cirus, Cii) pre-stressed saucer type water tanks,and Ciii) Modular laboratory buildingface-lift have become necessaryand these works are planned to betaken up.

The maintenance of reactors,plants, laboratories, utilities andother buildings at Trombay, BARChospital and old and new Trainees'Hostels at Anushaktinagar, NRLand Cosmic Ray Research Labbuildings in Kashmir was carriedout. A grant of Rs. 84.00 lakhswas spent during the current yearon maintenance works. Major re-pairs like renewal bf waterproof-ing treatments over old terraces,guniting to RCC members of

structures were carried out aspart of the continuing mainte-nance activity.

Extension to Beryllium Machin-ing Facility CRs. 3.88 lakhs) atVashi is under construction. Plan-ning for construction of new dis-pensary building CRs. 9.37 lakhs)at Vashi is completed and sanctionawaited to take up construction.

Construction of 230 quartersCRs. 311 lakhs) and school buildingCRs. 58.40 lakhs) at Tarapur wascompleted and buildings werehanded over to the users. Detailedplanning for construction of 479quarters proposed under VIII planis on hand. At plant site, a schemefor augmentation of water supplyto various BARC installations cost-ing Rs. 246.50 lakhs has beenfinalised and necessary estimatewas submitted for sanction. Dueto change in the policy adopted byMl DC, efforts for identification ofother sources for water are beingmade at higher level. Detailedplanning/proposals for extensionto TAPS Hospital CRs. 16O.OOlakhs), 8th set of RCC trenchesfor Waste Management CRs. 58.38lakhs) and renewal of waterproof-ing over PREFRE buildings hasbeen completed and works will betaken up after allotment of funds.

Financial sanction for construc-tion of National Centre for Com-positional Characterisation of HighPurity Materials at Hyderabad witha component of Rs. 177.00 lakhsfor civil works has been received.The Compound wall around allot-ted area is completed and otherinfrastructure works are in prog-ress. Construction of Bulk Analy-sis 6c Profile Laboratory, Adminis-trative Building, A.C. Plant andsubstation, costing Rs. 73.00lakhs, is in progress. Detailed de-signs for main Ultra Trace Analysislaboratory are under f inalisation.

After receipt of financial sanc-tion for expansion to Nuclear Re-search Laboratory Phase-Ill, Sring-ar, construction was taken up andwork is in progress.

Detailed proposals for additionsand modifications to the existingbuildings of Seismic Array CentreCRs. 4.5O lakhs) at Gauribidnurwere finalised and works are

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being taken up as per sanctionsaccorded,

The outlay on civil works ofBARC including outstation worksduring the current year 1989-90 isRs. 745.00 lakhs. The budget out-lay for the next year 1990-91 is Rs.863.00 lakhs.

Architects of BARC continuedto render architectural service forBARC works at Trombay, Vashi.Tarapur and Srinagar; DAE worksat Anushaktinagar; Heavy WaterProjects at Kota and Baroda; Ato-mic Minerals Division Projects atNagpur, Hyderabad, Shillong, TataNagar and Bangalore; VECC at Cal-cutta; Guest House at Delhi; NFCat Hyderabad; Tata Institute ofFundamental Research works atBombay, Bangalore, Ooty andGauribidnur; Giant MetrewaveRadio Telescope Station at Puneand Narayangaon; Tata MemorialCentre at Bombay; Saha Instituteof Nuclear Physics at Calcutta; lay-outs and execution of exhibitionsat Delhi and Hyderabad, etc.Architectural service was also ren-dered for the completion ofPhase-I of Society for Applied Mic-rowave Electronics Engineeringand Research, Department ofElectronics, at Powai and NewBombay; and extension to the In-stitute of Catering and Hotel Man-agement, Department of Tourism,at Bombay.

Common facilities needed by va-rious plants/facilities of BARC atTarapur, like housing, canteens,communications, maintenance ofthe estate and other common ser-vices including civil, electrical andmechanical maintenance, land-scaping and cosmetic mainte-nance, departmental transport in-cluding garage facilities, fire ser-vices, etc. were looked after.

230 quarters have been con-structed and allotted. The mainte-nance work of the BARC staff col-ony has been carried out satisfac-torily. The cabin for the securitypersonnel near the main gate ofBARC staff colony was con-structed.

Electrical & Mechanical Utilities

Infrastructural facilities requiredat various stages from conception

to commissioning were providedin various projects at PREFRE Ex-pansion, Tarapur; Nuclear Re-search Laboratory, Srinagar; HighAltitude Research Laboratory.Gulmarg; National Centre for Char-acterisation of High Purity Mate-rials, Hyderabad; and various pro-jects at Bombay. The major taskincluded operation and mainte-nance of electrical power supplyto all the laboratories/offices/plants at BARC with total con-sumption of 150 million units; cen-tral water chilling plants of above50D0 tons of refrigeration, watersupply system of 10 Mega-litres/day, fire hydrants, compressed airplants, cranes, emergency powersupply systems, lifts, etc.

Design assistance, expertadvice, testing facilities, etc. wereprovided to units of DAE andother Government Departmentslike Nuclear Power Corporation,Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,TIFR, Tata Memorial Hospital. IRE,Govt. Mint, International Instituteof Population Sciences, etc.

Central Workshops

Central Workshops continued todesign, develop and manufacturedifferent types of equipments forvarious constituent units ofD.A.E. and various Divisions ofB.A.R.C.

Some of the major equipmentswhich have been designed, fabri-cated and assembly tested includePrecision Goniometers, AirCushion based Neutron Spectro-meter, Diamond Anvil Cell Assem-bly for high pressure study,Monochromator Spectrograph,Scanning Monochromator, RFQAccelerator, a Prototype Radioim-munoassay Counter for nuclear,medical and pharmaceutical ap-plications, etc.

A number of precision equip-ments like Triple Stage Spectro-graph Assembly, Full Circle Gonio-meters, Ion Target Chamber forBeam Foil Spectral Studies, UltraHigh Vacuum Molecular BeamScattering Chamber, 5 Axis Man-ipulator for handling uranium ing-ots were designed and taken upfor manufacturing.

3.31

A vacuum chamber for dipolemagnet was fabricated for CAT.Fabrication of Cold NeutronVacuum Shrouds, a large numberof process equipments for FUS,WIP, KARP and PREFRE havebeen taken up and are in an adv-anced stage of completion. A Pro-totype Onion Irradiator and Multis-tage Centrifugal Extractor for pro-cessing irradiated nuclear fuel areunder manufacture.

Central Workshops has alsomanufactured various equipmentsfor nuclear power reactors. Theseinclude additional support compo-nents and secondary shutdownsystem components for NAPP,Fuelling Machine Heads for KAPP-II, 'Z' Motion Guidaways, FuelTubes and Shield Plug Assemblycomponents for KAPP. Manufac-turing work on two FuellingMachine Heads for RAPP-3 Pro-ject is in an advanced stage.

Development work for estab-lishing the manufacturing processand tooling for inspection of EndFittings and Liner Tubes and Fuell-ing Machine Head Ram assemblycomponents for 500 MWe projecthas been completed and produc-tion of the same has been takenup. Precision Investment Castingsfor Guide Tube Support for TAPSare being made. A process for fab-rication of ceramic components byinjection moulding of ceramicpowders has been developed. Pro-cess for chromium-rare earths ox-ide cermet coating by aqueouselectrolysis developed at CentralWorkshops has been used for pro-cessing cylinders used in heavycombat vehicles.

A large number of componentsfor remote manipulators were alsomanufactured for the power reac-tor maintenance work. A specialpurpose remote boring and groov-ing machine has been designed,developed and prototype tested.This machine will be used for nuc-lear power reactor maintenancework.

Central Workshops has beenrendering maintenance servicesfor machine tools and equipmentsfor various Divisions of B.A.R.C. Ithas also rendered metrology andN.D.T. services to the projects ex-ecuted by various Divisions.

Special purpose machine

Remote Handling and Robotics

A number of projects underassembly during the last year havebeen completed and tested.

Automation systems for place-ment of helical spacer pads onPHWR fuel elements for weldinghas been completed and is beingtest run for reliability. This systempicks one pad at a time from amagazine system and places it onthe fuel element for welding. Thewelder has only to select themode of operation and push a but-ton. Similarly, the automation sys-tem for placing bearing pads onthe fuel elements has been com-pleted and tried out successfully.This particular system accepts the

two types of bearing pads used,orients them and place them onthe fuel pin for welding. It is con-trolled by a small programme logiccontrol. Both the systems havebeen developed to fit equipmentcurrently in use with a view toautomate the process.

Gathering pellets from the finalcompaction press (5 or more innumber) and placing them inmolybdenum boats for sinteringhas been a continuing problem atNFC. A new concept in automat-ing this process by surroundingthe pellets by a loop which is tight-ened around them has beenevolved. A 'Pick and Place' robotwith these features is undergoing

trials. This will be integrated withpositioning table for loading thetrays autc-natically, thus relievingoperators of working in an en-vironment with a great deal ofUO2 dust. All the foregoing de-velopments will be useful not only

. in other plants which NFC is plan-ning, but also in the PREFRE ex-pansion plant at Tarapur. Thisplant has been supplied with arobot for handling and stackingpellets inside a glove box. Therobot is undergoing trials prior tobeing integrated into the fuel fab-rication train. An upgraded versionof this 4-axis robot has beenmanufactured. This machine canbe dismantled and posted into aglove box for reassembly and op-eration inside. Delicate operationslike handling green pellets, pouringout contents of test tubes intoother test tubes, etc. have beencarried out. Currently, some ex-periments based on the use ofsensors are being done.

Keeping in mind the need toautomate chemical quality controlin radiochemical plants, a fairlyelaborate robotic system LABOTis being put together. Such in-volved operations as openingscrewed caps of vials, closingthem, etc. have been successfullydone. Software, ultimately elimi-nating the need for maintainingelaborate written records, is in anadvanced stage.

Several experiments in 'feedforward' dynamic modelling of the5-axial servo robot have been verysuccessfully done. The softwareis being modified to allow full useof the htgh trajectory speed of themachine. This work will be veryhelpful in evolving Computer AidedTelemanipulation (CAT). The ACservo manipulator, the center ofthe CAT system, is in an advancedstage of assembly. It is hopedthat, early this year, tests can be-gin on this machine.

Walking and crawling mechan-isms Cwhich offer excellent plat-forms for instruments of inspec-tion and survey) in several formsare under development. A crawlerfor inspecting the space betweenthe two sodium containment ves-sels of the PFBR-5OO is being de-signed. The 18 degree of freedom

3.32

walking mechanism is "nearing astage where tests on the soft-ware as well as the mechanismcan begin.

Pneumatics, both logic and ser-vo-controlled, will prove to be veryuseful in actuating variousmechanisms. Work is progressingin logic controlled pneumatic sys-tems and pneumatic servo sys-tems. The object is to have multi-position, multispeed control, usingpneumatic motors available in thecountry.

Special manipulators for carryingout repairs to calandria of MAPSreactors have been taken up onpriority. One mechanical manipula-tor for handling debris inside thecalandria has been assembled andsuccessfully tried out on mock-ups. Two more systems, one forhandling a video camsra andanother for the repair of the dam-aged inlet manifold, are underassembly. The latter system is aservo manipulator with 5 joints,using pneumatic servo drives de-veloped entirely in BARC.

FBTR and other reactors needto have their coolant and otherpipe lines inspected periodically.Currently, a pneumatically oper-ated orbital ultrasonic inspectionmachine (designed and assembledin DRHR) is undergoing trials priorto use in FBTR secondary sodiumloop. This system can be clampedon to the pipe C8" dia) and oper-ated on various modes remotelyvia a Personal Computer.

The design of the teletherapyunit has been completed andmanufacture taken up in CentralWorkshop.

Transfer of technologies de-veloped Cthe pneumatic pick andplace robot, A.C. drag cup induc-tion servo motor and A.C. servoamplifier) has reached a stagewhere several firms have indi-cated their willingness to buyeach. Several more technologiesC4-axis and 5-axis robots, cheapProgramme logic control, variablefrequency variable voltage servodrives, 3-phase servo motors andpneumatic servo drives) are likelyto be available soon.

Molecular Biology

Self cloning in H.influenzae is veryefficient. A number of genes havebeen cloned in this system tounderstand various differentmechanisms pertaining to DNA re-pair, recombination andmutagenesis. A new gene hasbeen designated uvr-3. Preliminaryexperiments on cloning of humanDNA in H. influenzae have beenencouraging. It was possible toclone a comparatively large seg-ment of human DNA . in thissystem.

Lysogenization with the widehost range actinophage WHRO5,earlier isolated and characterizedhere, profoundly altered the prop-erties of a Streptomyces fradiaestrain. The lysogen differs from itsparent in antibacterial actionagainst several organisms, growsfaster and produces a darker pig-ment.

Some strains of the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria Oblue-greenbacteria) can tolerate much higherlevels of salt than normal. Theycan prove very useful model sys-tems for elucidating the mechan-isms of salt-tolerance in bacteriaand plants, and possibly providegenes for constructing transgenicplants capable of growing in salinesoils. Strains which accumulatedless salt were found to be moresalt tolerant than those whichaccumuls .ed more salt. The inhe-rent ability of the strains to pre-vent sodium accumulation couldbe further modified by environ-mental factors and alkaline pH orby the presence of exogenouscombined nitrogen. Further, salin-ity stress was found to be muchmore deleterious to cyanobacteriathan an equivalent osmotic stress.Nitrogen fixation was found to becompletely insensitive to osmoticstress but was very sensitive toionic component of salt stress.

Salinity induced the synthesis ofseveral new peptides in nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. These salin-ity stress proteins CSSP) were lo-cated in membranes as well as incytoplasm. In salt sens'tive strainsSSPs were observed for a shorttime while in salt tolerant strainsthey were synthesised con-tinuously at high rates.

3.33

A library of the genome of a salttolerant cyanobacterium was con-structed. A procedure was de-veloped to detect DNA whose ex-pression is selectively induced bysalt. Several cosmids harbouringsuch salt inducible genes havebeen isolated. These are beingscreened for a likely role in osmo-tic adaptation and salt tolerance.

Bacillus tahuringiensis a gram+ ve bacterium forms in secticidalprotein crystals during sporula-tion. The crystal proteins are toxicto the larvae of a variety of in-sects. Genes coding for the toxinwere identified in severly strainsof B. thuringiensis. One such genewas cloned in a multicopy plasmidvector to obtain transgenic E. colicells which produce a largeamount of 130 KDa larvicidal pro-tein. These E. coli cells several re-tarded the growth of the larvae ofa polyphagus insect Spodopteralitura.

Studies reported earlier had indi-cated that cell death in cyanobac-teria seen on exposure to far ultra-violet light is not caused solely bylethal damage to DNA and that thephotosynthetic apparatus is anadditional lethal target of UV inthese bacteria. Thermoluminesc-ence studies with chloroplastshave now identified oxygen evolv-ing complex of this apparatus asthe. site of sensitivity to UV.

Computer programmes havebeen developed to study gene ex-pression efficiency from DNAsequence of known genes andtheir expression levels.

Single crystals of a multienzymecomplex containing the photo-synthetic enzyme, ribulose 1,5 bis-phosphate carboxylase CRubisco)were analyzed by X-ray diffrac-tion. Inactivation of this enzymeby C2-hydroxy-5-nitro) sulfoniumbromide was found to be not dueto any structural changes in theenzyme molecule. Chemical mod-ification studies showed that thearginine residues of NADP malicenzyme play a role in the binding ofthe substrate male. Mechanism ofactivation of phosphenol pyruvatecarboxylase by glycine and glucose6-phosphate was elucidated.

Every phase of plant life is con-trolled by plant hormones and at

times when their endogenoussupply is diminishing under stress,exogenous supplementation haveproved ameliorative. Applicationof plant growth regulators (®p!anthormones) at flag leaf senescenceinitiation stage of huskless barley,not only delayed the leaf ageingbut also increased yield by 15-20%. Such ameliorative effectseems to be due to enhancedchlorophyll retention.

Suppression of immunologica!reactivity is necessary in organtransplantation and helps in thecontrol of allergic disorders. Stu-dies on the effects of immunosup-pressive agents showed that thedrug cyclophosphamide was ableto prolong the survival of relatedskin grafts in mice when adminis-tered 3 days before or on 1 or 2days after transplantation. Treat-ment of such mice with an anti-lymphocyte serum preparedagainst the graft activated lym-phocytes further enhanced thegraft survival. In a separate study,it was observed that a significantproportion of mice treated at birthwith this drug succumbed towasting disease due to failure offormation of cells responsible forimmunological sufficiency.

Whole body gamma irradiation ofCBA mice affected precursors ofsuppressor T lymphocytes. In vitroirradiation of activated suppressorT cells inhibited the release of sup-presser factor for regulation of de-layed hypersensitivity in a dose-dependent manner.

The mechanism underlying theanti-tumour immunity displayed byallograft sensitized mice are beinginvestigated. Therapeutic efficien-cy was displayed by a sub-population of T lymphocytes fromthese mice. In vitro cytotoxicity totumour cells displayed by thesecells, however, required exposureto tumour cells.

Flow cytometry, a versatiletechnique that permits rapidC1OOO cells/sec) analysis of cellpopulations with respect to cellu-lar content of DNA, RNA, protein,surface receptors etc, is beingused to study effects of toxic che-micals including mutagens onmarine spermatogenic cells. Flowcytometric studies based on DNA

profiles showed that benzo-Opyrene and cyclophosphamidetreatment of mice result in a de-crease in the spermatozoa 26 daysafter the administration of the re-spective compounds.

A peptide fraction partially puri-fied from the human ovarian fol-licular tissue was found to inducedose related atresia in the mousegranulosa cells, leading to inhibi-tion of ovulation. In view of thepossible potential of this fractionas a contraceptive the dose-response of granulosa cells wasstudied by flow cytometry.Efforts are being made to carryout flow cytometric characteriza-tion of marine ovarian cells andtumour biopsies preserved infrozen sections.

The technique of flowcytometry is also being used tomonitor the distribution of SHgroups in the marine sperma-togenic cells. Such studies may behelpful in gaining insight into thecritical role these moieties areknown to play in the protectivemechanisms against damage in-duced by radiation and/or environ-mental chemicals.

Inhibition of mutagenic re-sponse in mammals in vivo haspotential implications in the pre-vention of cancer and other geno-toxic damage that may arise dueto exposure to ionizing radiationand chemical mutagens. A groupof vitamins and trace metals havebeen recently shown to be anti-mutagenic in prokaryotes. Suchagents can be used as prophylac-tic agents against genotoxic dam-age provided they are found effec-tive in vivo in mammalian system.Cobalt CID chloride given intraperi-toneally inhibited the chromosom-al damage induced by methylmelhanesulfonate (MMS) andgamma rays in the bone marrowof Swiss mice. Further experi-ments showed the inhibitory re-sponse against MMS to be dose-related and time dependent.However, vitamins A and E, failedto inhibit chromosomal damage in-duced by MMS and cyclophospha-mide used as model chemicalmutagens in the bone marrow ofSwiss mice. Selenium increasedthe frequency of micronucleatedcells in the bone marrow of mice

and produced an additivemutagenic response with MMS.The failure of vitamins and seli-nium to exhibit any antimutagenicresponse in mice may be due tothe inherent differences in bacte-rial and animal systems or may berelated to the doses/concentra-tions of these agents achievable inthe two systems.

Biochemistry

Studies on regulatory mechanismsat molecular and cellular levels,structure-functions of proteinsand nucleic acids, sequence ofmolecular events in animals afterexposure to radiations and che-micals, and metabolic basis of hu-man pathological conditions werecontinued.

Evidence was obtained from ratthymus nuclei for the presence ofan endonuclease activity in theisolated discrete multienzymecomplex of terminal deoxynuc-leotidyl transferase. The struc-ture-function relationship of DNApolymerase in E. coli was ex-amined.

Studies on DNA primase inyeast mitochondria were con-tinued. This enzyme which seemsto participate in the initiation ofreplication of one of the strands ofmitochondrial DNA was found toexist as a single polypeptide.Other studies suggest that theenzyme molecule could have anoligoribonucleotide component, 8-10 residues long, as its integralcomponent and essential for en-zyme activity.

Characterization of some impor-tant enzymes of microbial speciesof Coryneform group of bacteriawas continued.

In vitro studies provided new in-formation on the conditions re-quired for the metabolite-inducedmodulation of lactate dehyd-rogenase CLDH) which results inexcess formation of oxalate lead-ing to kidney stone formation.Addition of glyoxylate reductaseor glycolic acid oxidase whichshare a common substrate, viz.,glyoxylate, impedes the formationof oxalate from glyoxylate.

Studies on structure of biomem-branes revealed that interaction of

3.34

DPPC with the tridecapeptideneurotensine caused a change inthe mobility of phospholipid head-groups and, in turn, the phase ofthe model membrane.

Studies on biochemical changesoccurring in uterus during im-plantation have revealed the insitu synthesis of a new membraneprotein that may have a role in thedifferentiation of stromal cells intodecidual cells.

Investigations pertaining to theimbalance of hormones and theirmetabolism were continued.Maternal transfer of thyroxine andtriiodothyronine was establishedin rat fetal brain and other tissuesby determination of their levels inearly gestation using an ultrasensi-tive radioimmunoassay technique.Hypothyroidism in rats led to high-er levels of blood folates akin tothose attained following the admi-nistration of vitamin B12. Usingpancreatectomised rats, it wasproved that conjugated dietary fo-lates have to be hydrolysed by apancreatic enzyme prior to theirabsorption in the jejunum.

Streptozotocin-induced diabeticcondition caused accumulation ofsimple folates from the more ac-tive conjugated folates in the ratliver. The levels of folate in bonemarrow remain unaffected evenone month after administration ofthe antiepileptic drug phenobarbi-tone. Impairments in the rat livermitochondrial respiration rates,ADP-phosphorylation rates andlevels of cytochrome wereobserved in response to over-doses of paracetamol indicatingdysfunctions in the energy meta-bolism.

Studies relating to the role ofdietary factors in relation to thecardiovascular implications werepursued. In rats, heated or ther-mally oxidised edible oils, namely,coconut, groundnut and saffloweroils did not show a pronouncedeffect on the plasma lipid para-meters when fed in acute andshort term studies.

In hypertensive patients, gener-ating potential of endogeneousvasoconstrictor (thrornboxane)and vasodilator Cprostacyclin) wasat variance. The plasminogen acti-

vator was also found in lymphosar-coma of mice and its activity wascomparable to that from Yoshidasarcoma, particularly for dissolvingthe fibrin clot bound to plasmi-nogen.

Programmes on biochemicalmechanisms underlying malignanttransformations are being con-tinued. Studies on inhibitoryeffect of nicotinamide on diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarci-nogenesis in rats was found to beat multiple levels of cellular consti-tuents. Glutathione-related en-zymes did not have any protectiverole in this malignant transforma-tion.

Experiments with aflatoxin B1and N-nitrosodiethylamine sug-gest that hepatic flavin coen-zymes are modulated by the carci-nogen treatment, and riboflavin isfound to suppress molecular reac-tivity of carcinogens. The molecu-lar changes induced by aflatoxinB1 appear to be single^strandbreaks in DNA followed by the al-terations of nuclear transcriptionand induction of poly (ADP-ribose)synthetase activity in nuclei whichlevels off with the ultimate repairof damaged DNA. The N-nitrosogroup of carcinogens, howeverelicits different molecular action inthe target tissues such that alkyl-nitrosamide modifies mucosalpolysomes. This may probablyhave a relevance to carcinogenec-ity of N-'nitroso group chemicals instomach.

Using in vivo and in vitro modelstudies, it has been observed thatseveral factors including novel re-tinoids, riboflavin, -carotenoids,natural coumarins, synthetic fla-vones, natural phenolic f lavonoidsand the trace metal copper havethe capacity to antagonize themolecular reactivity and biologicalactivity of several carcinogens.Most of these factors have beenfound to act through interactionswith cytochrome P-450.

Evidence has been obtained forthe presence of a monoxygenasesystem in liver mitochondria whichcontains an active flavin-containing oxygenase, and partici-pates in electron transfer throughcytochrome, P-45O and NADPHthereby oxidising the substrate.

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Studies have shown that oxidisedmetabolite could form covalentadduct with DNA which empha-sizes the importance ofmitochondrial DNA in carcinogene-sis. Antitumour activity of heat in-activated lactic acid bacterial cul-tures against f ibrosarcoma, sarco-ma 180 and Ehrlich ascites carci-noma in mice was correlated withthe mechanisms through immuneresponse possibly with the parti-cipation of T-cells in developingtumour immunity. Urinary pter-idine levels were found to be anaccurate index for monitoring theseverity of cancer of the cervix inhumans. A promising potential inthe prognosis of cancer at variousstages of development in oncolo-gy clinics is suggested by examina-tion of isoenzyme pattern of sialyl-transferase isolated from bloodplasma of neoplastic subjects bygel electrofocussing. Efficacy ofestrogen and progesterone recep-tor treatment given to breast-cancer patients was found to beabout 609b.

The effect of whole body radia-tion exposure (25-1000F0 on DNAsynthesis was examined in ratswhose heads were protected bylead shielding. Whole-body radia-tion exposure resulted in gradedinhibition of DNA synthesis inspleen and thymus. In the partiallyprotected rats, the DNA synthesiswas not arrested. Lead shieldingof the spleen during irradiationcould not afford any protectfon ofDNA synthesis while a partial pro-tection could be seen if'the thy-mus was protected during irradia-tion. The radiation inducedchanges in DNA synthesis couldbe attributed to indirect effects ofradiation mediated throughneuroendocrine mechanisms. Pre-treatment of rats with nicotina-mide was shown to prevent gam-ma-radiation induced degradationof liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 and membrane damage.

The incidence of dominantlethality of mice tended to rise inthe week 3 with increase in doseof gamma rays prior to mating, in-dicating increased radiosensitivityin less mature oocytes. The inci-dence of congenital malforma-tions following irradiation wastime-dependent. Dwarfism was

found to be the commonlyobserved congenital abnormalityirrespective of radiation exposurein different stages of estrous cy-cle of mice. Metabolism of Sr andCa was examined in rat using89,90Sr and 45Ca and comparedwith that in human by determiningtheir levels and the ratio in the dietand excretion (24 h).

Bio-Organic Chemistry

Both applied and basic researcheswere carried out in different areasof bio-organic chemistry. Sys-tematic screening of plants forbioactive compounds was con-tinued with the aim to explore thebiotechnical potential of Indianflora. As a result, several naturalproducts such as coumarins,acetylenic compounds, complexprenylated xanthones, lignans,furopyrones and alkaloids wereisolated. Their structural elucida-tion was greatly facilitated withinstallation of a 200 MHz super- •conducting FT-NMR spectro-meter. A novel non-destructivetechnique involving 2D-NMR spec-troscopy for elucidation of struc-tures of organic compounds hasbeen developed. Structural andbinding interactions of oligonuc-leotides and oligopeptides areunder study using NMR andfluoresence spectroscopy.

An insecticidal principle, capillin,has been isolated from the plant,Artemesia nilagirica. It showed awide spectrum of toxicity to diffe-rent stages of development ofmosquito and red cotton bug. Abioassay directed fractionation ofthe extracts from the commongarden plant, lady's lace, led to theisolation of insect antifeedantprinciples which were characte-rised as khellin, visnagin and re-lated compounds. Several analogsof the active principles have beenprepared and a detailed evaluationof their feeding deterrency contri-buted towards the knowledge ofstructure-activity relationships.Studies on novel antimoultingactivity of the plant product, plum-bagin, have been extended to re-lated compounds and several in-sects.

Extensive work has been car-ried out in the area of biosynthesisusing stable as well as radfoactive

isotopes. Detailed pathway lead-ing to biosynthesis of khellin andrelated compounds has beenelaborated. Unusual incorpora-tions of common amino acids intofuropyrones, khellin andmeroterpene, bakuchiol havebeen observed.

Insect pheromones are gainingspecial imporatance in the moderninsect control technologies. Incontinuation of efforts towardssynthesis of agrochemicals, newsyntheses of pheromones of cot-ton pests have been developed.Synthetic pheromene of sugar-cane pest is under field trials. Stu-dies in these areas have been ex-tended to the synthesis of chiralcompounds. Asymmetric synth-esis of (S)-4-hexanolide, a chiralpheromone of stored grain beetle,Trogoderma glabrum has beenaccomplished. Synthesis of biolo-gically active sesquiterpenoid, C+ )hirsutene has been achieved bystereoselective intramolecularene-reaction of 1,6 dienes.

A new methodology for the pre-paration of ' isotopically labelledcompounds has been developedand used for the synthesis oflabelled Cwith 3H or 2H> khellin andvisnagin which are of medicinal im-portance. A convenient methodfor the preparation of importantradiopharmaceutical, namely hex-amethylenepropylene amine ox-ime (HM-PACO, which has exten-sive use in cerebral perfusion im-aging hds been developed. Nitrosocompounds have recently ac-quired importance because oftheir mutagenic and carcinogenicproperties. An excellent methodfor preparation of nitroso com-pounds has made these com-pounds available for laboratorystudies. In the area of biocatalysis,microbial systems have been util-ised for the regio- and stereospe-cif ic reductions of carbonyl groupsto chiral alcohols which served aschirons for the asymmetric synth-

As a spin-off from the resear-ches in the above mentionedareas, several new syntheticallyimportant methodologies such asshort-synthesis of heterocycles,inversion of chirality and a mildprenylation procedure have been

3.36

developed which would be usefulfor the preparation of large num-ber of compounds.

Nuclear Agriculture

Certified seed production prog-ramme of the BARC varieties ofpulses was enhanced by theMaharashtra State Seeds Corpora-tion. During the year, over 470metric tonnes of seed was pro-duced and distributed to the far-mers. About 38 metric tonnesseed of rice cultivar Han was pro-duced by Andhra Pradesh SeedsCorporation. Nucleus and breed-er's seed was supplied for founda-tion seed production programmeof the Agricultural Universities inthe States of Maharshtra, Gujarat,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Assam and Orissa. Rashtriya Che-micals and Fertilizers, Bombay,and Indian Farmers Fertilizer Coop-erative Limited included the BARCcrop varieties in their lab-to-landprogramme.

During the year, several cropvarieties developed at BARC wereapproved for release, or pre-release adaptive trials. Mungbeanvariety TAP-7 which was releasedand notified for Maharashtra in1983 was approved for cultivationin Karnataka State by the Uni-versity of Agricultural Sciences,Dharwad. Blackgram varietiesTAU-2 and TPU-4 were recom-mended for pre-release in Vidhar-bha and Western Maharashtra re-gions respectively by the Agri-cultural Universities at Akola andRahuri. Punjabrao Agricultural Uni-versity also recommendedgroundnut variety TAG-24 for re-lease, and rice variety TSSR-12 forpre-release in the Vidharbha re-gion. Konkan Agricultural Universi-ty, Dapoli, recommended ground-nut variety TG-19A for adaptivetrials in the Konkan region.Another groundnut variety TGS-1was recommended for releaseand adaptive trials in Gujarat byGujarat Agricultural Universityunder the name 'Somnath'

Powdery mildew is a serious fol-iar disease of mungbean causingabout 40-70% losses in yield. Ear-lier, a simple, reliable method forassessing disease response on ex-cised mungbean leaves under con-trolled conditions was developed.

MIJIHJ

This method was used for screen-ing mungbean germplasm for iden-tifying resistant sources to localisolate of powdery mildew fungusand in breeding experiments.Some of the local strains grown inRaipur region of MP showed resis-tant reaction to powdery mildewdisease. These resistant stockswere hybridized with the im-proved strains developed atBARC. One of the selections de-rived from these studies, TPRM-2,gave trials higher yield in multiloca-tion trails over recommendedmungbean variety TAP-7 in rabiseason in powdery mildew ende-mic region of Maharashtra.

A strong correlation betweenthe tryspin inhibitor activity (TIA)and resistance to pod borer, a se-rious pest of pigeonpea, wasfound in the stocks obtained fromthe International Crops ResearchInstitute, Hyderabad. This hasopened possibilities of developingpod borer resistant cultivars byselecting for higher TIA.

The nitrogen contribution ofstem nodulating Sesbania rostrataand S. aculeata green manurecrops to the succeeding rice cropwas compared. Rice yield fromplots having S. rostrata as greenmanure was statistically equal to

that from 5. aculeata. S. rostrataplants which produced stemnodules had very few or no rootnodules. Both species contributedabout 6O kg n/ha for the succeed-ing rice crop. Though S. rostratahad the highest nitrogen contentin the aerial plant parts, it did notcontribute to higher yield of ricecrop as compared to rice plots

green manured with S. aculeatahaving only root nodules.

The structural gene Adh-A1 forthe enzyme alcohol dehydroga-nase was mapped by crossing asemidwarf hexaploid wheat de-rivative carrying the variant alleleAdh-A1b to Chinese Spring ditelo-4A(alpha). Cytological and elec-trophoretic analysis of test-crossplant indicated that the Adh-A1gene is located 20.0 + 3.5 cros-sover units from the -centromereon the alpha arm of chromosome4A. Gibberellic acid response oftest-cross progeny showed thatthe major dwarfing gene in thevariant line is independent of the4A centromere as well as the Adh-A1 gene.

Field trials with ammoniumpolyphosphate (APP) fertilizercontinued in different soil cropcombinations at several locations.Trials conducted by the Directo-rate of Pulses Research (ICAR)showed that APP was superior todiammonium phosphate (DAP) forchickpea at Khargone. while ateight other locations and forpigeonpea, mungbean, blackgramand cowpea crops, it was equal toDAP. These and previous resultsof the Directorate of Rice Re-search have established that thehigh nutrient, complex fertilizerAPP is superior or equal to DAP.

Research on powdery mildew fungus

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Based on a semi-commercial pro-duction plant set up by RashtriyaChemicals and Fertilizers, Bom-bay, APP is expected to be 1O-15% lower in cost than DAP. APPis also an effective carrier for mic-.ronutirents like zinc and iron.

Dicofol, a miticide applied at nor-mal field application rate or at tentimes of this rate, had no effecton the various stages of the fourmajor biogeochemical cycles ofthe soil. Carbon, nitrogen, sulphurand phosphorus cycles and the soilmicrobial activities in two soiltypes — Vertisol and Alfisol werenot affected. The miticide biodeg-raded in soils with the formationof the metabolite dichloroben-zophenone CDBP).

Influence of an egg parasiteTrichogramma brasiliensis onpopulation build-up of potato tu-ber moth (PTM) was evaluated inan artificially infested potato crop.Inundative release of parasites tocoincide with the host egg laying,and release of sterile females oftuber moth at appropriate time toaugment parasite sustenance re-sulted in reduction of tuber mothpopulation. Using geneticallymarked PTM established in ourlaboratory and employing release-recapture method, differences inmoth populations could be mea-sured. A dry pheromone bait traphas been developed for monitor-ing tuber moth activity in the field.

Bacillus sphaericus (ISPC-8), ahighly virulant strain effectiveagainst Culex and Anopheles mos-quito larvae reported earlier, wasalso found to be effective againstlarvae of two more mosquito spe-cies, viz. Aedes aegypti which isthe vector of yellow fever andCulex tritaeniorhynchus, vector ofJapanese encephaliatis. The bacil-lus also exhibited recycling poten-tial. Instability for mosquito larvi-cidal activity, however, wasobserved in all B. sphaericusstrains isolated so far, and thiswas attributed to the appearanceof reversible non-toxic variants.

Bio-Technology

Somatic embryogenesis followedby plant regeneration wasachieved using embryo explants ofseveral grain legumes such as

Arachis hypogaea Cgroundnut),Glycine max Csoyabean), Cicerarietinum (chick pea), Cajanus ca-jan Cpigeon pea), Psophocarpustetragonolobus Cwinged bean),Vigna mungo (urad bean) and Vig-na radiata (mung bean). The re-generated plants of Arachis hypo-gaea were transferred to field forevaluation.

Tissues cultures of Eleusinecoracana (Ragi) and Pennisetumamericanum (Finger millet) whichshowed a high potential for soma-tic embryo formation were tre-ated with gamma rays or EMS.The regenerated plants weretransplanted to field for evalua-tion.

Somatic embryos of sandal-wood were encapsulated in a suit-able gel to develop syntheticseeds. Sodium alginate (3%)proved beneficial for encapsula-tion. Incorporation of silica gel intoalginate provided a better supportand protection for encapsulatedembryos. Auxiliary mulberry budswere also encapsulated usingsodium alginate. Encapsulatedbuds of mulberry could be storedat 4°C for 45 days without loss ofviability. Parameters for efficientconversion of synthetic seeds intoplants were investigated. Additionof proper fungicide to encapulat-ing matrix helped the syntheticseeds to establish in non-sterilesoil.

Kanamycin resistance and hyg-romycin resistance were used asmarkers for studies on somaticcell hybridization between twodifferent species of Vigna. Hybridcells colonies were obtained andattempts are being made to diffe-rentiate plants from the somatichybrid colonies.

Biochemical studies were car-ried out using SDS-PAGE to studythe differences in the protein pro-files between seed embryo and invit^o obtained somatic embryos.Similarities in the protein profile ofsomatic' embryos in Santalumalbum (sandalwood) and oilpalmwere observed indicating thatthey were comparable to a seedembryo.

Cell cultures of Artemesia annuawere found to contain artemisinin(Qinghaousu, a plant drug used

3.38

against acute cerebral malaria.Artemisinin (0.950 mg 9b f. wt.)and artiannuin-B (6.57 mg 9bf.wt.) were detected in dif-ferentiating callus tissue culturesof Artemesia. Hairy root cultureswere induced from Coleus foss-kohlii, R. serpentina, Withaniasomnifera and Catharanthusroseus by Agrobacterium rhi-zogenes with a view to studyingthe alkaloid patterns.

Food Technology

Extensive R&D programmes con-ducted in BARC in the past haveled to the standardization of irra-diation technology for food pre-servation under tropical conditionsexisting in India. As a part of theendeavour, plans for augmentingpublic awareness for the accept-ance of this technology have beenput forth.

Apart from the ongoing re-search projects, collaborative stu-dies to assess commercial feasibil-ity and market acceptability ofirradiated foods were undertaken.Thus, a storage trial, to evaluatethe techno-economic feasibility ofgamma irradiation for shelf-life en-hancement of onions, is in prog-ress in collaboration with the Gu-jarat Agro-Industrial CorporationLtd. near Ahmedabad. Examina-tion of the stored onions over aperiod of 7 months showed thatirradiation effectively preventedsprouting in the onions under localstorage conditions without any al-terations in the quality. Shelf-lifeof rawa, pre-packed in BOPP/LDPpouches could be extended upto 6months by gamma irradiation at anoptimum dose of 0.25 kGy with-out any alteration in its overallacceptability. Similarly, eliminationof insect infestation in somebrands of food mixes wasachieved by irradiation at doses of0.3 to 0.5kGy. No change in theprofiles of volatile and non-volatilecomponents of irradiated (10 kGy)and unirradiated pre-packed wholespices was observed during 12-month storage at ambienttemperature. Irradiation, followedby ice storage for 14 days, did notsignificantly affect lipid peroxida-tion in the meat of the fishes suchas pomfret, seer and mackerel.

BARC developed irradiation techniques have been found useful in the preservation of food items

although enhancement of lipidperoxidation was observed inpomfret skin. Methods are beingdeveloped to completely eradicateenteropathogenic bacteria such asE. coli and Salmonella from frozenchicken and eggs.

Development of detectionmethods to identify irradiatedfoods is a major on-going project.A time dependent decrease inelectrical conductivity after insert-ing a suitable electrode in a potatotuber could be used to detectirradiated potatoes. A method de-veloped to detect irradiated spicesand spice mixes using the thermo-luminiscent (TL) properties ofirradiated common salt could begainfully employed by introducingsachets of salt in packs of spices.When irradiated at 10 kGy, the saltgave a TL glow which could bedetected, even after storage, on aTL glow reader. The low levels ofTVA and TVBN produced by mic-roflora, obtained from unirradiatedmackerel, pomfret and seer fish,after seeding in the respectiveirradiated fishes, could be used asa method to detect fish irradiatedeven at a low dose of O.5 kGy.

The suitability of a solar dryer,designed and fabricated at BARCfor sun drying of various food pro-ducts like banana and grapes wasdemonstrated. After 5.5 monthsof storage at room temperaturethe solar dried raisins were free ofmould growth and were accept-able. The transfer of this technol-ogy for commercial utilization

through the Technology TransferCell is in progress. A process tomake partially deodourized fishpowder from doma consisting ofdeboning, cooking at low pH, de-hydration at 56°C followed by pul-verization is being developed.

m-RNA isolated from woundedpotato tuber tissue was used toconstruct a c-DNA library of 106clones in Lambda gt10 vector.Concentration dependent appear-ance of multiple molecular formsof potato tuber cinnamate-4 hyd-roxylase during gel filtration wasdemonstrated. A natural cofactorof this enzyme was identified as apteridine derivative. An alkalineproteinase from Bombay duckhaving maximum activity at pH 8.0and 60°C showed preference to-wards casein, azocasein and azo-coll but not serum albumin. Theback muscle of crab was alsofound to be a rich source of azocollsplitting proteinase exhibitingsimilar substrate requirements.An alkaline proteinase from puri-fied buffalo kidney lysosomes,when purfied by affinity chroma-tography resolved into two peaksout of which the first peakaccounted for 80% of the activitywith a purification of 90-foldwhereas the second peak waspurified 30 fold and constituted20% of the activity.

Adherence of thioglycolate (TG)elicited microphages obtainedfrom rats fed with 4% protein wassignificantly lower than that of theTG-elicited and even the resident

cells from control group fed with2O% casein, indicating that proteinmalnutrition adversely affectedmembrane-related macrophagefunctions. The food dye, erythro-sine, induced an extremely lyticeffect on the Tetrahymena pyri-formis cells in stationary phasewithin 9 to 15 hours of exposureto the dye. The insecticides, en-dosulfan, malathion and per-methrin, were found to be nonge-notoxic, by both the Ames/Sal-monella assay and the B. subtilismultigen sporulation assay.

Total phenolic content in cinna-mon was highest in the bark andlowest in the bud; cyanidine wasidentified as a major flavonoid con-stituent of the phenolics. The topodour note in the essential oil ofbark and twig of cinnamon wasassociated with cinnamaldehydesuperimposed with cinnamyl alco-hol and cinnamyl acetate whereasthe leaf oil had clove-like odournote with euganol as the predomi-nant constituent.

A method, developed for the im-mobilization of yeast cells, con-taining invertase through adhesionusing polyethylenimine CPEO co-ated cotton threads, could beused for the continuous hydrolysisof 6O% sucrose syrups in a thf»r-mocontroller packed bed reactor.Studies on the removal of lactosefrom milk by heterogeneous fer-mentation using Klyveromycesfragilis, immobilized "in Ca-alginate,showed that cells grown for 12hours were very efficient com-

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pared to those grown for 24 hoursor 36 hours. Pectinolytic activity offungi, immobilized on spongecould be used in a specially de-signed bioreactor for the produc-tion of extracellular pectinase.

Radiation Medicine

Gastrointestinal studies ofradionuclide applications includingthe study of gastroesophageal re-flux, oesophageal tansit time stu-dies to detect abnormal functionof the process of swallowing andtransit to the stomach were con-ducted. 99mTc-sucraifate, a newradiotracer, is being evaluated forthe detection and localisation ofpeptic ulcers. 14CO2 is collectedby a simple tube placed in themouth and the exhaled breath iscollected into a liquid scintillatorfor measurement of the CO2 liber-ated by abnormal bacteria from14C urea given orally in patientswith duodenal ulcers. This testhas been shown to be simple, safeand sensitive and takes only 20minutes to perform.

"Nuclear cardiology package"study is offered which includesrest and stress multigated bloodpool imaging studies to quantifythe contractile function of the leftventricle of the heart and toassess the abnormalities in wallmotions. This information isneeded to study the heart func-tion. Rest and stress 99mTc iso-nitrile CTBD studies are also per-formed on the same patient onseveral occasions to study the de-fects in blood supply to the heartand is especially useful in patientswith coronary insufficiency and inthe follow up of patients under-going coronary by-pass surgery.These studies are also useful inmonitoring patients who are oncardiotoxic drugs and can indicatethe necessity to discontinue thedrugs. The effect of continuoushaemodialysis on the heart of pa-tients with chronic renal failure isunder evaluation. Patients withhypertension are evaluated bystudying the kidney function be-fore and after administering a drugcalled Captopril, which is able todistinguish patients with hyper-tension due to narrowing of therenal arteries. As this is a surgical-ly correctable disease, it needs to

be diagnosed quickly and accur-ately.

99mTc-DMSA as a tumour loca-lising agent is studied for the loca-tion of metastases from medullarycarcinoma of the thyroid and inpatients suffering from head andneck cancers and cancers ofbreast and prostate. 99mTc-HMPAO is being evaluate d in anim-als for its biological characteris-tics, toxicity and behaviour beforeapplication to human subjects forbrain imaging. 1311 labelled MIBGis being studied in rats, rabbits anddogs . as an adrenal scanningagent. This compound is useful inthe study of neuroblastomas, achildhood malignancy.

Labelling of blood cells likeleucocytes and platelets is beingstandardised for use in the loca-tion of inflammatory lesions likeabscesses, bone infections andabdominal abscesses which aredifficult to locate by other inves-tigations. Platelets will be useful inthe study of thrombotic episodesin the blood vessels.

Study of lung membrane pre-meability using 99mTc-DTPA aero-sols and the time taken for theclearance from the lungs was stu-died in chronic smokers and nons-mokers. This test helps to detectthe early damage to the lungsfrom smoke before the patienthas any symptoms. Another test

which also indicates damage tothe air passages is the study ofmucociliary clearance. These testsare helpful to evaluate damagedue to various disease states also.

Animal models of vitamin D de-ficiency have been developed anda number of biochemical changeswere observed on the membranemetabolism in the liver as a resultof changes in various enzymes oftheir functions related to vitaminD deficiency. The interrelationshpof vitamin D and calcium was alsostudied.

Stringent quality control proce-dures were evaluated regularly forthe production of ultrapure'99mTcO4 for radiolabelling of va-rious compounds used for patientinvestigations. As a part of qualitycontrol, the various binding prop-erties of blood components todifferent compounds like 99mTc-Phytate and 99mTc-D!PIDA werealso studied. These findings helpin understanding the biologicalproperties and distribution charac-teristics of the compounds used inpatients.

The effect of disease states onthe thyroid hormones was evalu-ated in patients on haemodialysisand in those who had a renal trans-plant and those suffering from avariety of liver disease.

The presently used radioimmu-noassay techniques are being up-

Radiation is used in the treatment of breast cancer

3.40

dated and modified so as to im-prove their sensitivity, specificityand time taken to complete thetest results. This modified techni-que has been used in the detec-tion of serum thyroglobulin whichis an important marker for metas-'tases of thyroid cancer.

Monoclonal antithyroglobulinantibodies are used to help in thediagnosis of histopathological sec-tions of patients with an unknownprimary malignancy. This positivityobtained by using a enzyme label-led monoclonal antibody hashelped in the diagnosis of manydifficult cases.

Animal models of hypothyroidrats have been studied with spe-cial reference to the evaluation ofmalic enzyme which is an impor-tant marker for brain developmentand maturation. This study willhelp to identify the defects pro-duced in the brain of hypothyroidchildren who later develop severedegrees of mental retardation.

Study of abnormal antibodies tovarious thyroid fractions are beingevaluated to help understand thepathological changes observed invarious thyroid disorders.

An ELIZA test developed as adot of colour on cellulose nitratepaper was evaluated for the di-agnosis of leprosy and tuberculo-sis. This test was simple, quickand could be read by the eye with-out the aid of laboratory instru-ments. A drop of blood was re-quired for diagnosis of leprosy anda sample of sputum was neededfor the screening of tuberculosis.These tests are being evaluatedfor their efficacy at the field levelin the screening of patients ofepidemiological studies. In addi-tion, more intensive and accuratetests are being developed forradioimmunosassay and ELIZAmethods to test various man-ifestations of tuberculosis likemeningitis, lymph node involve-ment, etc. In addition, detailedstudies on the abnormalities pro-duced in the patient with respectto the immunological status orhost defence is evaluated in orderto understand the interplay be-tween the patient and the organ-ism and to understand how andwhy the severity of the disease is

associated with the body defenceprocesses.

Radiobiology

Female Swiss mice maintainedunder standard laboratory condi-tions hardly show any thymic lym-phoma during their life span.However, whole body exposure of42-45 days old animals with 100,200 and 400 GY of X-rays causedthymic lymphoma in 69b, 269b and489b animals respectively whenthese were in their 26th genera-tion of inbreeding. At the sameage in the 51st generation of in-breeding when animals were given10O Gy of whole body exposurewith X-rays, the incident of thymiclymphoma increased to 88%.Although the experiment is onlypartly completed, a marked in-crease in radiosensitivity to neo-plasm induction as a consequenceof continuous inbreeding has beenobserved.

Animals irradiated with 100 Gyof X-rays at 24, 48, 72 and 96hours after ovulation showed 52,57, 47 and 29% incidence of thy-mic lymphoma respectively, sug-gesting lower radiosensitivity atpre-oestrus stage as compared tothe post-oestrus stages. It istherefore, inferred that the hor-monal status of animals during ex-posure to radiations plays a signifi-cant role in cancer induction.

The development of thermo-tolerance noticed during hyper-thermic treatment of malignan-cies could be inhibited by phe-nothiazine drugs like chlorproma-zine and trifluoperazine. In addi-tion, these drugs also enhancedheat induced regression of a f ibro-sarcoma transplanted on Swissmice. In sarcoma 180, anothertumour transplanted on this strainof mice, no significant changeshave been noticed in cholesterol,phospholipid and fatty acid pro-files during the development ofthermotolerance on exposure to43°C for 15 minutes. Animalsmaintained on high fat dietsshowed incorporation of dietassociated fatty acids in thistumour. In such animals, however,cholesterol and phospholipid levelsin tumours changed significantlyduring the development of ther-

3.41

motolerance. Maintaining animalson diets with 20% sesame oil,which contains highly unsaturatedfatty acids, increased cholesterollevels in tumours, while the phos-pholipids remained unchanged.Levels of long chain fatty acid likeoleic (18:1), linoleic C18.-2) and be-henic (22:0) were also increased.On the contrary, when animal dietcontained 20% coconut oil, an in-crease in the contents of lowchain fatty acids like lauric (.12:0),myristic (14:0) and myristoleic(14:1) was also observed. Sincecoconut oil contains over 60% ofsuch fatty acids, diet fats seem tohave been incorporated in to thetransplanted tumour. The role ofdiet fats in the hyperthermic re-sponse and thermotolerance intumours is being investigated.

A single subcutaneous injectionof heat inactivated S.thermophilus(20 mg/kg) caused a significant in-crease in the delay of tumourgrowth and life span of tumour-bearing animals as well as 16-17%complete cures when adminis-tered prior to single gamma-raydose of 20 Gy. A similar effectwas obtained when bacteria wereinjected directly into the tumourimmediately after radiation expo-sure. Post-irradiation sub-cutaneous administration of bac-teria, however, proved ineffec-tive. Subcutaneous or intra-tumour injection of bacteria,whether prior to or after heattreatment of the tumour, did notmodify its growth characteristics.

During characterisation of malig-nant tissues by NMR, T1 values ofwater protons have been found tobe higher for necrotic than non-necrotic regions in a transplantedfibrosarcoma. Lower water con-tent, higher iron concentrations orlower number of malignant cells inthe necrotic region may accountfor this observation.

Technical Information

The BARC Central Library at pre-sent has a collection of about 8.25lakhs documents pertaining tonuclear science and technology.The collection is consisting of ab-out 81 ,000 books. 61,000 volumesof bound periodicals, more than23,000 patents and standards and

about 6,60,000 technical reports.During this year, about 1,650books, 2,220 bound volumes, 80patents and 23,100 technical re-ports were added. CurrentlyBARC Library subscribes to 1,670scientific and technical journalspublished from India and abroad.Subscription for 7O journals werediscontinued on the basis of a re-cent readership survey.

A bibliographic database of allthe books available in the libraryhas been created in the PRIME-450 computer. Efforts are underway to incorporate keywords ordescriptors for the books in thedatabase to facilitate subjects-wise" search. The complete bibliog-raphic description and other de-tails about all the journals availablein the library have been incorpo-rated into a database in thePRlME-450 Computer and thisdatabase is being regulary up-dated. All the regular and routineoperations of the book circulation,periodical and acquisition units ofthe library are now computerised,and are managed using either themainframe PRIME computer orpersonal computers.

Active participation in the Inter-national Nuclear Information Sys-tem CINIS), managed by the Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) at Vienna, was continued.More than 1,000 records wereprepared, based on items of litera-ture on nuclear science and tech-nology published in India. Theywere sent to INIS for incorporat-ing in the database. Processing ofthe magnetic tape containing themonthly additions to INIS data-base obtained regularly from Vien-na, and providing Selective Dis-semination of Information CSDD toabout 150 scientists and en-gineers of DAE and other orga-nisations were continued on a reg-ular basis using the ND computerThe latest month's INIS outputcontinued to be made available onthe ND computer for retrieval byusers at Trombay.

Facilities were also provided foron-line retrospective search of theINIS database at Vienna availablefor the period from 1976 onwards.

The CD-ROM equipment com-missioned last year was exten-

sively used for evaluating varioustrial CD-ROMs sent to BARC forassessment and for retrieval of in-formation from INIS trial CD-ROMwhich contains INIS database for aperiod of 2 1/2 years. The PowderDiffraction File (PDF-2) CD-ROMproduced by JCPDS has been re-cently procured by BARC. It wasdemonstrated and made availableto the participants in the XXINational Seminar on Crystallogra-phy. With the retrieval software, itis possible to get the desired in-formation in printed form or on afloppy disc. BARC is in the pro-cess of building up a CD-ROM lib-rary of various numerical and bib-liographic databases as we'll as ofreference books in the form ofCD-ROMs.

A total of 80 reports, 53 exter-nal and 27 internal, on the R&Dactivities of BARC were pub-lished. Library continued to pro-vide photographic, xeroxing andprinting services to various divi-sions and constituent units ofDAE. Photocopy services werealso provided to outside users onspecific requests.

A number of technical and scien-tific brochures and booklets werebrought out, which included "ThePromise of Superconductivity"and "Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru onAtomic Energy". Besides the reg-ular publications, 'BARC Newslet-ter', 'Nuclear Newsletter', and'BARC Highlights' were also pub-lished. A few articles highlightingsome of the major R&D workdone by BARC were prepared andpublished in reputed Indian andforeign journals. Some of the arti-cles were on solving Dhruva fuelfabrication problem, the neutronsource reactor "Kamini" that isbeing built by BARC at IGCAR, Kal-pakkam, and the recommissioningof the Madras Atomic Power Sta-tion after the moderator inletmanifold was damaged.

About 200 articles in differentforeign languages such as French,German, Italian, Japanese, Rus-sian and Spanish were translatedat the request of scientists andengineers of DAE units. Copies ofthe translated articles were depo-sited in the national repository oftranslated articles at the NationalScience Library, New Delhi. Inter-

3.42

pretation services were also pro-vided on request.

A thorough revision of AtomicEnergy CFactories) Rules, 1984was undertaken to update them inthe light of the 1987 amendmentto the Factories Act and to re-move some other shortcomings ofthe existing rules. Drafting of Ato-mic Energy (Factories) Rules,1988 was completed and an up-dated version, incorporating thecomments received from DAE un-its, has been approved by AtomicEnergy Regulatory Board (AERB)for implementation in DAE units.

Work on creating a computer-based database on accidents/inci-dents in DAE units has beenstarted. For this purpose, a stan-dard format was devised for pre-paration of case studies of acci-dents/incidents.

Computer software for deter-mining the Toxicity Index and FireIndex has been developed.

Contributory HealthScheme CCHSS)

Service

The CHSS at present covers68,600 beneficiaries. BARC hos-pital and the 10 peripheral dispen-saries continued to extend ther-apeutic and diagnostic facilites tothe beneficiaries and 5,05,546 pa-tients were treated in these dis-pensaries during this year. A newdispensary at Andheri is beingplanned and is expected to beoperational soon.

The bed strength at the BARCHospital continues to be 192, in-cluding 23 beds in special areaslike Labour Room, Casualty andPre and Post operative rooms. Atotal of 6,370 patients wereadmitted in the hospital and 2,316surgical (including ENT and opthal-mology) and 1,645 gynaecologicaloperations were performed duringthe year. Attendance in the outpa-tient departments, the various un-its and laboratories of the hopitalwas as follows : OPD attendance60,683, Psychiatry OPD 5,410, De-ntal OPD 20,998, Pathological in-vestigations 1,49,223, Radiologic-al investigations 16,180, andMedical social service, attendance13,574.

In the fully equipped 1CCU,thrombolytic therapy is given

wherever required. Cases foundsuitable for balloon angioplasty andbypass surgery are evaluated andreferred to panel hospitals.

Active family welfare program-me was continued during the year.241 Medical Termination of Pre-gnancy (MTP) and 228 permanentsterilizations were carried out.The number of infants added tothe scheme was 762 and the birthrate amongst the beneficiarieswas found to be 11.11 per 1,000as against the national average of31 per 1000 in 1986 and thenational goal of 27 per 1,000 in1990. Immunisation facilities areavailable in BARC Hospital and inall the peripheral dispensaries andthe coverage has been 859b. Aspecial care nursery for care ofsick and preterm neonates isready and will be commencedshortly.

The School Health Clinic hasbeen started from the academicyear 1989-199O covering the chil-dren of the Atomic Energy CentralSchools in the Anushaktinagarcampus. Physical examinations,height and weight measurementsare taken for growth records andalso to detect variations. Studentsare also checked for refractiveerrors, hearing defects and anyother social problems which mightimpair academic performance.

A school for the mentally hand-icapped has been started in thepremises of Training School Hos-tel from August 15,1989. At pre-sent the school has a strength of16 students, 2 teachers, 1 clerkand 1 ayah.

The Trombay Dispensary con-tinued its Occupational Healthactivities and the Accident Pre-vention Programme. Periodicmedical examinations of 1,685employees and initial medical ex-aminations of 1005 employeeswere carried out.

Bombay University has givenrecognition to BARC Hospital forhouseposts in general medicine,general surgery, obstetrics,gynaecology and paediatrics to en-able the candidates to be enrolledfor MD and MS Degree examina-tions. The National Board of Ex-aminations, New Delhi, has given

recoynition to BARC Hospital forpost graduate studies.

A ND-110 computer system hasbeen installed in BARC Hospitalfor information storage and re-trieval of patient data. The Hospit-al Management System is beingplanned on lines similar to that ofTata Memorial Hospital. It is prop-osed to have 8 terminals initially.

Radiation Medicine Service

Investigative services wereoffered to following number of pa-tients attending the clinics at theRadiation Medicine Centre: thyroiduptakes — 2,850, thyroid scan —4,430, liver, brain, bone, lung, re-nal, cardiac and others — 5.560,1311 screening for thyroid cancer— 895, in vitro laboratory testsserum thyroglobulin, thyroid anti-body tests, T3, T4, TSH, T3 char-coal tes ts - - 5,535.

In addition, about 35-40 new pa-tients and 35-40 cases undergoingregular treatment attended theclinics daily. 250 patients wereadmitted to the inpatient carewards for radioiodine therapy forthyroid cancer and thyrotoxicosis.75 curies of 99mTcO4 in variousformulations were prepared forthe patient investigative studiesat the hospital pharmacy section.223 patients of thyroid cancer and176 with thyrotoxicosis were tre-ated this year. The cumulativeamount of radioiodine adminis-tered was 37 curies.

Human Resources Development

BARC Training School selects andtrains outstanding professionals inthe disciplines of Physics, Chemis-try, Engineering and Metallurgy, inareas like R&D, Design, Construc-tion, Commissioning, Quality Con-trol, Operation and Maintenance,etc. associated with the develop-ment of Nuclear Science andTechnology. The training alsoemphasises adequately such fron-tier areas as lasers, fusion re-search, etc.

Training School has completed32 years of existence and-has sofar trained more than 5000 profes-sionals.

The Training Division keepsliaison with other training and sci-

entific institutions of the countryand provides short term training touniversity scholars/students, andservices of BARC experts to otherresearch institutions.

The following computer courseswere conducted this year: CD In-troduction to PCs Operating Sys-tem, use of text processing, database management and spreadsheet packages, (2) Courses inprogramming languages such asBASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL and'C, C3) Courses in various adv-anced data base managementpackages such as, SIBAS onNorsk Data computers and otherdata base packages available onpersonal computers, C4) Coursesfor draftsmen on the use of draft-ing packages on Norsk Data com-puters as well as personal compu-ters, (5) Course on advanced com-puter graphics and their applica-tions on Norsk Data computers,(6) Course on personal computerhardware architecture and inter-facing techniques, and (7) Adv-anced course on SINTRAN operat-ing system on Norsk Data compu-ters and UNIX operating system.

So far, about 1.000 employeesof this organisation have benefit-ted from these courses.

Computer courses at Post-graduate Diploma level as well asMaster's Degree level at SNDTUniversity were conducted.

Presently, a 3-year Master's De-gree course in computer applica-tions, covering topics such as,computer graphics, systems soft-ware, programming languages,data base management systemsand latest topics like Fourth GLand artificial intelligence is beingset up at SNDT University. Thecourse also covers financial man-agement techniques and offers'electives on advanced topics inrobotics, graphics, operating sys-tem, parallel processing, etc.

Two courses were conductedfor imparting training in radioim-munoassay techniques and theirapplications. The courses were ofabout one month duration and ab-out 20 medical and paramedicalpersonnel attended each course.This course would help in staffinglaboratories which can provide RIAservices all over the country.

3.43

As a part of manpower develop-ment programme, the followingtraining were conducted : Ca)UNDP/IAEA/RCA National Courseon NDT-UT-3 at NFC, Hyderabad;and CtO Training Course on Indust-rial Radiography and SafetyAspects CIRQ-1) at BHEL.Tiruchirapalli. A total, of 38 NDTpersonnel participated in thesetraining programmes.

For attaining high standards ofperformance of the operating per-sonnel both in terms of efficiencyand safety, utmost importance isgiven to operator training. In theon-going training programme,apart from the class room lec-tures, group discussions andvisual aids covering various facetsof reprocessing and waste man-agement technology, intensive in-plant training is also imparted tothe trainees before they are de-ployed for actual work. Twentytwo category-ll trainees are atpresent receiving in-plant trainingin various facilities. They are alsobeing periodically assessed andgraded. A computerised simulatorthat can simulate all the normaland maloperations in a reproces-sing plant is being installed. Thiswill be extremely useful to thetrainees for a better understand-ing of the various operating para-meters and their influence on thesystem performance.

All the O/M and laboratory per-sonnel of the reprocessing plantshave been brought under the Qual-ification Incentive Scheme inwhich they have to pass throughseveral tests like written exams,check lists, walk-through testsand final viva voce covering syllabicommensurate with the tasks andresponsibilities assigned at eachlevel. All the operating staff ofPREFRE Plant, Tarapur and Pluto-nium Plant, Trombay at levels IIand III have already been qualified.Maintenance and laboratory staffof both the plants are undergoingvarious tests at present.

The plant managements are tak-ing positive steps in inculcating asafety ethos among the workers.The steps taken include variousindoctrination programmes like au-dio-visual shows, safety daycelebrations, etc. Personnel at

different levels are periodically de-puted for training courses in radia-tion hazard control, fire fighting,first aid, civil defence, etc. Groupdiscussions and "lessons learnt"sessions are conducted amongthe workers and middle level su-pervisors under the guidance ofsenior staff wherein they criticallyanalyse the safety related inci-dents reported by different facili-ties. In these sessions, workersare encouraged to offer sugges-tions to prevent the recurrence ofsuch incidents. It is seen that thisdirect participation in decisionmaking improves their safetyawareness and their eagerness toset high standards in the overallsafety of the plant.

Training and man-power activi-ties such as theoretical training inreactor related subjects and in-plant training of graduate en-gineers from BARC Trainingschool, licensing and qualificationof shift engineers, technicians andij'ant operators were continued.Twelve students from various en-gineering colleges and three offic-ers from Indian Navy were trainedfor a few weeks in reactaor tech-nology topics. Man-power assist-ance was provided for the mainte-nance and other jobs of DAE pow-er reactors as and when occasionsdemanded.

Technical assistance was pro-vided to various Safety Commit-tees and their Working Group forreviewing the design and safety ofPumima-lll critical facility, reviewof safety procedures for the op-eration of NAPP reactors and re-view of the Preliminary SafetyAnalysis Report of Kaiga AtomicPower Project.

A one-year stipendiary trainingcourse for health physicists tomeet the trained man power re-quirement for the nuclear powerprogramme was started. Threeworkshops on management ofradiation emergencies for publicauthorities and medical personnelwere conducted. A RCA-IAEAworkshop on environmental moni-toring and measurement wasorganised at Kalpakkam duringOctober 1989. Eight scientistsfrom RCA countries participated.

19 students completed the 27thPost Graduate Diploma Course inRadiological and Hospital Physics.Six other courses were organizedto train radiation workers on safe-ty aspects of the uses of radiationsources.

A ten-day training regional work-shop for South and South EastAsian countries on "Use of FoodIrradiation to reduce Post HarvestLosses", sponsored jointly by theInternational Consultative Groupon Food Irradiation CICGFD andDAE was organized in February1989. The topics discussed at theworkshop included, amongstothers, regulation and control offood irradiation and informationdissemination to the consumer.

A FAO sponsored workshop forAsian region on "Analysis ofRadionuclide Contamination inFood Stuffs" was organised fromMay 15 to May 26, 1989. Thecourse included several lectures,demonstration of gamma spec-troscopy, radiochemical separa-tions and beta counting. A pro-cedural manual was prepared andsupplied to the participants. Asimilar workshop was held by FAOfor Middle East countries from 11to 1 7 November 1989 and two sci-entists from BARC invited to con-duct the workshop.

A scientist took part in the 8thAntarctic expedition collectingsamples and making environmen-tal radioactivity measurements.Small ions and aerosols measure-ments were also carried out dur-ing the expedition at Antarctica.Another scientist is currently par-ticipating in the 9th Antarctic ex-pedition. The data collected isunder process and will be pub-lished shortly.

There were 22 clinical meetingson various topics in medicine andsurgery. An invited lecture wasarranged on 'Experiences withHays Forceps' by Dr. Nozer Sher-iar. A doctor from Trombay Dis-pensary gave a series of five lec-tures on 'Management of Radia-tion Injuries'

There were ten medical and fourscience graduates undergoingtraining at the Radiation MedicineCentre. Two IAEA fellows,' one

3.44

from Ethiopia and the other fromBangladesh, are also undergoing aone-year training programme. Atotal of 180 lectures, 22 practic-als, 8 demonstrations and applica-tions and apprentice programmeswere conducted.

The total strength of BhabhaAtomic Research Centre and itsUnits, including VEC Centre, Cal-cutta, as on 30.11.89 was 14.728comprising of 3,915 scientific,6,761 technical, 1.248 administra-tive and 2,804 general mainte-nance and auxiliary staff.

About 140 scientists were de-puted abroad for participation ininternational conferences, sympo-sia, meetings, etc. and for specificgovernment work. 12 scientistswere deputed abroad for scientificvisit/training/study tour under theaided schemes and 19 scientistswere deputed under bilateralagreements.

The services of 7 scientistswere placed at the disposal ofIAEA on Foreign Service terms forassignment as experts.

19 scientists were granted EOLfor post-doctoral work abroad.

Under the collaboration schemebetween BARC and IITs/IISc,Bangalore, for training of scien-tists/engineers of BARC in special-ised post-graduate courses lead-ing to award of M.S/M.E/M.Tech.degrees, 54 scientists/engineershave completed their training sofar and four are undergoing thecourse under this scheme.

So far 30 Indian Universitieshave recognised BARC as a centrefor post-graduate studies in va-rious disciplines. 134 scientists inthis centre have so far beenaccorded the status of Universityteachers by various universities.

During the year, 12 scientistshave qualified for the award ofPh.D. degree and 9 scientists forM.Sc. degree.

Under the collaboration schemebetween BARC and the Universityof Bombay, 44 students of theBombay University are presentlydoing research work leading toPh.D. degrees under the scheme.

Training facilities were providedto foreign nationals under IAEATechnical Assistance Programmeand various collaboration agree-ments. During the above period,BARC offered facilities for training

•under the IAEA FellowshipScheme to four scientists from SriLanka and one each from Iran,Thailand. Bangladesh, Ghana andIndonesia.

About 70 scheduled castes and25 scheduled tribe candidateswere recruited to various posts.

BARC Benevolent Fund was setup in 1963 to give aid to the em-ployees of Bhabha Atomic Re-search Centre, Department ofAtomic Energy and its constituentunits located in Bombay, who aremembers of the Fund, in theevent of any unforeseen misfor-tune like prolonged sickness, pre-mature retirement due to sick-ness, prolonged leave withoutpay, death, etc. The financialassistance is also extended to-wards purchase of hearing aids,nutritious diet to T.B./Cancer pa-tients, purchase of text-books, tu-tion fees and travelling expensesfor the handicapped school goingchildren of the members of theFund. The main financial sourcesof the Fund are donation, lifemembership, subscription frommembers and grant-in-aid fromGovernment. The membership ofthe Fund is open to the regularand FTA employees of BARC,DAE and its constituent units sta-tioned in Bombay. The total mem-bership of the Fund as on Novem-ber, 1989 was around 3,700. Theamount spent during the finane,year 1988-89 was Rs. 55,000/-(approximately).

The transportation of around12,000 employees to and fro theirwork places from 24 rallyingpoints in Greater Bombay muncip-al limits. Thane and New Bombayand for 700 employees of otherDAE units Cviz. HWP. C&S Group,DEM, -DPS) from Vikram SarabhaiBhavan, Anushaktinagar, to 8 ral-lying points was provided for theround-the-clock and two generalshifts. Manpower programmingfor operation of around 350 vehi-cles was done besides conductingtraining programmes and re-

3.45

fresher courses for transportstaff. Centralised procurement ofvehicles as well as condemnationof vehicles for BARC units atTrombay, Tarapur, Srinagar, Cal-cutta and Kalpakkam were alsotaken care of.

A Traffic Safety Seminar wasorganised in BARC during Febru-ary, 1989 for the education of allthe drivers and the motorists inBARC. A series of lectures byofficers of MSRTC and an exhibi-tion by Traffic Section were orga-nised during the Traffic SafetySeminar. As an incentive to BARCdrivers to imbibe a greater senseof road safety, and to practisebetter traffic culture, "TrafficSafety Silver Medals" wereawarded to 14 drivers who haveaccident-free record.

Supervision and maintenance of7 large scale co-operative can-teens, 1 departmental canteenand 3 canteens and 14 tea pan-tries run by the contractors weredone. The day-to-day food serviceis arranged appropriately to copeup with the sale of Rs. 7,50,000/-per month without any interrup-tion.

The estimated expenditure forthe year 1988-89 towards pay-ment of various subsidies to theco-operative canteens and tiffinrooms works out to Rs.58.00,000/-, besides Rs. 5.00.000/- for maintenance and repairs in-volved in these canteens. Thebusiness of the co-operative can-teens are well monitored, andtimely action is taken to run themsmoothly.

Around 1 7,000 dak articles arehandled per day for deliveringthem to their destinations inTrombay and city areas, besidesaround 1,500 postal dak, 50 tele-grams and 50 telexes per day.

Domestic travel bookings, bill-ings, cancellations, preponing andpostponing of air bookings, etc.were done. On an average, 2000air tickets are booked in a year.

Maintenance of around 1,200English and 100 Hindi typewriterswas carried out in Bombay andTarapur, besides initiating timelyaction for replacement/procure-ment of typewriters.

Continued on page 3.53

The Complex

Indira GandhiCentre forAtomicResearch

Indira Gandhi Centre for AtomicResearch CIGCAR) has been en-gaged .on the development of FastDreeder Reactor technology in allresoects. The Fast Breeder TestReactor (FBTR), which attainedcriticality for the first time in Octo-ber 1985 is the main research faci-lity in IGCAR. The activities of theCentre are as follows:

Fast Breeder Test Reactor

FBTR is a 4O MWtC13 MWe)sodium-cooled reactor fuelledwith mixed carbide of plutoniumand uranium. It was first made cri-tical in October 1985. Complete re-covery from fuel handling incidentof May, 1987 was achieved in early1989. Safety clearances for res-tart of FBTR were obtained fromAERB in May 1989. As the steam-water system had not been com-missioned, the reactor power dur-ing this phase of. operation waslimited to 500 kWt.

During May and June 1989, thereactor has been successfullyoperated upto a power level of500 kWt with 50% operating time,and some reactor physics experi-ments have been completed. Thenonavailability of the reactor dur-ing this period has been mainly dueto electromagnetic noise pick-upin startup and DND channels andmal-operation of the auto speedcontrol system of primary sodium

pumps. Construction deficiencies/component aging have been main-ly responsible. Remedial measureshave been implemented. As a re-sult, the desired performancelevel is expected to be i eached.

For improving the availability ofthe plant an outage was effectedfrom July 1989. During the outagecertain important jobs were com-pleted which included successfulcompletion of Reactor Contain-ment Building leak test to provethe design requirement.

Commissioning activities onsteam water system have beennearly completed. A major repairjob on a boiler feed pump, testingof feed control valves after re-placement of two undersizedactuators, testing and calibrationof bypass and dump controlvalves, testing of condensatepolishing unit, checking and mod-ifications of the hanger supportswere completed. Subsequentlycascade running of all the pumpswith 'all level control valves func-tioning was achieved. The systemtemperature was raised upto180 °C by running boiler feed wa-ter pumps. On achieving requiredpurity of water the preheating ofsteam generators (SG) was takenup. Prior to preheating of steamgenerators, the logic of steamgenerator isolation', depressurisa-tion and injection of nitrogen was

3.45

Cruel in service water pipe lines of FBTR

commissioned and tested. SGwas then filled with sodium at250 °C by opening the isolationvalves. This is one of the miles-tone in commissioning. Power op-eration is expected to start withina few months.

Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

The Department is planning tocommission the first of a series of5OO MWe fast breeder reactors.With this objective, the prototypefast breeder reactor (PFBFO hasbeen taken up.

During the year, the detailed de-sign of PFBR has gained momen-tum. The salient activities include:— Working out of the details of

fuel and blanket management;— Estimation of primary sodium

activity, ground release of activ-ity during design base accident(DBA), and shielding for oxidecore;

— Completion of DBA analyses foroxide and metal cores, and de-sign analysis of control rod drivemechanism (CRDM), main ves-sel, inner vessel, roof slab etc;

— Optimisation of fuel pin pitchand diameters for oxide core;and

— Calculation of the flow andtemperature fields under corecover plate, and flow distribu-tion in grid plate.Besides this, the structural in-

tegrity of the reactor vessel was

examined theoretically which con-firmed that the vessel would beable to withstand a core disruptiveaccident. Vibration tests on roofslab model and experimentalstress analysis of main vesselwere carried out and structural de-sign of in-vessel-transfer-machine

CIVTM) was completed. Concep-tual design notes for various hand-ling flasks, span! fuel storage,ate. wore also prepared.

In parallel with the detailed de-sign, the manufacture of key com-ponents is being undertaken. Re-quired raw materials have beenprocured and contracts with Indi-an Industry are being finalised formaking the prototype of each ofthe key components such as thepart of tne main vessel and innervessel, sodium-to-sodium heat ex-changers, sodium pumps, steamgenerators, etc.

Engineering Development

Detailed design of PFBR needsto be supported by engineeringexperiments with diverse objec-tives. Towards this end, availablefacilities are being expanded andmore experiments are beingplanned/executed.

The development activitiesundertaken in support of PFBR in-clude mainly mechanical and elec-tromagnetic sodium pumps, ex-perimental hydraulic studies ofprimary pool and IntermediateHeat Exchangers CIHX), the

Temperature field in the PFBR pool at full power

I1

: I I3 4 5RADIUS

I6

TEMPERATURE FIELD IN THE POOLS AT FULL POLER3.47

sodium experiments for compo-nent testing including setting upof a facility for sodium testing oflarge components and advancedinstrumentation for sodium sys-tem. The work on mechanicalsodium pump includes the revisionof conceptual design of directlymounted fly wheel assembly tomake it more compact and accept-able.

The design of non-return valveof the sodium pump was opti-mised under different pump oper-ating speeds. A 1/10 scale modelof the spherical support was con-structed and tested. A sevenmetre long prototype shaft wassuccessfully machined to desireddimensional accuracies. In con-tinuation of the work on develop-ment of induction pump forsodium, the earlier obtained testperformance was analysed.

Hydraulic studies of the primarypool were continued. Using dyeinjection technique flow patternsfor the upper plenum wereobtained for normal operating con-ditions. Velocity measurementswere made around the entry win-High temperature low cycle fatigue

testing system

dows of IHX to find out circum-ferential distribution. The 1/6 sec-tor model of the IHX was commis-sioned after its installation in thewater test loop. In addition topressure drop measurements onthe shell side, measurementswere made to determine flow in-duced vibrations of the tube bun-dle caused by cross flows at theinlet and exit of IHX.

The study of convection barriersand circumferential temperatureassymetery in the reactor topshields annuli was continued usinga small sodium set up. The circum-ferential temperature differencewas measured for various horizon-tal gaps and also for varyingRaleigh number. In connectionwith leak simulation experiemntsfor developing acoustic detectionof sodium-water reaction in steamgenerators, further experimenta-tion was carried out using highpressure argon injection from tubeto shell side in full scale watermodel. The detailed design andprocurement of various materialsand components are progressingwell towards the construction oflarge components sodium test rigCLCTFO.

Metallurgy

A very wide ongoing programmeof R & D on materials used in fastbreeder reactors has been an im-portant constituent of the activi-ties in IGCAR. Materials of in-terest are: candidate materials forcore components, special gradesof stainless steels used asstructural materials, and low alloyferritic steels as materials of con-struction for steam generators.Certain R & D has also been under-taken for development of non-destructive testing and in-serviceinspection in support of pressu-rised heavy water reactors(PHWR) programme.

During the year, significantprogress has been achieved onthe creep and fatigue evaluationof SS type 316 LN.

Mechanical properties of thicksection forged tube sheet of 9Cr-1 Mo steel in simulated post weldheat treated condition and afterthermal ageing have been deter-mined.

The creep and tensile propertiesof D9, 20% cold worked producedat MIDHANI, are under evaluationto establish optimum Ti/C ratio forbest tensile and creep properties.The creep tests completed so farhave indicated that these alloysare inherently stronger and pos-sess higher rupture lives than type31 6 stainless steel. The combinedinfluence of different degrees ofprior cold work and subsequentageing has also been studied indetail.

Process conditions have beenobtained to produce aluminidecoatings of required thickness andcomposition of Inconel 718 alloy.

Continuing the work on the de-velopment of mixed oxide coatedtitanium anodes, such a coatingwas given on a failed TSIA elec-trode received from PREFRE,Tarapur which was used for Ura-nous ion production at an operat-ing current density of 175 mAJsq.cm. Currently the electrode iscommissioned and operated foruranous ion production.

Pitting corrosion studies carriedout on type 304 LN and 316 LN SSshowed an improvement in thelocalized corrosion resistance withthe increase in the nitrogen level.X-ray photoelectron spectrosco-pic analyses on the passive filmsformed on 316 LN alloy showedthe presence of nitrogen as in-hibiting nitrate compounds. Lasersurface melting of type 316 stain-less steel showed an improve-ment in the intergranular and pit-ting corrosion resistances com-pared to the unmelted surface.Corrosion studies in boiling nitricacid medium and a simulated re-processing solution dissolved withUC pellets indicated that Ti, Ti-5%Ta and zircaloy-2 possessed highercorrosion resistance, Stress corro-sion cracking CSCO is one of themodes of failure of SS. Crackgrowth rates were measured onsolution annealed and sensitizedtype 304 stainless steel in concen-trated NaCI solution boiling at108 °C. This had enabled computa-tion of critical stress factor forSCC. The process parameters forthe plasma nitriding technique (de-veloped earlier in IGCAR) for sur-face hardening of cold worked

3.48

type 316 and D-9 alloys has beenoptimised. The role of ferrite andmartensite phases changes in themechanical strength of 2.25Cr-1 Mo steels during long termageing as well as the carbide pre-cipitation behaviour as a functionof temperature and carbon con-tent were studied.

Electron microscopic studies onTi-Nb alloys revealed dominantomega transformation mode athigher content of Nb and the roleof precipitates in enhancing thecurrent carrying capacity of thesealloys were examined. In continua-tion of the development of thinfilms of high temperature superconductors, thin films ofYBa2Cu307-x could be depositedon zirconia substrates by the GlowDischarge Deposition CGDD)method. These films showedonset of Tc at 75 °K reaching zeroresistance at about 40 °K.

There has been significant prog-ress towards completion of thepost-irradiation examination facil-ity and towards development ofvarious non-destructive testCNDT) techniques. All major equip-ment and subsystems for hot cellnitrogen system have been instal-led. A rig for the X-radiography ofirradiated fuel pins by slit exposuretechnique is being erected. Opticalalignment of the neutron radiogra-phy rig has been carried out. Accu-rate positioning of the radiographywindow in line with the beam holeof the neutron source reactor hasbeen completed.

Acoustic Emission CAE) techni-que was used to detect and locatea leaking coolant channel in MAPS.The AE technique has been usedto understand some specificaspects of plastic deformation inSS and to understand the oxida-tion processes in materials.

The eddy current test probe forgarter spring location has furtherbeen optimised by computer mod-elling and used with various typesof defects. This probe has beenused for pre-service garter springlocation campaign and measure-ments of possible skew in suchsprings in KAPP. A specificationhas been evolved for the pre-service inspection of coolant tube/

calandria tube assemblies. Dataacquisition for eddy current test-ing has been configured with IBMPC system in order to manage theacquisition and analysis of largedata that would be generated dur-ing inspection of various heat ex-changers.

New applications for dry cou-plant ultrasonic testing have beenidentified. An important applica-tion of this technique has been toassess suspected damage at theturbine rotor blade to shroudrivets in a captive power plant ofMadras Refineries Ltd.

A technique based on Bar-khausen noise analysis has beendeveloped to assess the adequacyof post weld heat treatment intube-to-tube sheet weld joint inthe steam generators.

As part of the development forinservice inspection (ISO code forheavy water plants, an ISI cam-paign was carried out at the HWP,Kota.

An extensive programme hasbeen undertaken to generate mi-nute artificial defects of variousshapes and sizes by spark erosionmachining. A technique based onthe analysis of heat waves fromcomponent/specimen surface cal-led thermography has been usedfor several applications such asmonitoring the temperature dis-

tribution during welding, and de-tection and assessment of de-fects in composite materials.

Digital signal analysis techniqueshave been developed for variousNDT techniques to extract thedata from signals which are due todefects of very small dimensions.

The Quality Engineering Sectioncontinued to carry out quality con-trol in the following projects andlaboratories of IGCAR: (i) Balanceconstruction works of FBTR, Cii)Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant,(iii) Plutonium Recycling Project,Civ) Rare Materials Plant at My-sore, Cv) Kalpakkam Mini Reactorand CvD Development works ofPFBR. The activities of the sec-tion are aimed at ensuring qualityin the construction of the equip-ment and systems of the aboveprojects in order to ensure thesafety and reliability of the plant.

Radiochemrstry

The R&D carried out in theRadiochemistry Laboratory aimsto generate data useful for estab-lishment of flow sheets fqr repro-cessing of fast reactor fuels, andnewer techniques for reproces-sing, understanding corrosion/material transfer in sodium, andstudies on irradiated fuel material.

The Laboratory also providessupport for operation of FBTR.

Hot Cell at the Radiochemistry Laboratory

3.49

Expertise has also been used inconducting certain experiments inthe area of cold fusion, develop-ment of deutrochemical metersand sodium battery-

During the year a train of inertatmosphere glove boxes contain-ing various facilities has been com-missioned for the preparation offuel and related materials. Studieson the dissolution of PuO2 in HCImedium containing hydrazine andUCVD have shown that the dissolu-tion, is photochemicelly enhanced.The photochemical method wasalso found to be useful in the des-truction of oxalate ions present inthe.supernatant solution resultingfrom Pu oxalate precipitation. Con-tinuing studies on third phaseformation in ThCIV)-TBP systemhave shown that the limiting orga-nic concentration (LOO can becorrelated with the connectivityindex of the dilutent which is anempirical value derived from thestructure of the dilutent.

The hot cell facility for post-irradiation studies on the carbidefuel with many unique featureswhich ensure a high degree ofsafety is now ready.

A project on pyrochemical repro-cessing has also been taken up.The facility for carrying on thiswork which involves the handlingof molten salts and reactive met-als under inert atmosphere condi-tions, has been designed and itsfabrication is in progress.

Sensitive analytical methodshave been developed and standar-dised, using the new technique ofinductively coupled plasma-massspectrometry, for the character-isation of nuclear materials suchas uranium, sodium and SS. Theoptical emission spectrograph hasbeen adapted for glove box opera-tionand used for trace elementcharacterisation of uranium- 233separated from thorium elements.Isotopic composition and concen-tration of the uranium isotopes inthe dissolver solutions in this cam-paign were determined by thermalionisation mass spectrometry.

As part of the studies on ternarysystems of the type Sodium-metal-oxygen, the partial phase di-

agram of the Na-Fe-O system hasbeen worked out. To investigateanomalous behaviour in the binarysystems of sodium with Group Velements experimental measure-ments of the activity of sodium insodium-bismuth alloy has been in-itiated. The free energy of forma-tion of Na3NbO4 and Na3WO4were determined by measuringthe oxygen potential in phasefields containing liquid sodium andthe ternary compound.

Decomposition kinetics ofNa2CO3 in sodium was studied tounderstand its effect on the car-bon potential of liquid-sodium. Thecarbon potential of AISI 316 LNsteel was measured at 925 °K us-ing the electrochemical carbonmeter and the precipitated carbidephase was characterised andfound to be Fe13Cr7Ni2.5Mo5C6.The radioactive sodium loop wasoperated with the test sectiontemperature raised to 773 °K. Thedistribution coefficient of Mp be-tween sodium and SS 3O4 steelwas measured at 773 °K forgenerating input data for modell-ing Mn-54 transport in sodium cir-cuits.

As part of the on-going prog-ramme to generate thermoche-mical and thermophysical data oncompounds of interest in reactor

technology, the molybdenum-tellurium system was investigatedusing high temperature massspectrometry. Calorimetricmeasurements were carried outon the uranium-aluminium systemto determine the integral enthal-pies of formation of the alloys.From this data the enthalpies offormation of UAU and UAI3 werederived.

•Following newspaper reports,experiments were conducted onthe possibility of cold fusion duringthe electrolysis of heavy water.Positive results were obtainedthrough neutron detection and tri-tium measurement. A closed cyclecalorimeter was developed to me-asure heat output during the elec-trolysis.

Analytical services were pro-vided to various programmes inIGCAR, the total samples analysedduring the period being 156 requir-ing 398 determinations.

Reprocessing

Reprocessing of fuel is neces-sary for fast reactors as irradiatedfuel material contains unutilisedfissionable material and also thesurplus fissile material generatedby breeders.

A view of waste vault of fast reactor fuel reprocessing plant

3.50

The Centre has almost com-pleted the development work re-lated to fuel reprocessing of FBTRfuel under its Reprocessing Prog-ramme. Equipment developedwere subjected to qualification forhot operation in a pilot facility setup to recover U-233 from irradi-ated J rods in CIRUS reactor,Trombay. Mixed carbide dissolu-tion studies were further pursuedspecially with respect to corrosionaspects of equipment. Equipmentwere also tested for otheraspects for use in hot cell. Testingand commissioning of lead miniplant for receiving irradiated fuelfrom FBTR is being carried out.Civil works for fast reactor fuelreprocessing plant is progressingwell. Detailed design of plant • isnearing completion. Procurementof hardware has been completed.Action for various technical worksare being initiated.

Process development work forFBTR fuel reprocessing hasreached a mature stage. The flowsheet has been formulated. Thiswill be further refined, based onexperiments with actual irradiatedfuel. Experiments relating to elec-tro-oxidative dissolution of mixedcarbide fuel were carried out.-Work mainly concentrated onequipment design, particularly onmaterial of construction. Worksrelating to development of suit-able less expensive anode for ox-idation were pursued. Corrosionrates for specially coated anodeswere studied.

Process equipment develop-ment for FBTR fuel reprocessingis nearing completion. The elec-trolytic stainless steel dissolverwas studied for its suitability forhot cell operation on a simulatedset up. Other equipment de-veloped were subjected to a qual-ification test in a pilot plant set upfor separation of irradiated thor-ium. The campaign for separationof U-233 from irradiated J rodswas completed. Product of re-quired purity was produced andthe equipment such as thermo-syphon dissolver, centrifuge, cen-trifugal contactor and air pulsedmixer settler functioned well. Oneimportant aspect that could be de-monstrated was the substitutionof electrical drives for equipment

by pneumatic drives and avoi-dance of mechanical pumps andvalves in the radioactive environ-ment. This gave sufficient experi-ence for designing the cells, suit-able for remote maintenance con-cept for fast reactor fuel repro-cessing plant. Further the opera-tion provided an opportunity forthe engineers to face challengesand solve them. When a vital solu-tion transfer route was blocked,an alternate route could be re-motely established and the cam-paign was completed, without in-terruption. When the process offinal thorium separation, using HCImedium posed problems of corro-sion, an alternate separationmethod based on precipitationwas worked out and followed.

With a view to separate U-233from irradiated thorium bundles,equipment for head end, such asfuel dismantling have been de-signed. These are undergoingtest. Meanwhile design of anannexe cell to accommodate thehead end operation is in progress.The commissioning work in leadmini plant is making progress. Op-erations using single limb dissolverhave been simulated. Work on in-stallation of sampling system forhigh level waste storage system isin progress.

The construction of a reproces-sing plant for reprocessing ofFBTR fuel is in progress. The con-struction of shielded concretecells is nearing completion. De-tailed embedment drawings havebeen supplied' and embedmentsfabricated and delivered for in-stallation.

The construction of waste stor-age vault is making a progress.The procurement of hardwaresuch as stainless steel pipes,plates, lead etc. has been com-pleted. Procurement of equip-ment such as ventilation fans, off-gas fans \s under progress. Instru-mentation systems are being de-signed.

Health and Safety

The Health & Safety Programmeis sub-divided into studies and ex-perimental work in support ofreactor safety, and monitoringradiological aspects of operation

of various nuclear facilities in Kal-pakkam.

The results of studies simulat-ing fuel coolant thermal interac-tion phenomena were examined inthe light of Board's formulationof non-equilibrium shock tubemodel.

Fabrication of high voltage com-ponents such as pulse transfor-mers, high voltage -.high currentair spark switches and safetyenergy dump switches needed forthe 5 kV, 100 k j condenser bankis underway, along with procure-ment of transient pressure trans-ducers, waveform recorders and1000 fps imager.

Technical specifications forsodium and cover gas systems,test vessel C200 cu.m.) and clean-ing systems were drawn up forthe test facility on large scalesodium fires and sodium concretereactions.

Measurements were carried outto estimate the neutron flux, cad-mium ratio and neutron to gammaratio for a 15 MeV linear accelera-tor of the SHAR Centre. Suitablechanges in the configuration ofberyllium and depleted uraniumdisks were effected to augmentthe observed neutron yield. Im-proved numerical approximationswere developed to estimate theflux of radiation at short distancesfrom a point source located in aspherically symmetric medium.

Calculations of reactivity worthfor the preliminary design of GEMassembly of PFBR were carriedout. Variation in computation timewith box description in the KENO-IV code was studied for FBTR andPFBR fuel subassemblies. TheKeff of an infinite array of fuelsubassemblies was calculated bymodelling the subassemblies intwo different ways (i) multi-region, and (ii) multi-box.

Monitoring of radiation workerswas continued both by wholebody counting (388 persons) andurinary bioassay C13 persons).Work on the application of unsche-duled DNA synthesis fordosimetry was continued.

For the Radiation EmergencyMedical Centre being set up at Kal-

3.51

pakkam, civil works have beencompleted. A mock offsiteemergency exercise was success-fully carried out jointly with theDistrict Authorities. The exercisewas marked by good awarness ofthe procedures and timely re-sponse.

Materials Science

Materials Science Division is in-volved in the research of advancedmaterials as well as developmentof new techniques and facilities.In YBCO and related oxides, theprincipal activities were: under-standing of the low temperaturephase diagram resulting from ox-ygen ordering; preparation of bet-ter ordered samples and phaseseparation of oxygen off-stoichiometric sample by detailedXRD and resistivity, susceptibilityand positron lifetime measure-ments. The oxygen ordering wasalso studied by Monte Car\osimulation. Preparation of thinfilms of YBCO by glow dischargesputtering technique has been in-itiated. High resolution positronlifetime measurements were usedto determine the kinetics ofhelium migration in alpha-irradiated Cu and Ni and also tostudy helium bubbles in Ti-stabilised stainless steels. Posit-ron annihilation spectroscopytogether with Mossbauer spec-troscopy were used to study theprecipitation behaviour of Fe in su-persaturated Cu-Fe alloys. Quasi-crystalline Al-Fe alloys of variousFe concentrations were investi-gated using Mossbauer spectros-copy. TEM methods were used tofollow the early stages of evolu-tion of bubbles in AI-40 at % Mnalloy during argon ion bombard-ment. The problem of distributionof mean first passage time in ran-dom chains due to disorder as wellas the interpretation of screw andedge dislocations in the Kadic-Edelen gauge theory were ex-amined and new results wereobtained. The structure and stabil-ity of magnesium atom clusterswere studied. The multifractalanalysis of the electronic wavefunctions in quasicrystals wascompleted.

Phase transitions in semicon-ductor mixed crystals under high

pressure were investigated usingRaman spectroscopy. Monte Carlosimulation was used to studyreentrant phase transition inaqueous colloidal suspensions,and the equilibrium structure wasobtained. The method developedin the laboratory earlier for singlecrystal growth of dissociablesemiconductors was successfullyapplied to the Chevrel phase su-perconductors. Efforts to growlarge sized sodium chloride crys-tals for Infra-red windows andlenses were initiated.

A Guinier XRD system adaptedfrom a diamond anvil cell is beingbuilt for high pressure studies onactinides. A computer based step-scanning attachment for a smallangle X-ray system was set up.Instrumentation related to the de-velopments of SQUIDs is beingbuilt. An RF SQUID measurementsystem operating at 19 MHz hasbeen assembled.

Electronics & Instrumentation

The problems of the electro-magnetic interference in the start-up nuclear channels of the FBTRwejre studied. Effectiveness ofthe cable shielding by flexible con-duits was confirmed by measure-ment. A microprocessor based in-strument for monitoring the droptimes of control rods was instal-led. The new computer for thecentral data processing system ofFBTR was installed and commis-sioned. Improvements were madein the colour graphic display sys-tem installed in the MAPS andadditional hardware for scanningthe generator temperature data isbeing installed. Data acquisitionand display systems were com-pleted for installation in the HeavyWater Plants at Kota and Tuticor-in. A project for a supervisory con-trol and data acquisition systemfor Heavy Water Plant at Manu-guru has been taken up. A projectfor the development of a real timeoperating system for Intel 80286microcomputer has been taken upin collaboration with the IIT, Mad-ras. This operating system will im-prove the efficiency and reliabilityof computer based control sys-tems. A project for the construc-tion of a wide band amplifier basedon the latest high speed devices

has been undertaken in collabora-tion with I IT, Madras. This ampli-fier will be used as a front end for,nuclear instruments.

Computer Centre

Centralised computing facilitiesconsisting of the Honeywell BullDPS-8 and the Norsk Data ND-56Ocomputer systems were run onround the clock basis providing fullElectronic Data Processing CEDP)and Computer Aided Design (CAD)support. These systems with vastconfiguration of peripherals, timesharing terminals and PC links aremaintained in-house assuring highavailability. A new Super 32/70computer system of 3.2 MlPs hasbeen installed and commissionedto meet the increasing demand ofcomputational load. A major de-velopmental work undertakenduring this year is parallel proces-sing. A parallel processing con-figuration to handle CPU intensive,near-neighbour problems in gener-al and 3D neutron codes in particu-lar has been finalised and develop-ment work on hardware and soft-ware fronts initiated. The nodalprocessors based around 32 bitmicroprocessors, multiport mem-ory and communication hardwarehave been developed and tested.Indepth studies have been carriedout to identify suitable softwaremodules for parallel processingand a number of parallel con-structs to support near-node -:.swell as distance-node communica-tions have been developed. Test-ing of this software and the workon development of nodal execu-tive are in progress.

The CAD package developedearlier to help the designers of pip-ing layout for Kalpakkam Repro-cessing Plant (KARP) has been re-fined. A number of new featureshave been incorporated andported to the ND-560 CAD sys-tem. Also the interference check-ing modules of this package havebeen ported to the Magnum com-puter system so that the interfer-ence checks could be carried outright at the designer's desk.Usingthis package, the piping within acell has been completed and draw-ings generated.

3.52

Civil Engineering

The Civil Engineering Grouphandles all the aspects of civil en-gineering works includingarchitectural, structural and publichealth designs, estimating,tendering, quality control and con-struction of all the projects andlaboratories in IGCAR, ProjectKARP, Project WIP, CWMF andpreliminary design works con-nected with PFBR. It also rendersarchitectural and structural designservices to MAPS. In addition tothe above, the group looks afterthe design and construction ofhousing in DAE township. Consul-tancy services in design and con-struction are being extended toSAMEER Centre of the Depart-ment of Electronics and Instituteof Mathematical Sciences at Mad-ras, IRE, NPC etc., as and whenrequired. During the year, the con-

struction of MSL Phase Ibeen completed.

In Project KARP, constructionof the main process building andallied structures is in progress andabout 70% of the constructionwork is completed. In Project WIP,the construction of stores buildingand underground sump for stor-age of water is in progress. Landacquisition for the proposedPhase II of DAE township atAmaipakkam village near Kalpak-kam is in advanced stage. Workorder has been issued for con-struction of compound wallaround the part of the land alreadyhanded over.

As per the re-organisation ofGSO, the construction of all build-ings in township and maintenanceof the entire township have beenentrusted with Civil EngineeringGroup of IGCAR.

Central Workshop

Central and Zonal workshopscontinued to carry out the machin-ing and fabrication of componentsrequired for different projects andvarious R&D laboratories. The sa-lient jobs carried out are: recon-ditioning of FBTR capsule transfergripper assembly, CDF gripper hol-der for FBTR, fabrication of steamgenerator sodium inlet and outletfor hydraulic experiments, fabrica-tion of process vessels and air liftparts, centrifugal extractor, FBTRCRDM bellows testing assembly,shadow shield counter, machiningof ring compression test samples,SS tube loops for steam injectionsystem, bio-film reactor in pers-pex vessel, extensometer headfor compact test specimen andHigh vacuum chamber.

Continued from page 3.45

About 4000 visitors includingHeads of States, Ministers, Parlia-mentarians, Indian and Foreign Di-plomats, High Government Offi-cials, Visiting Professors, ForeignScientists, Defence Personnel,members of the Scientific andTechnical Institutions and stu-dents of schools and collegescame to BARC this year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Linh, GeneralSecretary of the Communist Partyof Vietnam, H.E. Mr. Kenan Evran,President of Turkey, and Gen VoNguyen Giap, Vice Chairman of thecouncil of Ministers. Vietnam,were some of the WIPs who vi-sited this centre.

About 24 national and interna-tional seminars/conferences/work-shops/symposia were orga-nised.

The V DAE Inter-Units SportsMeet was held at TAPS colony,Tarapur, during the period fromNovember 20 to November 26,1989, wherein the required assist-ance such as transport, canteenfacilities, etc. was rendered to theTAPS who organised the SportsMeet.

Landscaping

Landscaping was done by plantingdifferent trees, shrubs, groundcovers, etc. in 4,000 sq.m. area ofAnushaktinagar and 55,000 sq.m.area at BARC site and housing col-ony at Tarapur. 2,000 sq.m. gar-den area was rejuvenated in Trom-bay. About 1,50,000 saplings ofvarious tree species were plantedand 50 kgs. of seeds of differenttree types were sown in situ on

Trombay hills for afforestation.Landscape plans for various unitsof Department of Atomic Energywere prepared-. Maintenance ofgardens, arbors, orchards,afforestation, etc. in Trombay,Anushaktinagar and MandalaTownship, around Directorate ofEstate Management's buildings inBombay City, BARC housing col-ony and plant site at Tarapur wascarried out.

The cosmetic maintenance inthe* campus including incinerationof garbage and pest control opera-tion in Trombay, BARC hospitalcomplex, Training School Hostel,Radiation Medicine Centre,Directorate of Purchase andStores Office, etc. were also car-ried out during the year under re-view.

3.53

A Copper Vapour laser developed at the Centre

Centre forAdvancedTechnology

Centre for Advanced Technology

The Centre for Advanced Technol-ogy CCAT) has programmes to car-ry out R & D work in the areas ofelectron accelerators, lasers andrelated technologies.

Under the accelerator program-me, two dedicated SynchrotronRadiation Sources (SRS) namelyINDUS-1 and 1NDUS-2 are underconstruction. This SRS facility willconsist of a 2O MeV pre-injectormicrotron, a 700 MeV booster syn-chrotron and two storage rings IN-•DUS-1 of 450 MeV and INDUS-2 of2GeV.

The electron optical design ofthe booster synchrotron and IN-DUS-1 and engineering designs ofvarious sub-systems have beencompleted. Fabrication of pro-totypes of dipole magnets,vacuum chambers, RF cavity andtheir power supplies is in adv-anced stages. Vacuum envelopering of the booster synchrotronC28.4 m circumference) has beenfabricated and assembled. Experi-ments for evaluating its vacuumperformance are in progress. Thinwalled corrugated SS vacuumchamber for booster dipole mag-net has been successfully fabri-cated. A laminated booster dipolemagnet and its excitation coils

have been assembled. Power sup-plies for dipole magnet and cavityhave been assembled and testingis underway. Engineering designof a 20 MeV microtron injector hasalso been completed and fabrica-tion of its magnet and vacuumsystem is in progress.

The Laser Programme hastaken up development of Lasersfor industrial, medical and re-search applications. A laser ura-nium fluorimeter for uranium pros-pecting has been developed. Ura-nium analysis with a sensitivity ofbetter than 1 ppb can be carriedout without any pre-concentrationof the sample and in the presenceof many potentially interferingspecies. A 70 watts CW CO2 laseralong with an articulated arm formanipulating the laser beam hasbeen developed. This laser will besuitable for open surgical proce-dures in gynaecology gastrointes-tinal disease, orthopaedic surgery,neurosurgery etc. Copper vapourlaser CCVL) is another importantlaser developed at CAT. Two CVLsof 10 Watt output have been sup-plied to BARC. For industrial ap-plications a 4OO Watt multibeamCOa laser beam has been de-veloped. This can be used for heattreatment and cutting and weld-ing of thin metal sheets.

3.54

ISOMED plant at Trombay

Board ofRadiation andIsotopeTechnology

The Board of Radiation and Iso-tope Technology (BRIT) was con-stituted last year to administerthe radioisotope production andapplications programme of the De-partment. BRIT formally cameinto existence on March 1, 1989.The activities initially taken overby BRIT include production andsupply of radiochemicals, radiationsources, radiopharmaceuticalsand RIA kits, carbon-14 and tri-tium labelled compounds, phos-phorus-32 labelled biomolecules,gamma radiography equipmentand gamma irradiation equipment.In addition, the operation of re-gional centres for radiophar-maceuticals at Bangalore and De-lhi and the RIA Centre at Dibrugarhand the operation of the ISOMEDplant has also been taken over byBRIT. The activities are carried outin the following areas:

• Radiochemicals & RadiationSources

• Radiopharmaceuticals• Labelled Compounds• Irradiators & Industrial Products• Technical Sales

The work carried out during theyear in the various operations issummarised below:

Radiochemicals

22O batches of reactor producedradioisotopes, totalling 46TBqC1250 CO, were processed for

3.55

supply to various users. These in-cluded 2000 consignments ofmolybdenum-99, phosphorus-32,sulphur-35, iodine-131, mercury-203 and a number of otherradioisotopes. Phosphorus-32 andsulphur-35 labelled fertilizers weresupplied for use in agricultural re-search. About 3.25 kg of prom-ethium-147 activated self-luminous compound was suppliedfor use in self-luminous devices.About 6000 tritium filled nuclearlight sources were supplied for illu-mination of instrument dials andother devices.

Radiation Sources

1600 consignments of radiationsources for applications in cancertherapy, non-destructive testing,industrial process control, radia-tion processing etc. were sup-plied. About 550 TBq C15000curies) of iridium-192 were sup-plied in the form of sealed sourcesfor industrial radiography. 14sources of cobalt-60 totalling2.93PBq (79300 curies) were sup-plied for teletherapy applicationsto cancer hospitals. Other largesources of cobalt-60 totalling2O.35PBq C55O,OOO curies) weresupplied for ISOMED plant atTrombay, sewage irradiation plantat Baroda and radiation plant atShri Ram Institute of Industrial Re-search, Delhi, package irradiator atFIPLY. BARC. 14 manual after

loading kits containing caesium-137 sources were supplied fortreatment of cancer of cervix.Specially fabricated antimony-124sources of activity 51 TBq C1400curies) were supplied for start-upof FBTR at Kalpakkam.

Radiopharmaceuticals

About 50,000 consignments of avariety of radiopharmaceuticalswere supplied for use in nuclearmedicine during the year, enablingan estimated 6 lakhs patient in-vestigations to be carried out inthe country. The regional centresat Bangalore and Delhi processedabout 2.44 TBq (66 curies) ofready-to-use Tc-99m products forsupply to local nuclear medicineunits.

Clinical trials of ready-to-use Tc-99m t-butyl isonitrile injection (Tc-TBI) for use in cardiac investiga-tions were successfully carriedout at three hospitals. As a follow-up of this work, a kit for the pre-paration of this product at thehospital site has been developedand will be introduced for clinicaltrials shortly. The preparation ofTc-99m HMPAO, a brain perfusionimaging agent, was undertaken.The synthesis of HMPAO hasbeen carried out in collaborationwith the Bio-organic Division,BARC and trial batches of Tc-99mHMPAO using locally synthesisedproduct were prepared forradiochemical evaluation and anim-al studies, carried out in collabora-tion with Radiation Medicine Cen-tre, BARC. Further work on thesynthesis of HMPAO and animalstudies is in progress.

The design of Tc-99m generatorusing fission produced Mo-99 andcolumn chromatography techni-que has been completed. A fewprototype columns have been pre-pared for evaluation of quality ofTc-99m eluted from the gener-ator. A shielded plant for the pre-paration of the column generatorsfor routine supply is under con-struction. A modified kit for RIA oftriiodothyronine (T3) based onpolyethylene glycol separation ofprimary and secondary antiserahas been introduced for regularuse. The modified kit is simpler tooperate and reduces the assaytime. An improved kit for radioim-

Radiolabelled Compounds Laboratory at Vashi, New Bombay

munoassay of HCG, developed us-ing commercially available monoc-lonal antibody of beta-HCG, is ex-pected to be released for regularuse shortly. Seven IAEA spon-sored trainees from developingcountries were offered training inthe production and quality controlof radiopharmaceuticals and RIAkits.

Labelled Compounds

The new laboratory for the synth-esis of carbon-14 and tritium label-led compounds at Vashi was com-missioned during the year and pro-duction work has commenced.5300 consignments of carbon-14and tritium labelled compoundswere supplied during the year. Therange of P-32 labelled nucleotidesproduced at JONAKI laboratory atHyderabad has increased. 11 pro-ducts covering about 90°/o of theindigenous requirements of P-32labelled biomolecules in the coun-try are being supplied from JONA-KI laboratory to 40 user institu-tions. A national workshop on theuse of radioisotopes in biologywas organised for the benefit ofparticipants from universities andresearch institutions under thesponsorship of BRNS.

Gamma Radiography Equipment

48 radiography cameras housingupto 740 GBq C20 curies) of iri-dium-192 sources were suppliedfor use in non-destructive testing.The development of remote cable

operated camera for use with 555GBq C15 curies) of iridium-192source has progressed and a fewprototypes have been made forconducting a series of safetytests as per the requirements ofAERB.

Gamma Chambers

5 nos. of gamma chambers hous-ing intense sources of cobalt-60were supplied for use in radiation

A gamma camera

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research. Assistance was pro-vided to various institutions in themaintenance/repair of gammachambers operating at these in-stitutions.

Radiation Sterilization Plants

The services of the ISOMED plantwere utilised by 269 user indus-tries during the year, for steriliza-tion of medical products such asdressings, disposable infusion andtransfusion sets, pharmaceuticalcontainers and closures, surgicalsutures and gloves and a host ofother medical products. 6309 cumC73359 cartons) of medical pro-ducts were sterilized at the plantduring the year. ISOMED plantwas shut-down for a period of 76weeks during September 1989 formajor overhaul, after continuousoperation for 15 years and for up-grading of cobalt-60 sources.Approx. 7.4 PBq C2OO kilocuries)of cobalt-60 were loaded in theplant, bringing the total activity of22.2 PBq (.600 kilocuries).

Technical assistance was pro-vided to the RASHMI plant com-missioned during January 1989 atthe Kidwai Memorial Institute ofOncology, Bangalore for radiationsterilization of medical products.The plant is based on indigenousdesign and has functioned satis-factorily. The plant was used forsterilization of medical productsby the regular users of ISOMEDduring the shut-down of ISOMEDplant during September 1989.

The work of upgrading of theirradiation facility at the Shri RamInstitute of Industrial Research,for sterilization of medical pro-ducts, has progressed consider-ably. The mechanical equipmentand the control systems were in-stalled and the plant is undergoing

pre-commissioning trials. About3.7 PBq C100000 curies) of cobalt-60 will be loaded into the plantshortly. With the commissioningof this plant, a total of threemedical products sterilizationplants will be in operation in thecountry during 1 990.

Sales of Radioisotopes

A total of 69,000 consignments ofvarious radioisotope productswere supplied for use in medicine,industry, agricultures and re-search. The sale value of radioiso-topes and related services offeredduring the year totalled Rs. 4.96crores registering about 25% in-crease over the corresponding fi-gure in the previous year. Over89O user institutions availed of theservices and radioisotopes pro-ducts supplied by BRIT.

New Projects & Schemes

A number of projects have beenformulated for inclusion in the 8thFive Year Plan under Industries &Mineral Sector. These projectsand schemes cover areas such asextension of nuclear medicine andteletherapy facilities in the coun-try, setting up of demonstrationplant for irradiation of spices forexport, upgrading of facilities forthe pro luction of radiophar-maceuticals, testing of radioiso-tope equ pment and packages andprovision of a permanent officebuilding for BRIT.

Radioisotope EquipmentProduction Facility

This facility is meant for the pro-duction of equipment housingradioisotopes such as radiographycameras, nucleonic gauges, gam-ma irradiators for laboratory andindustrial use, and radioisotopehandling equipment. The en-

gineering designs of the facilityhave been completed and the pro-ject report has been submitted forissuance of financial sanction.

Spice Irradiator

A demonstration plant for irradia-tion of spices is proposed to beset up at Cochin in collaborationwith the Spices Board, in theSpice Processing Complex beingdeveloped by the Spices Board atCochin for export of spices. Dis-cussions are being held with theSpices Board for the allotment ofland for locating the irradiationplant. A seminar on decontamina-tion of spices was held at Cochinin cooperation with the SpicesBoard for disseminating informa-tion on irradiation technology tothe exporters of spices. Technicaldiscussions were held with otherorganisations who have shown in-terest in setting up gamma irradia-tion facilities for food products.These irradiation facilities will bebased on indigenous designs andwill use indigenous equipment andcomponents.

Extension of Nuclear MedicineFacilities

In order to extend the use of nuc-lear medicine techniques in thehealth care programme of thecountry, proposals are being final-ised for extending nuclear medi-cine facilities particularly in thoseparts of the country which are notadequately covered at present. Inorder to create increased aware-ness of the advantages of nuclearmedicine procedures in publichealth care programme, a seminarwas organised for health adminis-trators at Bombay. Similar semi-nars are proposed to be organisedat other centres in the country.

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T&tescope at Naray&ngaon,

Pune, Maharashtra

Tata Institute ofFundamentalResearch

School of Mathematics

The School continued to makesubstantial contributions tomathematical knowledge in va-rious areas.

In Algebra notable results wereobtained on elementarity of pow-ers of matrices with entries in apolynomial ring over a local ring toinvertible matrices, automorph-isms of modules over polynomialrings, minimal sets of generatorsfor modules of derivations on va-rious classes of curves etc. It wasshown that in contrast toAbhyankar's conjecture in charac-teristic zero, in positive character-istic the Abhyankar curves are rec-tifiable. An interesting equivalentformulation was given for the twodimensional Jacobian problem.

Algebraic Geometers in theSchool dealt successfully with va-rious important problems aboutbirational invariants of varieties,Witt groups of curves, etale coho-mology groups, moduli spaces ofvector bundles on curves, moduliof semistable pairs, hyperellipticcurves, curves with theta charac-teristic etc. The structure of thePicard groups of the modulispaces of vector bundles oncurves was determined. Ganer-ically nondefective pencils of

quadrics over fields of characteris-tic two were classified. Gradedsubrings of the ring of polynomialsin two variables with complexcoefficients, families of isolatedcomplete intersection singular-ities, Chow groups of normal com-plex protective varieties are alsosome of the objects about whichinteresting results wereobtained.Any complex projective varietywhich is homogeneous under asemisimple group, has infinite cyc-lic Picard group and admits a non-constant nonisomorphic self mapwas proved to be a projectivespace. Significant work was car-ried out on various topics relatedto Physics, such as Chern-Simongauge theory, quantum nonlinearsigma model,- spin statistics ofgravitational solitons etc.

Members of the school are alsoinvolved with various aspects ofAlgebraic groups. Lie groups, Liealgebras etc. Notable contributionfrom these members pertained toapplication of Frobenius splittingto study orbits of reductive algeb-raic groups, closures of orbits ofvarious subgroups on finitevolume homogenous spaces ofLie groups and application of theresults to.study values of quadre-tic forms at integral points, infiritodimensional admissible repre-sentation of the projective generallinear groups of order 2 over

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nonarchmedian local fields etc. Anew proof was given for atheorem of Kazdan on twists ofarithmetic varieties. A simple ex-plicit description was given for fi-nite dimensional representationsof the Yangian of the three dimen-sional special linear Lie algebra. ABernstein-Gelfand-Galfand resolu-tion was obtained for Kac-MoodyLie algebras. A refinement wasmade of the Parthasarathy-RangaRao-Varadarajan conjecture

proved earlier.

Pursuits of various members inAnalysis, Differential Geometry,Topology etc. yielded worthwhileresults relating to extendability ofholomorphic maps of domains incomplex affine spaces, invariantsfor spaces of flat connections onprincipal bundles, homotopy typesof foliations arising from subgroupactions on Lie groups and sym-metric spaces etc.

The Number Theorists of theSchool attacked a variety of prob-lems and obtained interesting re-sults. A generalisation of thetheorem of Femnat that no foursquares are in arithmetic progres-sion, results on hybrid meanvalues of L-function on the criticalline, extension of Montgomery'sresults to Hurwitz on zeta func-tions, an analogue for the three-dimensional hyperbolic space ofKuznetsov's estimates of Fouriercoefficients of Mass cusp forms,results on modular forms of half-integral weight, Jacobi modularforms, asymptotic formulae forsums involving divisor functionswere some highlights.

Work was also carried out inCombinatorial Mathematics espe-cially on applications of thetheorem of Stanley and Hochsteron toroidal monoids to designs andcodes, on signed graphs related toroot systems, asymptotic be-haviour of the number of finitegroups of a given order etc.

Under the TIFR-IISc. Programmein Applications of Mathematicsmembers working at Bangalore,actively pursued problems inAnalysis, Differential Equations,Numerical Analysis, StochasticProcesses etc.

In Analysis notable results wereobtained on multipliers for Her-mite expansions, Weyl transform,Laguerre expansions and for theFourier transform on the Heisen-berg group.

Nonlinear hyperbolic differentialequations were extensively stu-died; approximation to nonlinearscalar conservation laws usinggeometrical optics, asymptoticanalysis using Hopf-Cole trans-form and spectral theory are someof the themes which yielded fruit-ful results. A simple proof wasobtained for global and almostglobal existence of solutions towave equations in exterior do-mains, including the Klein-Gordonequations. Study of homogenisa-tion of eagenvalue problems re-lated to honey-comb structuresand Stake's problem, Hamilton-Jacobi equation with Newmanboundary condition on the quarterplane etc. also led to interestingfindings. Progress was alsoachieved in the study ofisoperimetric inequalities for solu-tions of partial differential equa-tions. In the study of semilinearelliptic equations important re-sults were obtained on existenceand multiplicity of solutions incases of problems involving criticalexponent, symmetric breakingetc. Using the method of geomet-rical optics microlocal paramet-rices were obtained for a class ofpseudo differential operators andnew results were obtained onpropogation of singularities, by ap-plying wave front calculus tothese parametrices.

Numerical results on discon-tinuous finite element methodsfor nonlinear scalar conservationlaws modelling and numericalsimulation of the evolution of noc-turnal air temperatures nearground, improvement of themathematical model for theTaylor-Couette problem are someo* the topics in which the Numer-ical Analysts obtained interestingresults. In Stochastic Processes,extensive work was carried out oncontrolled diffusions, controlledMarkov chains etc. An interestingalgorithm was developed for mul-tiobjective control of Markovchains.

It is proposed to continue courseson topics such as Algebra, Analy-sis and Topology in addition toweekly colloquia and seminars.There will also be lectures by Visit-ing Professors in their areas ofcurrent research.

School of Physics

Theoretical Physics

In Theoretical High Energy Phy-sics, work continued in variousaspects of two-dimensional fieldtheory — specifically cqnformalfield theory, Liouville theory, ran-dom surfaces,, quantum fieldtheory on higher genus Riemannsurfaces and string theory. Topo-logical aspects of field theory andthe Aharonov-Bohm effect werealso studied.

Interesting relations have beensuggested among the lifetimes ofcharm hadrons and of bottom had-rons. Limits on the masses of gra-vitino and gluino were obtainedfrom tree unitarity and from theuse of accelerator data onmonojets. Studies also have co-vered topics such as interpreta-tion of Koiar events, non-perturbative QCD models, elec-tron-positron annihilation into lightquarks, finite temperature latticeQCD and Quark Gluon Plasma,string theory and related prob-lems.

In Condensed Matter and Statis-tical Physics, research was carriedout on transient response in laser-excited semiconductors, opticalproperties of small metal particles,instabilities in mixtures of rotatingsuperfluids, critical slowing downin lsing models, and self-organizedcritical pheonomena. In oxide su-perconductors, the dependenceof the critical temperature on thelayer structure was studied, and itwas shown that strong anisotropyin the energy gap could lead to apower-law dependence of specificheat on temperature. A spin-boson Hamilton which facilitatescalculation of the structure factorwas proposed for localized parti-cles interacting with conductionelectrons in a metal.

In Nuclear Physics, the exactsolutions of the Hill-Wheeler-

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Ring shaped mass element of the torsion

balance used in search for a fifth force

Griffin equation were obtainedfrom some simple Hamiltonians in-volving quarks. The chiral fermioncoupled to a topological skyrmionfield was studied. The study ofQGP formation in heavy ion colli-sions revealed that the plasmaequilibrium time can be larger thanthe plasma hadronization time.

Theoretical Astrophysics

The contributions in TheoreticalAstrophysics covered stellar andsolar physics and comets, inter-stellar matter, classical and quan-tum gravity, and large scale struc-tures in the universe. It wasshown that the C2 molecule incomet Halley is formed as a thirdgeneration species. A model forstellar convection was developedand asymmetries and shifts of lineprofiles were studied. Presuper-nova evolution of massive starswas studied. The inter stellarmedium studies showed sixplanetary nebulae to have X-rayemission. The study of gravita-tional lenses was continued. Mat-ter accretion was examined in thevicinity of a blackhole. IRAS lowresolution spectrameter spectraof 117 M and S. Mira variableswere studied. In the area of galax-ies and cosmology, the elementiron was isolated as a good indica-tor for the chemical evolution ofgalaxies. The work on the evi-

dence for evolution in radiosources distribution and Dopplermodels for QSOs was continued.The topics studied in classical gra-vitation included statistical mecha-nics of gravitating systems,charged blackhole spacetimes.symmetries and conserved quanti-ties and volume functions in re-lativity. It was shown that gravita-tional collapse can result in strongcurvature naked singularities emit-ting bursts of radiations. In quan-tum gravity, the wave functionsfor the universe, semi-classicallimits, and the quantum effectswithin a Schwarzschild blackholewere studied.

Gravitation

The torsion balance set-up nearGauribidanur has been workingcontinuously and the preliminarysearches for new medium rangeforces coupling to isospin havebeen extended to higher levels ofsensitivity. The latest analysis ofdata indicates the strength ofsuch couplings in units of gravityper baryon is less than 6 X 10~5 ifthe force is attractive and lessthan 1.8 X 10'4 if the force is repul-sive between two like 'isospin-charges". This is the most sensi-tive torsion balance operating inthe world and it is capable ofmeasuring differences of accel-eration between two bodies atthe ~10~13 cm s~2 level i.e.10 ~ ' 6gearth! The balance will nowbe adapted to the study of Ein-steins" equivalence principle.

Astronomy

In the field of Astronomy, the In-stitute has groups working inGamma Ray Astronomy, X-rayAstronomy, Infrared Astronomyand Radio Astronomy and a smallgroup doing optical studies usingCCD.

Ultra High Energy CUHE) Gam-ma ray Astronomy at Kolar GoldFields: An .improved 3O upper limitof 1.8 x 10~'4 photons cm" 2 s" 'on the flux of gamma rays of ener-gy > x 10'5 eV from the X-raybinary source, Cygnus X-3, hasbeen set. A possible episodicemission during the two monthperiod april-May 1985, in the orbit-al phase interval 0.5-0.6, has beenrecorded from this source at an

overall significance level of 0.98.The recently discovered eclipsingradio binary pulsar, PSR 1957 + 2O,is seen, for the first time, to beemitting UHE gamma rays in theorbital phase interval 0.2-0.3, oxactly where it is expected.

Ultra High Energy (UHE) Gam-ma Ray Astronomy at Ooty: The1 0O detector system at Ooty de-ployed on 10 meter hexagonal gridis one of the largest and the mostdensely packed array in the worldwhich would permit highest possi-ble angular resolution for thestudy of point sources of Gammarays.

Highly significant results havebeen obtained from the earlier 24detector system. For the firsttime pulsed emission of UHEGamma rays from the CRAB pul-sar has been detected. A steadyflux of Gamma rays was reportedfrom CYGNUS X-3 which also hasshown burst-like activity on time-scales of weeks. This burst-likeactivity was coincident with thosereported by the Los Almos groupin USA and the Baksan group inUSSR. Similar burst-like activityhas been detected from a south-ern source SCO X-1 simultaneous-ly from Ooty and from Mount Cha-caltaya, Bolivia.

The single large area Ctotal area200 Sq.rrD MUGN detector nowunder construction would permitstudy of muon content of indi-vidual showers with good statis-tical accuracy. This would allowone to shed light on the presentcontroversy regarding the natureof PeV energy radiation fromcelestial sources e.g. CYGNUS X-3, HERCULES X-1 etc.

X-ray Astronomy: Hard X-rayobservations of several X-raysources were carried out in a bal-loon flight made on December 18,1988 with a new 1000 cm areaphoswich scintillation countertelescope. Development of detec-tors for the Indian X-ray Astro-nomy Satellite and the Indo-SovietGamma-ray Astronomy SatelliteMission is in progress. X-ray in-tensity variations on time scale ofhours, were detected from theSeyfert galaxy Mrk 509 with theobservations made with the GingaSatellite. Quasi-periodic oscilla-

3.6O

tions with periods of 500-800 sec.range have been detected fromthe fast photometric observationsof the cataclysmic variable star KRAur.

Infrared Astronomy: Interpreta-tion of the TIFR 150 JJUTI far-infrared (FIR) observations alongwith radio observations have ledto new information about the starforming regions W 31 and G351.6-1.3. This includes the discovery ofa protostellar candidate, a bipolaroutflow source candidate and de-termination of a steep initial massfunction near high mass end forthe W31 complex, and the natureas well as the distribution of dustin G351.6-1.3 region. The newband C45-75 (i.m and 110-210 (JUTOFIR photometer was successfullyincorporated in the 100 cm tele-scope, to study the Galactic starforming regions RCW 36, IRAS10351 -5830, IR AS 10365-5803and the spiral galaxy NGC 4945during a balloon flight on Novem-ber 17,1988. These sources havebeen simultaneously mapped inthe two FIR bands with a spatialresolution of 1.5 and an improvedabsolute positional accuracy bystrategic use of the focal planeoptical detector. Near infraredstudies of carbon stars suggest ananticorrelation between the frac-tional abundance of SiC grains andthe mass loss rate.

In addition, the following studieshave been made: radio observa-tions of H II region like sources,EXOSAT observations of planet-ary nebulae, UV line emission andsimultaneous radio and H°°observations of Be stars andoptical line emission from Sco X-1.

Radio Astronomy: The OotySynthesis Radio TelescopeCOSRT) has been extensively usedfor a variety of research program-mes including mapping of clustersof galaxies, spiral galaxies,supernova remnants etc.

The Radio Astronomy groupcompleted twentyf ive years of ex-istence and the Silver Jubilee wascelebrated at RAC, Ooty. A com-prehensive Report entitled "25years of Radio Astronomy. TataInstitute of FundamentalResearch" was published duringthe celebrations. The report cov-

ers the achievements of the groupin a series of articles and a com-plete list of publications which areabout 350.

The ambitious Giant MeterwaveRadio Telescope CGMRT) projecthas made considerable progressthis year. The design of the 45mdia dish was finalised. This designis based on a novel concept calledSMART — Stretched MeshAttached to Rope Trusses — de-veloped by the Group. In this, theback-up structure of the fullysteerable 45m dish consists of 16radial parabolic frames made oftubular steel which are connectedto a 12m diameter central hub. Cir-cumferential rope trusses madeof 4.0 and 2.3mm diameter stain-less-steel wire ropes are stretch-ed between adjacent parabolicframes to provide support for thecurved reflecting surface of theparabolic dish. The reflecting sur-face is made out of 0.55mm diastainless-steel wire mesh.

The array configuration hasbeen finalised. Good progress wasmade in civil construction sidealso.

Cosmic Ray — Space Physics

In the Anuradha Cosmic Ray ex-periment in Spacelab-3 the newmethod of determining the ioniza-tion states of anomalous andgalactic cosmic ray heavy ions uti-lising the earth's magnetic field asa momentum analyser was suc-cessfully established. Using this,two new types of results wereobtained for the first time. Firstly,anomalous cosmic ray ions of nit-rogen, oxygen, neon and argonwere found to be either in singlyionized state or consistent withsame. These establish interstellarneutrals as the source of theseions. Secondly, whereas a majorpart of galactic cosmic ray Fe-group CZ = 21-26) ions in low ener-gy interval of 30-100 MeV/N werefound to be fully ionized, as nor-mally expected, a strikingly newresult was obtained which

•showed that a fraction of theseFe-group ions are in partially io-nized state. The origin of theseare unknown at present and someplausible processes are sug-gested.

Experimental High Energy Phy-sics

Cosmic Rays and High Energy Phy-sics: It was shown, by detailedMonte Carlo simulations, that thecelebrated Centauro-I event couldbe reproduced by partial frag-mentation and interaction of prim-ary cosmic ray iron nucleus. Thenumber of events expected to berecorded in all the experiments is,however, 2.4 x 10~5

Experiments using UndergroundDetectors: The electronic instru-mentation has been upgraded formore efficient triggering formagnetic monopoles. The simula-tion studies for the background toproton decay events are con-tinuing. The data on muon bundlescollected at these large depths isunique in the world.

Accelerator based programmes:This group has a collaborativeprogramme with Large ElectronPositron Collider CLEP) at CERN.After completing its hardware re-sponsibilities for the L3 Collabora-tive experiment, the EHEP grouphas been engaged in a variety ofsoftware work relating to the de-tector as well as preparations forphysics analysis. These includecalibration of the hadron calori-meter endcap modules, simulationand reconstruction studies withthe full l_3 detector set-up. A com-prehensive programme for phy-sics analysis of the Z° line shapehas been set-up.

Nuclear and Atomic Physics

The 14 UD Pelletron has becomeoperational and the first set of ex-periments have been performedwith various beams delivered bythe machine. An empirical relationhas been established between thepopulation of low spin levels in re-sidual nuclei with the angularmomenta brought in fusion reac-tions. An enhanced yield of highenergy gamme rays have beenobserved in alpha induced reac-tions on heavy nuclei.

Condensed Matter Physics

Superconductivity etc. studies:Nuclear Quadropole ResonanceCNQR) of copper isotopes in HighTc superconductors has been me-

asured which indicate the pre-sence of inequivalent copper sitesin YBa2Cu3O7-& C123) compoundand Bismuth compounds (2122).Relaxation measurements indoped and undoped samples giveevidence for moment formation atcopper site. NMR of thallium iso-tope in TIBaCuO compoundshows that thallium has nonmetallic character and relaxationmeasurement at T1 site furtherconfirms this. The lower criticalfield He, in High Tc superconduc-tors has been found to be verysmall (few oersted) which hasgreat implication in basic sciencesand applications. The effect ofparticle size on superconductingproperties has been studied usingmicroparticles. The effect oflanthanum substitution in Bismuthcompounds is stronger than Gado-linium and Europium which is ex-plained on the basis of extended4f electrons. The magnetic prop-erties of non superconductingLnBa2Cu3O7 compounds werevery similar to those of supercon-ducting lanthanides which provethat the magnetism of rare earthions has very little influence on su-perconductivity.

Condensed Matter Physics atLow Temperatures: Thermopow-er measurements in Ce3~xLaxA\alloys showed evidence of Kondo-like scattering with a negativeminimum in thermo-power whichoccur conventionally in Kondo-lattice compounds. This minimumcrosses over to positive values atx =* 0.45, while Kondo tempera-ture remains constant, thereby re-flecting anomalous thermopowerbehaviour. Evolution of such ananomalous behaviour is reportedfor the first time in single Kondo-lattice alloy system. A detailedstudy of amorphous Fe8oxVxBi2Siaalloys in the temperature range of4.2K to 300K shows existence ofa pronounced maximum above X= 8 unlike other transition metalmetalloid glasses. The origin ofthis is not yet understood.

Biophysics: During this year, thestudies on brain hexokinase havebeen completed and the sugarligand binding sites on the enzymehave been mapped. In has beenshown through NMR studies thatthe regulatory binding site of glu-

cose 6-phosphate on the enzymeis the same as the product site.

Solid State Electronics

During the year, the group haslaunched two new programmes:(1) optoelectronics and (2) hightemperature superconductivity. Inoptoelectronics, a growth techni-que (organometallic vapour phaseepitaxy - MOVPE) capable of pro-ducing novel semiconductor struc-tures — quantum wells and super-lattices, is initiated. Several newspectroscopies such as photo-luminescence, fourier transforminfrared (FTIR) and PhotothermalDeflection Spectroscopy (PDS)are being established. Deviceactivity has picked up with workon MWSFET phototransistors anddiodes formed by a new diffusiontechnique. In superconductivity,high Tc films of Y,BaaCu3O7_5have been successfully synthe-sised. In the continuing works,there are new findings in the alloymaterials of AIGaAs, InGaAsP, a-Si-Ge and a-Si-C.

Chemical Physics

In the Chemical Physics Group, aremarkable achievement was thefinding that the chemical deposi-tion of semiconductor thin filmswas faster and superior in qualitywhen grown in a magnetic field.Quantum chaos was unambi-guously demonstrated through acomprehensive statistical analysisof photoionization spectraobtained in recent experiments atBARC. New methods of analysisof time-domain fluorescence datahave been developed. NMR andoptical studies of the binding ofsubstrates to heme peroxidaseshave led to the unravelling of thestructure of heme pocket and themechanism of the peroxidativeactivity of Iactoperoxidase, leadingto an understanding of bacter-iocidal property of thiocyanate. Ithas been shown that magnetic re-sonance techniques (NMR) andE5R) can provide valuable in-formation on molecular aspects ofreproductive biology.

Molecular Biology

In Drosophila, several regulatoryelements specific to the che-

mosensory and motor pathwayswere identified using a reporter(J-galactosidase gene.

Studies on plant cell differentia-tion in the moss system showthat cell's ability to respond to au-xin, a plant hormone, depends onthe nutritional status. With adequ-ate nutrients, the cells proliferateand are relatively insensitive to au-xin. However, upon subjecting tonutritional-limitation, the cells ac-quire ten to thirty fold enhancedability to respond to auxin. A highlyefficient hormone perceptionmechanism could have evolved asa consequence of nutritionalstress. As starvation acts as atrigger in several bacteria and fun-gi for sporulation and cell dif-ferentiation, the relationship be-tween partial starvation and hor-monal sensitivity in the moss sys-tem provides a different perspec-tive to explain the evolution of hor-mone-regulated responses inplants.

The cloning of the particulatephosphofructokinase in yeastshows that the enzyme activity iscoded by the (J-subunit alone.

Hydrology

The feasibility of the scheme ofunderground storage of flood wa-ters has received observationalsupport. The drought of 1987 hadlowered the water table in theproject area by about five meters.The observations of water levelsin the bore wells at various pointsin the aquifer showed a sharp in-crease following floods in the Hin-don river, which occurred aboutfour times during the 1988 mon-soon. The full recovers' of the wa-ter tabls, reaching the status quoante, has justified the; basic pre-mise of the scheme.

Computer Science

Theoretical Computer Science:Two of the major areas of concen-tration have been Specification,Analysis and Verification of Hard-Real-Time Distributed Systemsand Logic Programming In the for-mer, Semantics and Proof Theoryof Real-Time distributed comput-ing have been developed. ProofTheory for Statecharts Ca mixedformalism of specification and

Continued en naae 3 FIR

1IHtfflHi

Saha /nst/tute of Nuclear Physics

Saha Institute ofNuclear Physics

Nuclear Physics

Experimental nuclear physicsprogrammes are mostly carriedout with alpha particle projectilesC30 MeV to 60 MeV) available atthe Variable Energy CyclotronCentre, Calcutta, of Bhabha Ato-mic Research Centre as well asSINP in house facilities. Some ex-perimental programmes are alsoplanned to be carried out at theT1FR-BARC pelletron in Bombay.Life times of nuclear high spinstates in Manganese-53 isotopehave been measured by Dopplershift attenuation method. Ex-perimental work on the nuclearrotational band structure ofErbiumm-164 isotope has yieldednew information. Band structurein Samarium-149, 151 isotopeshave been studied by in-beamgamma-ray spectroscopy to ex-amine the possible existence ofhigher order deformation in thesenuclei. The sum and multiplicityspectrometer system has beenutilized to study band structure inodd-odd nucleus Thalium-198 iso-tope. The investigation on thebreak-up of Lithium-6 nucleus byenergetic alpha particle has beencompleted. Mutual excitation ofalpha projectile and BeriIium-9 nuc-leus is planned to be studied withalpha projectiles. Thick Targetyields of neutrons induced byalpha projectiles on BeriIium-9,Tantalum-181 and Gold-197 have

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been measured and analysed.Neutron-rich exotic nuclei pro-duced in alpha-induced fission ofThorium-232 have been studied byhelium-jet-recoil transport techni-que. An automatic gas flow con-trol system for Breskin and multi-wire proportional counters hasbeen tested successfully.

Work was continued in nuclearreaction, radioactivity, positronannihilation and electron-scattering studies. Microscopicanalyses of inelastic a-scatteringfrom 28Si and polarized deutronscattering from 34S were com-pleted. Preparations of 9Be (a, a*)experiment were started. Cot, HI)reactions on 27AI and 24Mg wereperformed using the special scat-tering chamber for SSNTD detec-tors and are being analyzed. Theeffects of various etching para-meters on. different SSNTD's andtheir mutual relationship are beingstudied. Work on 7Li induced reac-tion on 27A1 is complete as well asthat on sub-barrier fusion and n-transfer reaction in 16O + f3C sys-tem. Mean equilibium chargeradius for heavy ions (11B and 13C,aBe — 16C0 passing through mat-ter is being studied. K-captureprobability determinations in de-cays of 133Ba, 197Hg, 1o8Ag, 113Snand 1B2Eu are partly completed, asalso the inner bremstrahlung stu-died on 4SCa, 63Ni, 13OSn and197Mg. In the reaction, 197Au Cot,

3n) 198TI, two new bandheads andhigher members of K = 8' bandhave been identified using sumand multiplicity spectrometers. Alevel scheme of 95Ru is proposedfrom a-ray measurements in 94MoCot, 3n"y) reaction. The positronannihilation technique has beenapplied to the study of defectkinetics in a-irradiated Ta and W, inthe determination of underlyingmechanisms in high Tc supercon-ductors, and in detecting the pre-sence of small vacancy clusters inthe as-grown icosahedral phase ofquasi-crystals. The scatteringchamber, gas-flow system andthe electron-gun assembly, forthe electron — scattering studieshave been installed and are beingtested.

The investigation on the timedependence of A2 and A4 angularcorrelation co-efficients in 152Euchloride has been completed withresults which have settled thefact that values of A2(O) andA4(CO agree with the theoreticalvalue.

The theoretical studies in nuc-lear structure in Gamow-Teller andM1 strength distributions usingstatistical methods and theirwidths using commutators arepersued. Coriolis attenuation intransitional and neutron-deficientrare earth nuclei and variation ofg-factor with spin in CHFB formal-ism are also being investigated.

In nuclear reaction theory stu-dies in antiproton-nudeus scatter-ing, uniqueness of path in multi-dimensional parameter space inthe framework of ATDHF theoryand its application to nuclear fis-sion, deuteron induced reactionsincluding the deuteron break-upchannels, nucleus-nucleus poten-tial at energy density formalism,deep inelastic reactions and man-ifestation of co-operative phe-nomena in particle production inheavy ion Collisions are being per-formed. Studies on nuclear equa-tion of state with various thermo-static properties of nuclear matter

-and role of sub nucleonic degreesof freedom in nuclear structureand reactions are also made.

Work on heavy ion Coulombpotential and one dimensionalpotential profile in binary fissionhave progressed substantially.

Isomeric cross-section ratios fornuclei formed through multipleejectile emissions are being analy-sed in terms of pre-equilibriummodel.

In nuclear astrophysics the roleof pre-heating of nuclei of neutri-nos in supernova explosions hasbeen studied.

Atomic, Molecular and CondensedMatter PhysicsThe secondary ion mass spec-trometry CSIMS) apparatus hasbeen used to study the emissionof doubly charged ions emittedfrom V and Nb surfaces subjectedto energetic ion bombardment.The results are in agreement withthe model of secondary ion emis-sion proposed earlier. The abovemodel has also been applied in Alcluster ion emission with success.Sputtering yield measurementsand study of surface modifica-tions due to sputtering are beingcontinued using the electro-magnetic isotope separator. Somecalculations on energy depend-ence of sputtering yield have beendone and these have been com-pared with the experimental data.Surface topography of Ge and Sisurfaces seeded with W and Tahave been studied and seed coneshave been observed in case df Gefor the first time. The above stu-dies are now being continued incase of metal surfaces such as Cuand Al seeded with W, Ta and Au.Measurements of electron .de-tachment cross-section of O~ions in various gases were carriedout. A 150 KV Ar+ ion beam fromthe 300 KV ion accelerator wasused to study the ranges of ions inplastics.

Radiative lifetimes of manymore levels of Ar have been mea-sured lifetimes of the levels of Neand Xe are being measured.

Homologous substitution com-pounds of MPS3 family are beingstudied. CDPs3 single crystalshave been prepared in a two-zonefurnace, the X-ray diffraction, themagnetic susceptibility and theroom temperature Mossbauer in-vestigation of powdered Cd1/2 Fe,,.2 PS3, have been carried out and areview of the physico-chemicalproperties of the systems in theMPS3 family has been completed.

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The diffusion properties ui nyu-rogen atoms, and the electron dis-tributions in the intermetallic hyd-rides, ZrNiAlhHd2x, YNiAIHx andCeNiAIH* have been studied bymeasuring relaxation time and theline-widths of proton NMR. Thecompound NH4FeF4 has also beenstudied by the same technique.The ultrasonic velocity changeshave been measured in the Ag-doped ceramic superconductor,YBa2Cu3 ,OX. The microwavespectroscopy of organic com-pounds is being continued.

The programme of studyingphysical properties of hightemperature superconductors isbeing continued. This year, Pb-doped Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O samples andsingle crystals of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-Ohas been prepared and variousaspects of superconductivity inthese systems has been studiedby measuring electrical andmagnetic properties, x-ray, Hallvoltage, excess conductivity etc.Some investigations on bismuthbased high temperature supercon-ducting oxides are also being car-ried out.

Substantial effort has beenmade in studying electrical trans-port and magnetic properties atlow temperatures in crystallineand amorphous solids withmagnetic and non magnetic im-purities. The physical mechanismin view for such investigations arespin-dependent scattering of con-duction electrons and effects ofshort range structural disorder.The systems being studied areNiFeAu and FeMnSi. Experimentalfacilities for measuring electricalresistivity, thermoelectric powerand a.c. susceptibility as functionsof temperature have been de-veloped. The non linear current-voltage characteristics of carbon-wax mixture samples, above thepercolation threshold of carbonconcentration, have been studiedand useful semi-emperical laws re-lating the breakdown currentswith (linear) resistance of thesamples have been observed andestablished.

On the theoretical side, theproperties of Fibonacci chain arebeing analysed using differentanalytical and numerical methods.The one dimension X-Y model hasalso been used to analyse the spe-

cific heat of Cs2CoCl4 in terms ofthe spin-correlation functions. Amodel lsing crystal with nearestneighbour competing interactionshas been studied by Monte-Carlosimulation technique. Renorma-lization group study of the Hub-bard model in a 2D triangular lat-tice is being continued. Effect ofelectron-phonon interaction in asingle band Hubbard model withstrong on-site correlations, hasbeen investigated..

Plasma physics

Several diagnostic developmentsand a number of research studieswere made on the SINP tokamak.The 16-channel visible imagingsystem, spex, monochromator 2-channel soft x-ray imagingcamera, one neutral particle de-tector, 9.6 GHz microwave inter-ferometer and reflectometer,Langmuir probes, and hard x-raymonitoring unit were developedand made operational. The physicsproblems studied with these di-agnostics are as follows: low-qdischarge operation in SINP toka-mak without any major disruption,MHD instabilities, and edge plas-ma phenomena. Interesting datahave been collected on theseproblems, and these are beinganalysed. The work on the stabil-ised Z-pinch discharge was con-tinued.

On the technological side, workon the design studies of a pulseforming network has been in prog-ress in order to achieve 20 ms flattop plasma current in the SINPtokamak. The feasibility of theradio frequency heating of thetokamak plasma, by using eitherlower hybrid wave or lon-Berr.itein wave, is also being ex-amined.

Theoretical and computationalwork has been started on the in-vestigation of low-q discharge re-gion in SINP tokamak as a bridginggap between tokamak and re-verse field pinch operation. 1 -DBALDUR transport cpde has beenimplemented and O-D start-upcode has been developed to studythe current rise phase of the toka-mak plasma.

Theoretical work was carriedout on the Ion-Bernstein waveheating in tokamak and non-linear

wave propagation in plasma aswell as on the wave propagationalong a dielectric-coated cylinderCGoubau wire) immersed in astrongly magnetized plasma. Amicrowave diagnostic method forhigh-density magnetized plasma,employing a dielectric-coatedcylinder as a probe, is being de-veloped.

High Energy and General Physics

Activities in high energy physicsand quantum field theory includethe investigations in the followingareas. Exactly integrable higherspin and WZW models and theirconnection with conformal fieldtheories. Covariant non-linear sig-ma model formulation of theGreen-Schwarz superstring. Di-vergence and commutator anoma-lies in guage theories and their ap-plication to Z-boson processes.Physics of fractional statisticsparticles CAnyons) arising in Chern-Simmons guage theories. Chiralsolitons CSkyrmions) in low energyeffective field theories and theirinterpretation as baryons. Trans-port and other properties of thequark-gluon plasma. A second op-tion for CP violation in the stan-dard model and its phenomenolo-gical implication.

In general physics work on theanhologenic effects in classicaland quantum systems is beingcontinued. Travelling salesmantype optimisation problems onrandom lattices, neural networkmodels Cspin glass models) etc.are being studied.

Instrumentation

A highly stable and accurate112.0436 MHZ X-tal oscillator sys-tem of novel design with longterm stability of output of 1 x10~8 at 1OV supply voltage hasbeen designed to test the hertzorder stability and accuracy andhence reliability of output frequen-cy, as also of division ratio, of the100 MH2 swallow counter-cum-programmable divider, especiallyat high division ratios of 10 f

A u/p based system to program-me automatically the divisionratios of the programmable dividerhas also been developed success-fully.

The technique of fast coinci-dence with large HPGe detectorsusing extrapolated leading edgetriggering has been thoroughly in-vestigated and it was establishedthat the ratio of upper level trig-gering bias to lower level trigger-ing bias is not 2 but 3.6. A resolv-ing time of 3.2 ns for 6°Co gamma-rays and 27 percent HPGe detec-tor has been achieved.

Radiochemistry, Radiation &Photochemistry, and Spectros-copy

In radiochemistry, traces ofniobium in geological matriceswere determined by charged parti-cle activation analysis using fivedifferent reaction pathways.Different crystalline inorganicmaterials were prepared for usingas adsorbents for carrying outtypical radiochemical separations.Solvent extraction using differentliquid ion exchangers were suit-ably employed in developingseparation procedures in case ofcongeneric pairs of elements.

In radiation and photochemistry,the mechanisms of radiation in-activation of flavoenzymes wasstudied. Effects of Fe CUD on theradiosensitivity of thymine wereinvestigated. Gamma radiolysis ofCu CID-flazyl complex in diluteaqueous solution formed a part ofthe study in radiation chemistry.Oxidation of Ni CID-EDTA by Cl2 —radicals generated by flash photo-lysis was also an object of interestwhere the kinetics of the reactionof Cl2 — with the complex and thetime resolved spectra of the va-rious transient species were in-vestigated. Quantum size effectsin the use of colloidal Fe2O3 forsolar energy utilization was alsostudied in photochemistry. A pre-liminary investigation has alsobeen made on the study of life-time of the triplet state of RoseBengal in dye-surfactant system.

In spectroscopy, steady stateand time resolved fluorescencestudies of flavonoids, peptidesand proteins in various media in-cluding miceller systems were car-ried out. Study state spectrof-luorometry and absorption spec-trophotometry have been fruitful-ly employed in investigating theextraction mechanism in case of

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uranyl nitrate in micro emulsionsystem of HDEHP-n-heptane. Vib-rational spectroscopic studieshave also been initiated on somerepresentative peptides.

Biosciences

Investigations with cultured V-79cells yielded more interesting find-ings regarding the involvement ofchromosomal organization duringthe process of repair of damageinduced by alkylating agents, ox-idizing agents, ionizing and non-ionizing radiations. Studies on thereconstitution of nucleoproteincomplexes have been continuedwith a view to throw further lighton the mammalian chromatin

structure. X-ray structural andconformational analyses of diffe-rent kinds of small biomoleculeshave been carried out and con-siderable progress has been madein understanding their interactionswith receptor molecules. Crystal-lographic studies on proteins arealso well underway. Molecularbasis of interactions involving anti-tumor antibiotics (Mithramycinand Chromomycin A3) and DNA aswell as flavin mono-oxygenase(from soil bacterium) and its subs-trate was investigated using diffe-rent spectroscopic and biochemic-al techniques. Physiochemical in-vestigations were carried out to-wards understanding the mode ofsubunit assembly in a-crystalin-

the important eye lens protein.Studies on calmodulin-the C,,'<J

binding protein revealed severalnovel features of the protein to-wards proton binding. Theoreticalstudies of the solvent effect onthe conformational aspects ofseveral gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA)-agonists and antagonistshave been performed to get anidea of the pharmacophoric pat-terns of hydrated drug molecules.

Other investigations carried outare melting characteristics of DNAin the presence of high degree ofsupercoiling and base pair heter-ogenity and the formulation of abiophysical model for inward cal-cium current at the pre-synapticterminal of an axon.

continued from page 3.62

programming for reactive sys-tems) has been developed in acompositional way. Further, anew Real-time design language,RT-CDL has been proposed.Further analysis of the theory andthe language is in progress. Themajor work in logic programminghas been concentrated in the de-velopment of a methodology forthe design of logic programs andalgorithms for detecting termina-tion in various classes of logicprammes.

Computer Systems and Com-munications

Good progress has been achievedin the implementation of SpeechSynthesis and Recognition Sys-tem using a variety of approaches.

Neural notations are being investi-gated for their utility in this area.There have been some interestingresults in the signal processingfield also: In the computer sys-tems area, a Multiple InstructionMultiple Data type of architectureis being developed for use in asingle algorithm multiple datamode.

Other Units

Homi Bhabha Centre for ScienceEducation CHBCSE)

The Centre has undertaken col-laborative programmes with thegovernmerit of Maharashtra fordeveloping strategies and mate-rials for largescale implementationof its pedagogy. Results showthat it is possible to train resource

persons and obtain a multipliereffect. The plans for constructingbuildings of HBCSE at Anushakti-nagar are now taking shape.

Basic Dental Research Unit

The Basic Dental Research Unithas completed 10 years of follow-up in its intervention studies onoral cancer and precancerous le-sions, and the results are beinganalysed. The next phase of itsresearch operations has beenfinalized and the work has started.An educational documentary filmon mouth self-examination isunder production. A case-controlstudy of oral submucous fibrosisin Bhavnagar demonstrated arecanut in 'mawa' to be the mainetiological factor.

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Community Rural Centre at Barsi, Solapurdistrict, Maharashtra

Tata MemorialCentre

The Tata Memorial Centre, com-prising the Tata Memorial HospitalCTMH) and the Cancer ResearchInstitute CCRD, continued its acti-vities in the diagnosis, treatmentand research on cancer. The Cen-tre continued its training program-mes and educational activities.

Tata Memorial Hospital

During the year 1989, over 23,000new patients were registered14,500 patients were diagnosedas suffering from cancer; 9,931patients were admitted and manymajor operations were carried out.8,000 histopathological examina-tions and 6,200 fine needle aspira-tion cytology investigations- werecarried out. Also 27,571 bioche-mical investigations and haemato-logical investigations were made.About 10,000 radiological inves-tigations, 7,877 major and 14,063minor operations were carried out.Laser surgery was introduced,particularly, in the management ofhead and neck and oesophagealcancers.

The Hospital has been involvedwith international and national cli-nical trials on cancers. Childrensuffering from haematologicalmalignancies, particularly withacute lymphoid leukaemia wereundergoing intensive chemother-apy treatment. The study is beingcontinued.

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Medical Oncology Departmenthas been involved in overall man-agement of haematological malig-nancies and in patients for ad-juvant treatment in solid tumours.Basic laboratory work includingcytogenic study and in-vitro bonemarrow culture and surface mar-kers were also being carried out.Pharmacy Department continuedto supply various fluids for in-travenous Cl. V.) use and also a fewdrugs in ampoules for injection.About 1,34,000 disposable non-toxic PVC pouches of various l.V.fluids were manufactured andmade available at a much lowercost. The Animal House continuedto test the l.V. fluids for pyrogeniccontamination.

Hospital Cancer Registry is onthe network of National CancerRegistry Project of Indian Councilof Medical Research CiCMR) since1984. The data on cancer patientsdiagnosed and treated in 1987were submitted to the network. Areport on statistical analysis car-ried out was also provided.

Computer Centre

A Norsk Data ND 550/CX, and amega mini computer with 24 in-teractive terminals were commis-sioned during 1985. With theassistance of Computer Division,BARC, adequate software forseveral clinical research, such as

computerisation of patient'smedical record, work related tohospital based National CancerRegistry Project of ICMRepidemioiogical studies, clinical re-search retrospective analysis —prospective clinical trials, compu-ter aided educational and trainingpackage, patient appointment andfollow-up scheduling, bed man-agement, materials management(Inventory system for drugs etc.),journal reference system for lib-rary, was developed and im-plemented.

Rear Annexe(Golden Jubilee Block)

Construction of the Rear Annexe(Golden Jubilee Block) has startedin November 1989. The GoldenJubilee Block will house OPD,accommodation for residentialdoctors and nurses, auditoriumetc. Efforts are being made tocomplete the OPD Block and theauditorium before February 1991.

Service Block(Hospital Extension)

A seven storeyed building as anextension at the south end of theexisting hospital building will be-come operational by February1991. This building will houseseveral services.

Advanced Centre for Treatment,Research & Education in Cancer(ACTREC)

Forty acres of land provided byCIDCO for ACTREC was takenover after the joint survey done bythe CIDCO officers and the consul-tants. CIDCO has offered addition-al 20 acres of land adjacent to theland already allotted. The consul-tants are developing the layoutplans and their Project Report hasbeen finalised to obtain the finan-cial sanction from DAE. A financialsanction is awaiting the Cabinetapproval to the project. The workis expected to be completed dur-ing the VIII Plan.

Dr. Borges Memorial Home

The Government of Maharashtrahas allotted free of cost a plot of3000 sq. yards at Bandra for hous-ing 150 economically backwardcancer patients undergoing

radiotherapy and chemotherapytreatment in this hospital. A re-habilitation training centre is prop-osed to be set up at this dormi-tory. The construction work isnearing completion and will beready for occupation early in 1 990.

Cancer Centre at Guwahati

More than 500 patients call at thisCentre from the North East Re-gion. Majority of them are poorand have no place to stay. TheDepartment of Atomic Energy, incollaboration with the Eastern Re-gional Council and the Govern-ment of Assam has proposed toassociate Tata Memorial Centrefor developing the infrastructureat the Dr. B. Barooah Cancer Insti-tute for providing cancer treat-ment facilities locally. Equipment(including a Gamma Camera)worth about Rs.4O lakhs has beenprocured for this Centre.

Rural Efforts

The Community Rural Centre atBarsi of Solapur District, Mahar-ashtra conducted 70 camps in vil-lages around Barsi and 500 peoplewere examined.

The second Rural Project, initi-ated in 1987, conducted campsfor early detection of cancer in thevillages of Pune District in col-laboration with the Pune MedicalFoundation.

Professional Education

During the year under report thehospital organised seminars,workshops and conferences in va-rious specialities.

Seminars & Workshops

Seminar-cum-workshops on 'Can-cer Esophagus', 'Colposcopy','Haemato oncology' and 'Onco-pathology' were held during theyear. A seminar on 'Inventory con-trol and computer aided pharmacy/materials management' was heldduring the year. For the adminis-trative staff a workshop on'Sharpening skills of PersonalAssistants (PA)' was conductedand finally a 'Programme on Quali-ty Circles for top professionals andmanagement personnel' wasorganised.

Deputation

During the year 21 medical profes-sionals were deputed abroad fromvarious faculties for conferencesand training. Also 46 medical pro-fessional, 2 administrative and 7para medical professionals weredeputed for training elsewhere inIndia in their respective faculties.

Cancer Control Programme

Government of Maharashtra con-tinued its association with theTata Memorial Hospital and ICMR,'n Cancer Control Programme inthe State for detection and treat-ment of cancer and also to edu-cate public about the hazards oftobacco usage. Doctors from dis-trict hospitals are being regularlytrained in TMC in pathology, radiol-ogy, radiotherapy etc.

Cancer Education in Schools

The International Union AgainstCancer (UICC) bas nominated TataMemorial Centre as the co-ordinating Centre for professionaleducation for South East Asia re-gion. Under the auspices of (UICC)Tata Memorial Centre and IndianCancer Society organised a work-shop on cancer education inschools. Nearly 5O professionalsworking in health care and educa-tion attended the workshop andformulated a policy, guidelines andmodules for undertaking this task.TMC is setting up a PreventiveOncology Division for educatingthe masses and also to organiseseveral other preventive mea-sures.

TMH is a post-graduate universi-ty centre affiliated to the Universi-ty of Bombay. It registers students for courses such as M.S.,D.M.R.D., D.M.R.T., D.A., M.Sc,and Ph.D. During the year 47 stu-dents were registered in variousspecialities and 20 students qual-ified various courses of TMH.

During the year the followingprofessional courses were intro-duced to improve the standard ofoncology nursing in the countryand to provide trained manpowerfor operating radiotherapymachines:

i) One year Diploma course in Can-cer Nursing.

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ii) One year Diploma course forRadiotherapy Technicians,

The Hospital conducts con-tinuing education on Oncologyprogramme for doctors. Duringthe year 16 doctors from variousparts of the country attended theprogramme.

Publications

The Tata Memorial Centre has 41publications to its credit publishedin various national and internation-al medical journals during the year.

Cancer Research Institute

Oral cancers and haemopoieticmalignancies continue to be thethrust areas for basic and appliedresearch in the Institute. A mul-tifaceted approach to assess thehazards of tobacco, both occupa-tional and habitual, along withbasic research in tobacco carci-nogenesis is proving fruitful. Thestudy of oncogenes in oral cancerhas made impressive progress.One of the monoclonal antibodiesproduced at the Institute, has thepotential for application in dif-ferential diagnosis of squamouscell carcinomas. The site-specificand stage-specific expression ofaberrant keratins by oral cancercells is a novel finding. In-depthinvestigations on leukemic gra-nulocytes have generated in-teresting information. Character-isation of haematopoietic growthmodulators is one more area ofintense research. 1CRC anti-leprosy vaccine, developed by thisinstitute 10 years ago, has alsobeen found to be beneficial to lep-rosy patients clinically non-responsive to drugs.

Life Style And Cancer

Public information and educationprogrammes are essential compo-nents of any tooacco controlstrategy. A study was undertakento assess the prevalence of tobac-co usage among medical practi-tioners and what they perceivedto be their role in such a program-me. From the KAP (knowledge,attitude and practice) ques-tionaires filled by 363 medicalpractitioners, it was seen that theprevalence of smoking and tobac-co-chewing habits was much low-

er among them than in generalpopulation. Most of the doctorsconsidered tobacco habits harmfuland felt it necessary to advisetheir patients accordingly.

Biological monitoring of occupa-tional exposure to tobacco in Bidiindustry workers was carried outby analysis of (a) marker com-pounds such as cotinine andthioethers in urine and saliva (b)genotoxic effect on buccal epithe-lium and peripheral blood lympho-cytes and (c) testing of mutagensexcreted in urine using short termtests. The results suggested anenhanced total mutagenic burdenin workers employed in Bidi rolling,and genotoxic effects in workersfrom tobacco processing plant.

The exposure of habitual chew-ers to tobacco is being determinedby measuring nicotine and cotininelevels by radio-immunoassay inplasma, saliva and urine samples.A considerably high baseline levelof nicotine was observed in plas-ma of even non-chewers and non-smokers, suggesting environmen-tal exposure Cpassive smoking).The half-life of nicotine amongstchewers varied between 1.1 - 1.5h and the peak concentrations inplasma were recorded within tenminutes of tobacco chewing. En-dogenous nitrosation was deter-mined in chewers of betel-quidCBQ) employing the N-nitroso pro-line CNPRO) test and it was foundto be higher than in control sub-jects. Studies on interaction ofradiolabelled N-nitrosonornicotineCG-H3-NNN) with cellular macro-molecules in liver of Swiss miceshowed significant radioactivityassociated with both DNA andRNA. Further analysis suggestedthat at least part of the DNA-associated radioactivity was dueto adducts.

Earlier observations have sug-gested a synergistic effect be-tween alcohol consumption andtobacco habits in cancers of theupper alimentary tract. This find-ing was supported by enhancedmutagenically in Ames assay butnot in long term assays in animals.Country liquor was found to begenotoxic in Ames Salmonella/microsome assay as well as micro-nucleus test in mice. In long termbioassay it was carcinogenic onlyin Swiss male mice.

Oral Cancer

An exciting study in oral cancer ofoncogene activation by amplifica-tion, genetic rearrangement, andpoint mutations has yielded veryinteresting results. In 49/102 oraltumors there was a ten-fold ampli-fication of c-myc, N-myc, N-ras,and Ki-ras while there was nochange in H-ras and L-myc. In 34/37 patients with myc oncogene(i.e. c-myc, N-myc and L-myc) am-plification in the tumors, therewas nodal metastasis. Analysis ofrestriction fragment length poly-morphism CRFLPs) and correlationof N-myc allele with clinical para-meters is in progress. Using 'invitro' amplification by polymerasechain re-jction CPCR) and specificoligonucleotide hybridisation

analysis 389b of oral cancer DNAsshowed activation of H-rasoncogene. The H-ras codons in-volved in point mutations werepredominantly 12 and 61.

The pattern of aberrant kerat'nexpression in oral cancers wasseen to vary with the site andstate of differentiation of thetumors. The keratins expressedpredominantly in buccal cancerswere 1 and 16 in well differenti-ated 17 and 16 moderately diffe-rentiated tumors. Only keratin 18was expressed in tongue tumors.Carcinomas of the alveolar muso-ca expressed keratin 16 whereaskeratins 4 and 5 were characteris-tic of the normal lining epitheliumof the oral cavity. A systematicstudy of keratin expression bynormal oral epithelium during de-velopment is in progress.

When oral cancers were classi-fied according to the data gener-ated by DNA flow cytometry(DNA index and coefficient ofvariation of G1 population) it wasfound that 70% were nondiploidand half of these were hetero-ploid. Tumors in clinical stage T2and T4 tumors were mostly diploidand multiploid respectively.

The reactivity of monoclonalantibodies (MAbs) (generated ear-lier) with four squamous carcino-ma cell (SCO lines developed fromoral cancers is being studied interms of complement dependentand antibody dependent cellularcytotoxicity (ADCC). Using cells of

SCC cell lines coated MAb 3F8E3as targets, and peripheral bloodlymphocytes (PBL) from healthydonors and oral cancer patients aseffectors. ADCC against the 4SCC celt lines was investigated. Itwas found to be low against all thetargets, but could be augmentedby rlL-2 in most cases.

Using natural killer (NK) activityof PBL from healthy donors andoral cancer patients towards oralcancer cell lines as targets wascompared with NK susceptible K-562 cells as targets. Both controlsand patients showed comparableNK activity, however it was lowagainst the SCC cell lines as com-pared to that against K-562. Thelow NK cytotoxicity against oralcancer cell lines could be au-gmented by rlL-2 better than rIFN.When one of the SCC cell linesCMHC class 1 negative) was tre-ated with IFN- to induce MHCclass I antigen, it developed resist-ance to NK killing.

Haemopoietic Malignancies

To elucidate the mechanismunderlying the defective chemota-xis shown by leukemic granulo-cytes, the process of actinpolymerisation was investigated.Actin was found to be significantlylower in granulocytes from chronicmyeloid leukemia (CML) patientswith or without stimulation by asynthetic chemotactic peptide(FMLP) as compared to the nor-mal cells; its polymerisation wasalso considerably reduced. Asesterases and oxidases were notaltered, it appeared that onlymotility related events wereabnormal in CML cells.

Apparently mature leukemicgranulocytes from patients withCML are known to have manyfunctional and biochemical differ-ences relative to normal granulo-cytes. An ongoing investigation onthe isolation and characterizationof some of the membrane pro-teins revealed the presence ofthree 12Sl-labelled Con A-bindingproteins viz. protein 1 b, protein 2and protein 4.

Isolation of protein 2 by dif-ferential solubilization, affinitychromatography and HPLC indi-cated it to be a heterogenous

population of differentially gly-cosylated polypeptides. It was 2.5times more in CML granulocytesand also in undifferentiated CMLmyeloid precursors when com-pared with normal granulocytes.These observations suggest thatCML granulocytes are not fullymature.

A cDNA library made earlier us-ing vector gt11 and mRNA iso-lated from CML leucocytes wasscreened with antibody to protein2. Two positive clones with smallinserts (350bp) coding for fusionproteins of Mr120 kD wereobtained. Simultaneous screeningof an AML cDNA library yielded sixpositive clones, two of whichhosted fairly large inserts codingfor fusion proteins of Mr 137 kDand 172 kD. Two of the CMLcDNA clones hybridised with oneAML clone. Cross hybridisationwith remaining clones is in prog-ress. Northern blot analysis of tot-al mRNA from normal and CMLgranulocytes using two of theabove clones showed that themRNA for the protein was 1kb,suggesting that the parentpolypeptide had a Mr 40kD.

In order to assess the affinity ofIL-2 receptors on mitogen acti-vated lymphocytes from patientswith Hodgkin's disease CHD),binding assays were performedusing ia5l-labelled rlL-2. Scatchardanalysis revealed no differences innumber of both low and high affin-ity receptors in patients and heal-thy donors. However, the kD ofhigh affinity IL-2R was significant-ly higher in HD lymphocytes in-dicating a higher requirement ofIL-2 to saturate high affinity re-ceptors. The studies on post bind-ing events i.e. internalisation of125l-IL-2 after inhibition of de-gradation by pretreating activatedPBL with chloroquine, indicatedlower internalisation of IL-2 in HDlymphocytes than in controls. Theinhibitory factors in the sera of HDpatients did not affect the interna-lisation of IL-2 by PBL from heal-thy donors. The studies on phos-phcylation of cellular proteins dur-ing activation of lymphocytes re-vealed relatively lower increase inphosphorylation in stimulated HDlymphocytes than in controls.

Lymphokine activated kinerCLAK) activity in non-Hodgkin'slymphoma (NHL) patients wasfound to be comparable to normalsubjects. The patients with dis-seminated disease showed goodaugmentation of cytotoxic activityin the presence of rIL-H. Phenoty-pic characterisation of LAK cellsshowed an increase in the porpor-tion of CD25+ cells after activa-tion with rlL-2. On stimulationwith PHA, IL-2 production byperipheral mononuclear cells waslower in NHL patients than in nor-mal. The peripheral blood mono-cytes from patients were stimu-lated with bacteria! lipopolysac-charide (LPS), muramyl dipeptide(MDP) and IFN-1L-1 productionwas tested in mouse thymocyteco-stimulatory assay and 3H-TdRincorporation. The baseline cyto-toxity of unstimulated monocyteswas higher in patients indicating astate of preactivation.

Cancers Of Reproductive System

LAK cells in both, patients withcarcinoma cervix and normal sub-jects showed a high cytotoxicactivity. The extent of IL-2 pro-duction of PBL of patients whenactivated with PHA, was almostthe same as in normal subjects.

Inhibin and FSH were bothshown to be involved in benignand malignant disease of the pros-tate. Their exact role and interac-tion in normal and diseased condi-tions, in both humans and rats arebeing investigated. Based on thecurrent immunohistochemicallocalisation of FSH and inhibinalong with earlier demonstrationof their modulation by various hor-mones, it is tempting to postulatethat prostate could be consideredan endocrine organ.

Tumor Markers

As a part of the programme to setup MAbs against tumor markersfor routine use in Indian hospitals,the anti-fetoprotein CAFP) MAbshad been generated earlier. Thisyear 2 MAbs raised against carci-noembryonic antigen (CEA) arebeing screened for cross reactivitywith a normal cross reacting anti-gen (NCA) with the ultimate aimof developing a sandwich ELISAtest.

3.70

Ferritin H has been observed inthe sera and cells of leukemic pa-tients. MAbs against ferritin havebeen generated and are beingscreened for reactivity with cellsfrom blood and bone marrow ofpatients with AML. IsoferritinsCIFs) were purified from spleensof human foetuses, normal adultsand HD patients. The IF patternsobtained by column isoelectrofu-cussing (IEF) were similar in pa-tients and foetuses but differedfrom normal adults.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Sequential zones of the resectedtissue samples (human) wereanalyzed by NMR spectrometerand by proton induced X-ray emis-sion technique CP1XE) for the de-termination of water proton spin-lattice relaxation times (T, values)and profiles of trace metals re-spectively. A gradient in the in-crease of T, values was observedfrom normal to tumor zones, con-firming the influence of differentcell types (normal, malignancyassociated and malignant) on therelaxation time.

Pattern recognition analysis ofT-i values and trace metal con-tents of normal and neoplastic tis-sues from oral, respiratory, repro-ductive, breast, bone and soft tis-sue tumors were analysed byphysical component analysis(PCA) and/or non-linear mappingmethods CNLlvD. PCA separatedthe involvedand uninvolved re-gions in breast, bone and soft tis-sue tumors. NLM was useful onlyin case of breast tissues. By PCA,respiratory and reproductive re-gions did not show/ clear separa-tion while oral region showed par-tial separation.

Growth Factors

Further work on the enhancingfactor (EF) from mouse inten-stines which brings about a twofold increase in the binding of51-5I-EGF in A431 cells, includedits purification and partial se-quencing. When entered into theprotein sequence data bank atUniversity of Pune, this factorshowed 4O% homology to phos-pholipase A2. Structure and func-tion of EF is being elucidated using

recombinant DNA technology. In-terestingly, EF molecule isolatedfrom ICRC mouse, (a strain de-veloped at this Institute) had Mr.12 kD as against 14 kD of theoriginal EF. This is being characte-rised. EF-like molecule present inhuman intestinal extracts was par-tially purified. Antisera raisedagainst this preparation crossreacted with monkey EF and notwith mouse EF. Besides, in vivoand in vitro models are being de-veloped to study the physiologicalrole of EF.

In the tissue extracts of a plur-ipotent terahjcarcinoma in C3Hmouse, a neurotrophic factor withMr 60 kD has been identified. Itsupported the survival of cells inneonatal cerebellar cultures andalso facilitated differentiation. In-tracerebral injection of this factorin the new born rats resulted inearlier opening of the eyes than incontrols and also persistence of ahyperplastic external granular'layer over all the cerebellar folia onpostnatal day 21. The neurot-rophic activity was confined to theprimitive cells in rat central ner-vous system. There was no effecton target cells of classical NerveGrowth Factor CNGF). Intratumor-al injections of the factor gave riseto more neuroepithelial tissue interatocarcinoma than in the vehi-cle injected controls, indicating anincrease in recruitment of thestem cells for neural differentia-tion.

Haemopoiesis

It is well known that bone marrowstroma provides the appropriatemicroenvironment C'niche") forstem cell differentiation. To iden-tify the 'niche' for stem cells, solu-ble components of mouse bonemarrow stroma were extractedand coated onto plastic petri dis-hes. A greater number of pluripo-tent stem cells from the seededmarrow sequestered in the co-ated dishes. It was also notedthat, the diffusible factors elabo-rated by leukemic cells in the seraof patients or in the conditionedmedia of leukemic cell lines CWEhl-38, K-562 and AR-150), whenadded to the bone marrow strom-al cultures, impaired the ability tosequester the pluripotent stem

cells. Experiments are in progressto isolate the stem cells frommouse embryos.

Model Systems And Mechanisms

Response of S/RV Cri-ba mouse tostage 1 and stage 2 skin tumorpromoters suggested mezerein(MEZ) to be a potent stage 2promoter and phorbol retinoateacetate CPRA) a weak completepromoter.

To understand the nature ofpromoting stimulus as well as themechanism(s) involved in theprogression of carcinogenesis, se-quential analysis of histopatholo-gical and biochemical parametersC-GGT positive foci, glycogen defi-cient foci, keratin expression) wascarried out in rats receiving dieth-ylnitrosamine (DEN). In this mod-el, different stages, such as nor-mal, preneoplastic and overtmalignancy could be identified in ashort span and hence it is plannedto use it for 'in vivo' and 'in vitro'modulation studies.

A cell line has been developedfrom hamster cheek epitheliumfor studying 'in vitro' carcinogene-sis. Treatment of cells with DMBAresulted in foci of altered morphol-ogy from which sub-lines could beobtained. These formed coloniesin soft afar which could be au-gmented with TPA. These initi-ated cells will be useful to studymechanism of promotion.

Work is in progress to map chro-mosomal regions regulating theexpression of malignant pher ioty-pe for which a human tumor cellline S.V. was characterised. Thecells formed colonies in soft agarand secreted plasminogen activa-tor as well as collagenase. Theyhad a large number of estrogenand progesterone receptors. Theyformed tumors in hamster cheekpouch. The cells appears to bebiphasic, since they had featuresof both mesenchymal and epithe-lial cells.

Regulation of microtubules (MT)and microf ilaments (MF) structureand function was studied in heter-okarysons made by fusion ofmouse macrophages and humanfibroblasts. The heterokaryshowed predominantly fibroblas-tic pattern of MT and MF whose

3.71

Patient und&rgoing treatment for cancer

reassembly following de-polymerisation by specific inhibi-tors, suggested the dominance offibroblast MT organisers. Assem-bly of MT did not occur in enucle-ated cytoplasts indicating the roleof nuclei in MT organisation.

Chemotherapy

Multidrug resistant CMDR) phe-notype in cancer is characterisedby an amplification of the MDR,gene which results in overex-pression of a membrane spanningof 170 kD P-glycoprotein CP-gp),functioning as an active exocyto-sis of anticancer drugs from in-tracellular domains of resistantcells. Using various parent andMDR varient cell lines, effects ofvitamin K on cellular growth, sen-sitivity to adriamycin and mitoxan-trone and levels of glutathionewere evaluated. Fluidity patternsof MDR cells membranes beforeand after exposure to clofibrate,an anti hyperlipidemic agent, werealso studied. Compounds like Vit Kand clofibrate were found to in-crease drug sensitivity of MDRcells. In fact, the drug resistancecould be reversed in one of theresistant cell lines.

Studies on pyrrolidinedione-N-mustards congener (R,S)3-CN, NCbisC2-ChloroethyD)amino-1 -C2'-methoxyphenyD-Pyrrolidine-

2,5-dion e hydrochloride (PNM-HCO and other intermediatesshowed that only PNM-HCI pos-sessed antitumor activity againsttransplantable mammary tumorand embryo derived teratocarcino-ma in mice.

As a part of the programme ondevelopment of new and econo-mic methods for the preparationof known anticancer drugs,methotrexate CMTX) was synthe-sized from tetra-amino pyrimidinesulphate and it showed activityagainst P3Sa and L121O tumors.

Tumor SuppressingAgents/Chemopreventive Agents

Antimutagenic agents (betel leftextract CBLE), -tocopherol, B-carotene, eugenol, hydroxy chavi-col, turmeric powder andcatechin) identified earlier usingshort term tests were furtherscreened for anti-carcinogeniceffects in different species andmodel systems such as stomachpapilloma in mice induced byB(a)P, skin tumors in mice inducedby DMBA, cheek pouch tumors inhamsters induced by methyl-acetoxy methyl nitrosamine andmammary tumors in rats and miceinduced by DMBA. On the wholethere was a decrease in incidenceor delay in appearance of tumors.

Membrane Biology

Earlier studies from this Institute,have shown that surface chargeand membrane skeleton are twoimportant endogenous factors de-termining the lectin-agglutinabilityof cells. Using 'in vitro' agederythrocytes that were graduallydepleted of ATP, and by lysingerythrocytes in the absence of orpresence of Mg-ATP, it was foundthat ATP was required for agglu-tination. This suggests the signifi-cance of membrane skeleton inagglutination.

Normal human erythrocytes re-quire to be treated with a protease or neuraminidase to becomeagglutinable with Con A. Themembrane skeleton and a mono-molecular component located onthe outer surface were importantfor agglutination if a polymer suchas serum albumin, ficoll or poly-vinyl pyrrolidone was added. Thepolymer did not, however, en-hance lectin binding or cellular de-formability.

A tumor specific protein, whichimparts high Con A-agglutinabilityon normal erythroctes, was earlierisolated from Yoshida sarcomaascites and characterised. An anti-serum raised against this 600 kDglycoprotein cross reacted withacute phase plasma protein whichnevertheless were unable to con-fer high Con A agglutinability onerythrocytes. This raises the pos-sibility of the tumor specific pro-tein being an altered acute phaseprotein.

Miscellaneous

Fine structural studies ofoesophageal cancers revealedthat the tumor cells were welldifferentiated. Unlike the normloesophageal mucosal cells, thetumor cells exhibited keratinisa-tion.

Buffer isoelectrorocussingCBEF) which produces a linear andstable pH gradient for steadystate isoelectrofocussing hasbeen developed for purification ofproteins.

To study the association if any,of abnormal haemoglobins withmalignancy, blood samples fromthree ethnic groups.

-in rvano . 7 A

Institute ofPhysics

The Institute of Physics, Bhu-baneswar continued its researchactivities in several areas oftheoretical and experimental phy-sics.

High Energy Physics

The properties of supersymmetricquantum mechanics are investi-gated and the scattering problemwas studied. The phenomenolo-gical aspects, explicit derivation ofscattering amplitudes and BRSTquantisation of superstrings havebeen studied. Correlation func-tions and their properties for con-formal field theories have beenobtained. Applications ofvariational principle to field theoryand aspects of finite temperaturefield theory were investigated.The problem of spontaneous sym-metry breaking, topologicalaspects and phenomenologicalmodels are being pursued.

Condensed Matter Physics

The main areas of research workinclude the study of collectivemodes of a spin-density-wave su-perconductor and the investiga-tion of the spin and charge bagmodels for superconductivity inhigh-Tt and intercalated layeredmaterials respectively. The collec-tive description of the inter parti-cle interaction is used to studyproperties of the normal liquid

helium-3. A field theoretic modelfor the flow behaviour of polymermolecules is developed. A model isalso proposed for glass transi-tions. The capture of an electronby a proton passing through ametal is investigated.

Nuclear physics

The major areas of study werehigh spin states, heavy ion colli-sions, effect of nuclear quarkstructure in nuclear matter andmass formula for finite nuclei.Study of nuclear liquid-gas phasetransition with finite range forcewas carried out. The importanceof fragment-fragment interactiondue to nuclear force in the multif-ragmentation process is shown. Amethod is proposed to take it intoaccount in the statistical multif-ragmentation model. Nuclear com-pression modulus is determinedusing the ground state propertiesof nuclei. The mechanism of coldfusion is investigated.

Experimental Physics

Construction work of the pellet-ron accelerator laboratory is inprogress and it is expected thatcommissioning of the 3MV tan-dem pelletron accelerator will becompleted in the last quarter of1990. Preparations for the re-search work to be carried out withthe accelerator are also going on

simultaneously. The ongoing re-search activities consist of studyof electron structure and defectsin materials using the nucle&rprobes of Compton scattering andpositron annihilation. The projecton electron momentum densitydistributions in Ill-V and 11-VI semi-conductors is continuing. Interest-ing results have been obtained inCompton scattering and positronannihilation angular correlation

studies of single crystal GaP andGaAs. The other projects going onare the electron structure studyof transition metal alloys andmaterials connected with hightemperature superconductors.

During the year, the Instituteorganised the 5th Symposium on"Current Trends in Physics" duringSeptember 1 -3 1989 at Bhu-baneswar. The Institute also

hosted a winter V«UII\DIIUK ^.."Electronic Correlation and Dis-order effects in metals" duringJanuary 2-16 1989 at Puri. As apart of our effort towards man-power development the institutecontinued to provide researchfacilities to students pursuingtheir Ph.D. programme. Besidesthis the regular one year postM.Sc. predoctoral training prog-ramme is also being held.

continued from page 3.72

Measurement of solar ultraviolet incidence at terrestrial sur-face in Bombay was carried outduring a two year period with aview to record diurnal and season-al variations.

Studies On ICRC Anti-LeprosyVaccine

The vaccine was developed totallyindigenously in 1979. It containskilled ICRC bacilli, a group of cultiv-able mycobacteria, that show ex-tensive antigenic cross reactivitywith leprosy germs CM. leprae).The results of the studies con-ducted so far indicate that thevaccine could be used both CD fortreatment as an adjunct to drugs,and Cii) for prevention. Large scalevaccination studies were initiatedin collaboration with Governmentof Maharashtra in Solapur, Osma-

nabad and Latur district — whereleprosy prevalence rate is high, inFebruary, 1987. So far. 30,000healthy house-hold contacts, whorun high risk of contracting dis-ease, have been vaccinated.

Sophisticated immunologicalstudies both on the ICRC bacillusand the host immune responsespecially in vaccinated patients,have been undertaken to under-stand mechanism of action of thevaccine. When sonicates of 1 2 3 I -labelled M. leprae, and ICRC werereacted with sera of patients withleprosy, it was seen that a 21kDantigen of M.leprae was identifiedby sera from all types of leprosypatients across the clinical spec-trum, while that of ICRC was iden-tified only by sera of lepromatouspatients. The diagnostic potentialof this antigen is being explored.

Recent studies show that vac-cination results in clinicopatholo-gical improvement, associatedwith a reduction in bacillary load,even in patients non-responsive tomultidrug therapy. This wasassociated with an increase in lym-phocyte proliferation in responseto ICRC or M.leprae antigens. Af-ter vaccination, there was amarked increase in the pool ofantigens reactive T-cells. Like-wise, production of IFN was in-creased indicating activation ofmacrophages. These investiga-tions clearly show that the anti-leprosy vaccine is able to induce, inpatients, T-cell immunity which isthe dominant host-defense re-sponse against leprosy germs. Be-nefits of immunotherapy are nowbeing extended to other Institutesin Maharashtra.

3.74

Occupational safety: Workers wearing protective clothing in action at Madras Atomic Power Station

AtomicEnergyRegulatoryBoard

The Atomic Energy Regulator/Board CAERB) has been promot-ing safe practices and developingsafety policies since 1983. TheBoard has evolved administrativeand technical mechanisms, to en-sure nuclear, radiological and in-dustrial safety in all activitiesassociated with the developmentand application of atomic energy.

AERB activities during the yearincluded routine surveillance andmonitoring the safety aspects ofall projects and programmes andspecial technical reviews. Thetechnical reviews during the yearcovered radiation protection mea-sures in nuclear power stations,operational safety review ofpressurised heavy water reactors,industrial safety in the R&D unitsof DAE, reduction of collectivedose to workers in nuclear powerstations and other nuclear facili-ties.

The Advisory Committee onRadiological Protection identifiedareas such as diagnostic radiology,replacement of radium and analy-tical X-ray equipment, for furtherimprovement of safety. TheBoard received support from DAEand its units, and consultants tocarry out its mandate.

Radiological safety in medical,industrial and research institutes

was ensured by the Division ofRadiological Protection. TheHealth and Safety Group, BARCassisted AERB in ensuring radiolo-gical and industrial safety in nuc-lear power station and other nuc-lear installations.

Preparation of Codes/Guides/Manuals

The preparation of Codes, Guidesand Manuals is one of the most im-portant activities of AERB cover-ing the areas of nuclear, and in-dustrial safety and radiation pro-tection. The following Codes,Guides and Manuals wereapproved for issue/published dur-ing the year:— Code of Practice on Quality

Assurance for Safety in Nuc-lear Power Plants.

— Code of Practice on Design forSafety in pressurised heavywater based Nuclear PowerPlants.

— Code of Practice on Safety inNuclear Power Plant Opera-tion.

— Safety Manual — SiteEmergency Plan for Nuclear In-stallations.

— Safety Manual — Off-SiteEmergency Plan for NuclearInstallations.

— Safety Manual for Civil En-gineering and Building Worksfor Nuclear Power Plants.

— Safety Manual Governing Au-thorisation Procedure for Nuc-lear Power Plant/ Project.Documents under preparationinclude:

— Code of Practice for NuclearPower Plant Siting.

— Safety Guide for Seismic Stu-dies and Design Basis GroundMotion for Nuclear PowerPlant Sites.

— Atomic Energy (Factories)Rules.

— AERB Safety Code for"Nuclear Medicine Labora-tories" is in the press.

— The Training Manual for theDAE physicians undergoing thecourse on "Radiation Protec-tion and Occupational Health"has been revised and updated.

— A manual "Hand-book forMedical Management of Per-sons Exposed in RadiationAccidents" has been prepared.

— A safety guide entitled"Handling of RadiationEmergencies in IndustrialRadiography" has been issued.

rechnical Reviews

Review of Operational Safety ofRAPS & MAPS

AERB carries out periodic reviewsof operating nuclear power plantsin the country to assess theirsafety status. During the yearAERB constituted a committee toreview operational safety of RAPSand MAPS. The committee con-cluded that the power stationswere being operated safely;lowever, certain areas were iden-tified where more efforts wereneeded for improving safety inop-sration. Implementation of theCommittee's recommendations isseing monitored by AERB.

Authorisation for the start up ofNAPP Unit-1

rhe first unit of NAPP power plantwent critical in March 1989. Thedesign and construction of NAPPncluding adequacy against seis-mic effects were subjected to a;omprehensive regulatory reviewaefore authorisations wereaccorded for discrete stages suchas hot conditioning, fuel loadingand first criticality. In addition, pro-:edures for commissioning of2ach significant stage were re-

viewed. During the approach tocriticality, AERB representativeswere available for consultation atthe station. All subsequent com-missioning stages were autho-rised only after detailed review.NAPS-1 was authorised to oper-ate upto 50% rated power till theend of December 1989. Thereaf-ter, a thorough check and reveri-fication programme on systemsimportant to safety and relatedoperational procedures will beconducted before authorisingfurther operations.

Investigations on Reduction ofCollective Dose in Nuclear PowerPlants/Installations

A Committee constituted byAERB investigated the causes ofhigh collective doses and sug-gested remedial measures afterreviewing the collective doses inthe several phases of the nuclearfuel cycle. Since collective dosesin uranium mining and milling andnuclear power plant operationaccounted for about 88% of thetotal dose, these were studied indetail. The dose data includedoccupational exposures and dosesto members of the public.

A number of organizational ac-tions such as management com-mitment, designer-operator coor-dination, training in dose reductionmethodology, design phase safetyreview etc. were outlined whichalso included recommendations.

Besides advocating the need toreduce manpower at the stationsand formulating a meaningful man-rem budgeting scheme aimed atdose reduction, the Committeeproposed a centralized manremmanagement programme. TheCommittee made important plant-specific recommendations for thethree operating stations and fixedtargets for occupational collectivedoses for the new generationPHWR units and for the presentlyoperating units as well.

The Committee reviewed thecollective doses to the public aris-ing out of discharge of radionuc-lides in the environment andobserved that the existing situa-tion is satisfactory.

Other areas which drew meattention of the Committee werethe occupational exposures in ura-nium mining. Control of mineatmosphere through properly de-signed and installed ventilationsystem together with control onmanpower is suggested to reducethe manrem in the mines and mills.Review of Radiation ProtectionMeasures at NPPs

An AERB committee reviewedthe radiation protection measuresin DAE facilities. The Committeehas given plant-specific recom-mendations for TAPS, RAPS,MAPS. Generic issues are alsoaddressed in the Committee's re-port and the Committee has givenits general recommendations. TheCommittee reviewed the work ofthe Environmental Survey Labor-atories CESLs) and Micro Meteoro-logical Labs CMMLs). Recom-mendations were made with re-gard to the site hospitals, coveringperiodic medical surveillance ofradiation workers, medical man-agement of casualties in a radia-tion accident and training ofmedical and para-medical staff inOccupational Radiation Medicine.

These SRUORs were reviewedby the Unit Safety Committee forthe respective plants and SAR-COP for their safety implicationsand required corrective actions.

Analysis of Safety Related Un-usual Occurrences (SRUOs)

Analysis of Safety Related Un-usual Occurences CSRUOs) in theoperating nuclear power plants inIndia for the year 1988 was carriedout. For this, the coded watch-listof the Incident Reporting SystemCIRS) o f IAEA was used for easycorrelation and comparison of ournational data bank vis-a-vis IAEA-1RS data bank of safety significantevents. Copy of this analysis re-port was sent as feed back in-formation to all the operating nuc-lear power station managementsfor necessary corrective action.1AEA-IRS reports of safety signifi-cant events were sent to the Indi-an Nuclear Power Station manage-ment and NPC for perusal, invitingattention to incidents relevant inour context and for incorporatingany design change needed toavoid similar failures/occurrences.

4.2

Safety Committees for OperatingPlants

In view of the multidisciplinary na-ture of the safety matters in nuc-lear plants, the safety review ofsuch matters is done through amulti-tier system of safety com-mittees. In-depth evaluation ofthe safety matters was done bythe respective unit Safety Com-mittee. Based on this assess-ment, Safety Review Committeefor Operating Plants CSARCOP)gave directions appropriate to thesituation. Abnormal events whichinvolved degradation of the essen-tial safety related equipment orsystem or events posing hazardsto public health and safety werereviewed by AERB.

Review of Industrial Safety Sta-tus in the R & D Units of DAE

An AERB Committee reviewed inthe industrial safety status in theR&D units and proposed a modelsafety policy for adoption by theunits.

Safety Analysis

The analytical codes acquired ear-lier in AERB were used extensive-ly to assist safety review of diffe-rent projects. As a part of AERB'sprogramme of computer code de-velopment, some codes were de-veloped and put into variousstages of commissioning.

Safety Review of New Projects

Kudankulam, Tarapur, Kakrapar,Kaiga and RAPS-3&4, NPPs: Re-view of Sites.

Site Evaluation

The adequacy of sites for theproposed nuclear power plants arebeing reviewed from the very ini-tial stage by expert committeesconstituted by AERB for Kakra-par, Kaiga, Kudankulam and RAPS3&4 units.

The Site Evaluation Committeeof AERB carried out detailed eva-luation of Kudankulam site forassessing the suitability of locat-ing nuclear power plant compris-ing of 2 x 1000 MWe VVER reac-

tors. The Committee consideredall site-related factors affectingsafety of the nuclear power plantand the radiological impact on theenvironment on account of theproposed plant. These aspectswere further reviewed alongwiththe report of the Site EvaluationCommittee by the Advisory Com-mittee for Site Evaluation.

Similar evaluation was carriedout by another committee for thelocation of additional units of 2 x5OO MWe pressurised heavy waterreactors at Tarapur. The evalua-tion report also was further re-viewed by the Advisory Commit-tee for Site Evaluation.

Recommendations of theabove Committees with respectto both the sites were consideredby the Board and the sites werefound acceptable from safety con-siderations.

Site Evaluation Committee alsocarried out detailed evaluation ofKaiga and Rawatbhata sites forlocation of nuclear power plants.The Committee studied all site re-lated parameters in detail and re-viewed relevant documents. Re-commendation of the Committeeis under preparation for Rawat-bhata site.

Preliminary discussions werecarried out with NPC regardingsubmission of documents with re-spect of Ujani sites in case of Kak-rapar, Kaiga, RAPS 3&4 units ex-pert committees have also beguntheir reviews of civil engineeringand systems designs important tosafety.

Kudankulam Pressurised WaterReactors

Following the Inter-GovernmentalAgreement CIGA) for co-operationfor the construction of nuclearpower plants signed in November1988, Kudankulam Project inSouth India was taken up as anIndo-Soviet Joint Project for con-struction of a nuclear power plant,consisting of two units of 1O0OMWe each, pressurised waterreactors CPWRX To meet the re-view and regulatory requirements,a division was formed in AERB inJanuary 1989.

The Division participated in thereview and finalisation of theTechnical Assignment CTA) docu-ments covering the information tobe furnished by USSR for asses-sing design for safety and per-formance and in the preparation ofDetailed Project Report CDPR). AProject Design Safety CommitteeCPDSO was also constituted to re-view design safety aspects of theproposed Project. The PD5C hassubmitted its recommendations.The recommendation of AdvisoryCommittee for Site EvaluationCACSE) was taken up for review inthe design project report underpreparation by NPC and Sovietgroups.

PURNIMA-III Reactor

The Project Design Safety Com-mittee for PURNIMA-IU criticalassembly submitted its final re-port to AERB for issuing author-isation. A technical safety assess-ment was carried out after discus-sions with PURNIMA designers.

Heavy Water Project (Manuguru)

The heavy water project at Manu-guru, based on the hydrogen sul-phide process, is presently in earlystage of commissioning. This pro-ject has been subjected to an in-depth safety review by AERB'sexpert committee. It has receivedfrom AERB authorisations in twostages to generate and use a partof its rated hold up of hydrogensulphide gas for initial debuggingand associated tests.

PREFRE Expansion Project

Power Reactor Fuel ReprocessingExpansion Project CPEP), Tarapurhas been set up by BARC to fabri-cate CU, Pu) mixed oxide fuelassemblies for thermal powerreactors CRAPS). Immediate prog-ramme, however, will be to pro-duce depleted or natural uraniumdioxide (UO2) sintered pellets Cforfurther fabrication into fuel bun-dles at the Nuclear Fuel Complex).

The Project Safety ReviewCommittee of AERB CPSRO re-viewed the safety aspects andmade recommendations to im-prove the engineered safety aswell as safety in the day-to-dayoperations. The Committee also

4.3

reviewed the results of commis-sioning tests to ensure that thedesign intent is met. The projecthas implemented most of the re-commendations of the Com-mittee.

Provisional authorisation wasgiven for operation of the plant tillApril 30, 1990 for production ofdepleted or natural UO2 pellets.The operational status of the plantwill be reviewed by the committeefor recommending authorisationfor continued operation for UOapellet production.

Modernisation of Helium-UraniumRecovery (MOHUR) Project ofIRE Ltd.

AERB had issued a provisional au-thorisation for operation of theMOHUR plant up to June 1989.Monazite is processed at the plantto recover trisodium phosphate,rare earths chloride and thoriumhydroxide concentrate. Besidesthese products, the plant will pro-duce 1.75 te of ammonium di-uranate and 3200 Nm3 of heliumannually. Following a safety re-view of the operations by AERB'sAdvisory Committee. IRE was pro-visionally authorised to operatethe plant upto December 1989.Authorisation for continued opera-tion of MOHUR will be issued afterreview of the plant performance.Safety aspects of the Helium Re-covery Plant are also under reviewby the Advisory Committee.Indian Rare Earths Ltd., is alsosetting up a Heavy Rare EarthsOxide Plant at Udyogamandal forrecovering samarium, gadolinium,yttrium and europium concen-trates from rare earths chloride.The project is presently under re-view by the Advisory Committeefor IRE Projects. The Committeeis also reviewing the Dredge andWet Gravity Concentration Plantat Chavara for recommending au-thorisation.

Projects of Nuclear Fuel Complex

An AERB committee is currentlyassessing the safety aspects ofthe new projects proposed to beset up by the Nuclear Fuel Com-plex (NFO. The final stages of re-view with regard to approval ofthe sites for locating New Ura-

nium Oxide Fuel Plants CNUOFP)at Hyderabad CNFC site) andTuramdih, where a new uraniummine and mill is being set up byUC1L. NFC has applied to AERBfor clearance of these projectsalong with others, viz., New Zirca-loy Fabrication Plant at Hyderabadand New Zirconium Sponge Pro-ject at Palayakayal near Tuticorin.

Industrial Irradiators

The Safety Review Committee forIndustrial Irradiator Projects re-viewed the safety aspects oflarge gamma radiation facilities atShriram Institute for Industrial Re-search, New Delhi and SludgeHygienisation Research Irradiatorat Baroda. The Committee in-spected the above facilities priorto recommending their commis-sioning and operation. Safety re-views of the above two facilitieshave been completed.

Particle Accelerators

The Project Safety Review Com-mittee for Particle Accelerators,reviewed and assessed the safetyfeatures in the building-design ofINDUS-1 facility (SynchrotronRadiation Source) proposed to beset up at the Centre of AdvancedTechnology, Indore. The Commit-tee also recommended for approv-al, the building-design of the prop-osed accelerator test facilities.

BRIT Laboratory

The Safety Review Committee forBRIT Laboratory at HyderabadCJonaki) reviewed the operationaland safety status of the labora-tory after one year of operation.After review of the working condi-tions in the laboratory, the SRC-Jonaki recommended authorisa-tion to BRIT for a further period of3 years subject to certain condi-tions.

The Safety Review Committeefor BRIT laboratories at Vashi,New Bombay reviewed the safetystatus of the laboratory and on itsrecommendation. AERB autho-rised the laboratory operate for aperiod of one year initially.

Regulatory Review ProceduresDevelopment and Implementation

The procedure followed by AERBfor the review and authorisation

o f new pri_>jt5i_i_=> V V U J . „ . _ . .

streamlined and formalised duringthe year in a document entitledSafety Manual Governing the Au-thorisation Procedure for NuclearPower Plants.

Review of Nuclear Power Projects

Safety review for NAPP was oneof the important activities in theyear 1989 with respect to projectsas its first unit was made criticaland authorisation was issued foroperation upto 50% full power.Other nuclear power projectsundergoing detailed safety reviewCunder construction or precon-struction stages) are Kakrapar.Kaiga, RAPS 3&4 and PHWR C500MWe) units. Design Safety Re-view with respect to WER, andproposed prototype fast breederreactor (PFBR) was also in prog-ress.

To strengthen safety review ofdesign of civil structures of nuc-lear power plants, a Civil Engineer-ing Review Committee was con-stituted by AERB during the year.The Committee is currently con-ducting the review for Kaiga 1 &2and RAPP 3&4 projects.

Safety Review of Operating Nuc-lear Power Station and NuclearFacilities

AERB carried out safety and reg-ulatory functions with respect tothe operating units of DAE. TheBoard ensured that the facilitieswere operated safely. This wasverified among other things bysafety reviews by safety commit-tees. AERB also carried out safe-ty surveillance of the DAE Units.Safety related incidents and oper-ational experience in the operatingunits of DAE were reviewed in thelight of the statutory safety re-quirements and stipulations ofAERB as well as the recom-mendations of ICRP, IAEA andsuch other International bodies.Decisions of SARCOP were en-forced in DAE units by OPSD

SARCOP Review of Incidents andOperational Restrictions

During the year 1989, in view ofthe incidents at MAPS-1 and 2,Heavy Water Plant at Kota and

4.4

Uranium Metal Plant at Trombay,AERB had to take restrictive reg-ulatory enforcement actions.

Licensing of Operations-staff atNuclear Power Plants and otherChemical Plants of DAE

The Committee constituted byAERB for licensing of operation-engineers at each of the operatingpower stations (TAPS, RAPS &MAPS) to assess the suitabilityof the operation engineers for thepositions of Control Engineers,Assistant Shift Charge Engineersand Shift Charge Engineers.

Stipulations regarding basic edu-cational qualification, on-the-jobtraining and knowledge of theplant systems were strictly fol-lowed in licensing the operationengineers.

The Committees for licensing ofoperating personnel at Heavy Wa-ter Plants at Kota. Baroda, Tuti-corin, Talcher and Manuguru andfuel reprocessing plants at Trom-bay and Tarapur, after satisfac-tory fulfilment of prescribed re-quirements, licensed 134 plantpersonnel for operation of theseplants.

Regulatory Inspections

Regulatory inspection of all theoperating nuclear power stationswas carried out by AERB twiceduring 1989. Observations duringthe inspections included certaindeficiencies which were com-municated to the plant manage-ment for corrective action withinspecified time limits.

Radiological Safety

Radiological safety surveillance atall the operating units of DAE andassessment of the environmentalimpact from these operations arebeing carried out by Health Phy-sics Division, BARC. Reports ofthe Health Physics Division on theabove areas were reviewed byOPSD/SARCOP. The radioactivityreleases to the environment dur-ing 1989 from DAE installationswere well within the specifiedlimits.

Radiation Safety/Protection Stan-dards

Development of Standard Speci-fications for Medical RadiationEquipment. The Bureau of IndianStandards (BIS) set up a subcom-mittee on Radiation Safety ofElectromedical Equipment CMHD19:1) under the Chairmanship of ascientist from AERB to developIndian Standard Specification forRadiation Safety of Medical Radia-tion Equipment. Since its constitu-tion in 1987, the subcommitteehas finalised the four standards,for publication after due approvalby the sectional committee.

The subcommittee also consi-dered the draft standards on Tele-cobalt Therapy Equipment and Re-mote After loading BrachytherapyEquipment, which are being final-ised.

These standards specify theessential radiation and other safe-ty requirements for compliance bythe manufacturers of these equip-ment as well as tests to be carriedout to demonstrate compliance.

Committee on Radiation Protec-tion Standards

The Committee on Radiation Pro-tection Standards CCRPS) discus-sed various issues relating to thesetting up of standards for radia-tion protection of occupationalworkers and members of the pub-lic and constituted four subcom-mittees. The report on baselinedata on cancer pattern in thecountry is being finalised by theeditorial committee.

Safety in Transport of Radioac-tive Materials.

AERB had initiated a number ofregulatory and administrative pro-cedures for effective enforce-ment of the regulatory provisionsfor ensuring safety and to furtherimprove the safety record ofradioactive material transportationin the country. AERB has con-tinued to participate in the activi-ties of IAEA related to develop-ment of regulations for the safetransport of radioactive materials.

Licensing and Appellate Commit-tee for Radiation Protection

The Licensing and Appellate Com-mittee (LAC) for radiation protec-tion, reconstituted in October1989, considered applications fortype approval of indigenous aswell as imported radiation equip-ment. The Licensing Committeeconsidered these documentsalong with the recommendationsfrom DRP, BARC with regard totheir operational experience.Based on these recommendationsof LAC, type approvals to theradiation equipment such as tele-cobalt therapy units, medical linearaccelerators and others weregranted by AERB.

Safety Research Funding

The Safety Research Programmeunder which AERB is extendingfinancial support to hospitals andresearch institutions registeredremarkable progress.

Training in radiological physicsoffered by the Division of Radiolo-gical Protection, Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre generatedessential man power to cover 96radiotherapy centres in the coun-try. AERB research support ispartly aimed at this segment ofprofessionals. In view of the factthat the opportunities to do re-search in the areas of hospital phy-sics and radiological physics aretotally lacking, the projects werechosen to encourage research inthese areas.

Information

In continuation of the ongoingpublic information programme,AERB published Newslettercovering the activities of theBoard and assisted the Board indisseminating information onradiological safety.

Officers of AERB participated inTV programmes and gave lecturesat various gatherings as a part ofthe public information prog-ramme.

4.5

Ore Transfer to Ore-Bin in mine.

UraniumCorporationof India Ltd.

During this year there has been anincrease in production of ore fromJaduguda mines. The capacity uti-lisation of Jaduguda mine was89.6% as against 85.5% of thelast year. The capacity utilisationof Bhatin mine was 76.5% against77.3% of the last year. As regardsthe Mill the capacity utilisationwas 96.7% as against 96.6% ofthe previous year. The three ura-nium recovery plants based oncopper tailings functioned normaland production of uranium mineralconcentrates were higher thanprevious year in case of Musaboniand Surda plants. The productionat Rakha plant was slightly lessthan last year but more than thetarget fixed for the year. By-pro-ducts recovery plant and Magne-tite recovery plant also operatednormally, producing higher con-centrate of molybodenum andmagnetite. Copper sulphide con-centrate production was slightlyless mainly due to lower feedgrade.

Financial Performance

The income of the companyscaled a new high of Rs. 33.58crores as against Rs. 28.14 croresof the previous year. The profit forthis year was Rs. 8.74 crores asagainst 7.78 crores of last yearbefore adjustment. The Corpora-tion's contribution to the exche-

quer in the form of income tax.sales tax, excise duty etc. was Rs.4.07 crores.

New Projects

Government approval for settingup new underground mines at Nar-wapahar and Turamdih and a millat Turamdih has been received inApril, 1989. The cost of these pro-jects is estimated at Rs. 495.54crores. These projects are ex-pected to be commissioned within54 months. Civil constructionwork and construction of mine en-tries at Narwapahar and Turamdihmines have been started. Detaileddesign, engineering work andfloating of public tender workhave been taken up.

At Jaduguda, sinking of a newshaft departmentally, constitutingIllrd stage, has been progressing.When completed the mine wouldbe able to win ore from depth of555 metre to about 900 metresbelow surface. Effluent treat-ment system for removal pollu-tants has been taken up and workon this system is in progress. It isexpected that this plant would becommissioned by about February1990.

At Bagjata in Singhbhum districtan exploratory underground mineis being developed by the AtomicMineral Division of DAE. UCIL is in

Continued on p&ge 5.5

Manava/akuruchi Coast: Mining ofMineral Sand

IndianRare EarthsLtd.

The performance of the MineralSeparation Plant at Chavara andManavalakurichi has generallybeen as per targets. The opera-tions of these two plants is ex-pected to show profit of Rs. 26crores as against Rs. 16 crores inthe previous year. The productionand profitability will further im-prove in the coming years in viewof the completion of the expan-sion-cum-modemisation project atChavara. which has been com-pleted and the project at Manava-lakurichi which is under imple-mentation.

In the Rare Earths Plant, be-cause of slump in the sale of thecomposite rare earths chloride andsome delay in the commissioningof the HERO project, the profita-bility has not matched the target.With the commissioning of theHERO project, the profitability isexpected to improve during thenext year.

In OSCOM. there has beenalmost two-fold increase in theproduction of minerals as well assynthetic rutile although thstargets have been met. With thevarious technical problems identi-fied and remedical measurestaken and under implementation,the performance is expected toimprove substantially during nextyear. After carrying out modifica-tions in one stream of ARP by M/s

Ruthner. its performance is satis-factory. Similar modifications arebeing made in the remaining twostreams.

The Company has drawn up a 5year Corporate Plan for the period1989-94. A number of new pro-jects are planned for opening ofnew mineral sand deposits and formaking value added projects,apart from improving the produc-tion in the existing plants.

Thorium Plant, Trombay

Being the year 1989-90. the per-formance of Thorium Factory hasshown marked improvement overthe year 1989-90. The productionof thorium nitrate has reached toabout 138 MT/annum. The tradingresults in 1989-90 are expected toshow a profit of 2.37 lakhs. Thework on setting up new ThoriumPlant at Orissa is in progress andwill be completed by 1990.

Research & Development

The R&D efforts are mainlydirected towards improvement inthe recovery of minerals and diver-sification of the rare earths pro-ducts. The work on improving therecoveries of sillimanite and mona-zite is continuing. Process de-velopment work on neodyniumseparation and preparation of highpurity yttrium is in progress. Stu-

5.2

dies on developing polishing pow-ders, rare-earth silicon alloy andrare-earthfj based magnet are con-tinuing in collaboration with BARCand RRL, Trivandrum. In order tostrengthen the R&D set up, R&Dlaboratories are being set up atthe units. These are expected tobe completed within a year's time.

Work has also been initiated torecover uranium from the thorium-uranium concentrate generatedduring the processing of mona-zite.

The process development workfor making ceramic grade zirco-nium oxide is progressing satisfac-torily. The sponsored researchproject with CGCRI on agglomera-tion and sillicon is nearing comple-tion.

Future Plans £r Outlook

The international and domesticmarkets for the Company's miner-als products continue to be good.To take advantage of this marketsituation, the Company is in theprocess of opening up new de-posits in Tamilnadu and AndhraPradesh. Proposals are also underconsideration for setting up jointventures with the state industrialdevelopment corporations to ex-ploit these deposits.

Ancillary Development and Im-port Substitution

In accordance with the guidelinesof the Government spelling outthe steps to be taken by the PSUsto accelerate the growth of ancil-lary industries to meet the require-ments, the Company has consti-tuted Plant Level Advisory Com-mittee. Keeping in the view theabove philosophy, the Company isalso in the process of carrying outa feasibility study on the modali-ties of giving encouragement tosmall scale entrepreneurs to setup ancillary units for activitiessuch as separation of garnet, sil-limanite etc. from waste streamof the existing operations of theCompany, upgradation of gadoli-nium and europium to high purityseparation of rare earths concen-trates, grinding zircon etc.

The Company is also in the pro-cess of identifying areas whereimport substitution can be made.

Human Resources Development

Industrial Relations

By and large, the Company con-tinues to maintain harmonious andcordial relations with all its em-ployees. Under the scheme ofworker's participation, shop coun-cils in the units of the Companyare functioning regularly. Howev-er, due to contract labour prob-lems, and inter-union difference,the commissioning of HERO pro-ject has been affected.

A welfare forum for the loadingand unloading workers wasformed at Chavara. This has forthe time being resolved the prob-lems of these loading and unload-ing workers which had earlieraffected the delivery of rutile, zir-con etc., to local consumers.

A voluntary retirement schemeformulated by the Govt. has beenintroduced. A few employeeshave already availed of thescheme.

Training & Motivation

The training of employees con-tinue to be given greater attentionand several employees have beendeputed to technical and manage-ment programmes organised byreputed institutions. The seniorofficers of the Company were ex-posed to computer appreciationprogrammes. The in-house train-ing programmes conducted byN1TIE on maintenance manage-ment in the units were indeed be-neficial to expose the employeesto the importance of this subject.NITIE is now conducting anassignment in OSCOM in the areaof maintenance management im-provement and manpowerrationalisation.

Suggestion Scheme

The suggestion scheme intro-duced by the Company has be-come popular and many em-ployees have come forward withuseful suggestions. Employeeswho have given the best sugges-tions are given recognition.

SC/ST Special Drive

The liaison cells constituted in theunits are functioning satisfactori-ly. In addition to the educational

scheme applicable to all •em-ployees and their children, SC/STemployees children are granted afurther educational allowance.Scheme of cash awards to thechildren of SC/ST employees in theCompany who pass in first class in10th Standard and 12th Standard,introduced last year has evokedconsiderable goodwill.

In accordance with the Govern-ment of India instructions, a spe-cial drive was launched to clear thebacklogs in SC/ST recruitments.

Community Welfare

An amount of approx. Rs. 2 lakhswas spent in the six villages in andaround mining area in Manavala-kurichi towards primary schoolbuildings and furniture under theFishermen's Welfare Scheme. Inaddition, one day free medicalcamp was conducted for the be-nefit of Manavalakurichi and adja-cent villages. A number of special-ist doctors from many hospitals inthe Kanyakumari district renderedfree services for the Company andfree medicines were distributed.

For the benefit of local inhabi-tants at Chavara, the Companyhad contributed a sum of Rs. 5lakhs to the Mining Area WelfareBoard constituted by the KeralaState Govt. In addition to this, alibrary building was constructedfor the Fisheries School at Cher-iazhakal, a fisherman's village.Suitable amounts for extension toschool buildings in another nearbyvillage, namely Karithura were alsogiven by the Company. Freemedical camps were also con-ducted at the Mining area.

The Company has also agreed todonate a sum of Rs. 4 lakhs forconstruction of an X-ray block and10 bedded ward for augmentingthe facilities available at the Prim-ary Health Centre. Chavara.

In OSCOM, as in the precedingyear, the inhabitants in the nearbyvillages were extended assistanceby the Company in programmesrelating to immunisation, vaccina-tion, tuberculosis survey, malariacontrol, measles etc.

As in the previous year, familyplanning camps were organised by

5.3

TURNOVER

6000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

• • 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 19841 <r

•4 Year

the Company, in liaison with theState Govt. Family Planning De-partments at regular intervals as apart of community development.Suitable grants have been given tothe State authoritias for present-ing mementos to those who adoptfamily welfare programmes.

In response to the requests re-ceived, the Company has also con-tributed suitable amounts forradiation therapy and/or researchequipment to be provided in Can-cer Research Institutions/Hospit-als in Alwaye/Ernakulam, Kerala.

As a part of public awarenessprogramme, the Company had par-ticipated in an exhibition held atOttapalam, Kerala. The public whovisited IRE pavilion were impress-ed with the Company's exhibitsand obtained a good knowledge ofthe activities of IRE.

Sports and Cultural Activities

As in the past, IRE Recreation &Sports Clubs in the Units con-ducted their annual events andthe Company had provided suit-able grants. The participants in-cluded, apart from the employeesand their children, children fromnearby villages.

In order to unearth the in-housetalents, the Company had con-ducted an inter-unit sports meet.

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

The sports events of the Com-pany also included cultural prog-rammes. As a part of the PanditNehru Centenary celebrations,competitions were conductedamongst primary, middle and highschool level children. This hadevinced significant response.

The Company had sponsored anAll India Kabbadi tournament in

association with the KanyakumariDistrict Kabbadi Association formen and women in which mem-bers of teams from all over Indiaparticipated.

Safety, Health 6t EnvironmentCare

As a further measure of improvingthe dust free conditions in theplant, a dust liberator facility wasrecently commissioned in Chavara.

In order to inculcate a spirit ofsafety amongst units, an in-company rolling trophy on safetywas instituted.

The Mines Safety WeekCelebration were conducted in theunits, the Company also partici-pated in the safety week celebra-tions conducted by other orga-nisations as well.

The Vocational Training Centresin the units are functioning satis-factorily. In all the units, safetygroups have been constituted.While at present one of the offic-ers in each unit is performing thefunctions of Safety & TrainingOfficer, in addition to his otherduties, the Company proposes toappoint a full time Safety & Train-ing Officer in each unit shortly.

Workshops on safety legislationhave been conducted in the units

FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNINGS

1700

1600

1500

1400

1300

1200

1100

1000

900

800

700

600

500

4S4A

5437

552.

4

18.4

1071

.6

ias

3

o

5Ss

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 19e4 1985 1986 1987 19B8 19

with the assistance of specialistsfrom Atomic Energy RegulatoryBoard/BARC,

Periodical medical examinationsof the employees including can-teen employees were conducted.Senior medical experts fromBARC visited the units and valu-ated the system of medical recordmanagement and rendered valu-able advice on the line of manage-ment of few chronic cases.

Tv • facility of training in first-aidand arranging regular first-aid clas-ses, leading to St. John's Ambu-lance First Aid Certificate ex-amination in OSCOM is continued.

The Company places consider-able emphasis on pollution controlmeasures. A Safety & Environ-ment Protection Committee hasbeen constituted in the units. It isa step ahead in identifying thesafety related problems and tak-ing remedial measures in time,apart from dealing with environ-mental-protection and pollutioncontrol aspects with promptitude.The effluent treatment plants inthe units are operating satisfac-torily. It is a matter of satisfactionthat the Rare Earths Plant of theCompany has been awarded letterof appreciation by the KeralaState Pollution Control Board inrecognition of the Company'sefforts to innovate and adoptPollution Control Technology andalso for maintaining a satisfactoryPollution Control Plant for thetreatment of effluents during theperiod 1988-89.

As a part of the mining area de-velopment programme, full-scalework on afforestation program-mes is underway in the units. Avery large number of trees havebeen planted during the yea;. InOSCOM, services of a senior offic-er specialised in afforestation arebeing utilised.

Use of Hindi

The "Hindi Day" was celebrated inBombay and OSCOM. In addition,one day Hindi Workshop was orga-nised at Bombay. A Cultural prog-ramme was staged by the Com-pany's employees. The program-me of the Hindi Day also included aKavi sammelan. In OSCOM too,the programme included Kavi sam-melan/mushaira.

The Company has also intro-duced a scheme of cash awards tothe children of employees whoachieve excellence in Hindi, eitheras a part of duty curriculam in theirrespective school or college in ex-aminations conducted by Board/University or in any equivalent ex-amination in Hindi conducted byvoluntary organisations recog-nised by the State or Central Govt.

The Bombay offices of the Com-pany were inspected by theSecond sub-committee of Parlia-ment on Official Language on 29-9-1988.

Hindi classes are conducted inManavalakurichi, Chavara andQuilon Units within office premis-es. Action to set up a Hindi Libraryin all units has also been taken.The number of Library books inHindi at Corporate office has beenaugmented.

As suggested by Ministry ofLabour, New Delhi a "Hindi Griha"is proposed to be set up in theUnits which will provide Educa-tional film shows in Hindi, and cas-settes for learning Hindi.

Continued from page 5. t

constant touch with these opera-tions, as Bagajata mine has beenidentified as the new mine for pro-duction of uranium ore. AtomicMineral Division has explored by

INCOME

drilling the deposits at Turamdihsouth, Mahuldih, Garadih etc. Orereserve estimates of these de-posits are being finalised by AMDand UCIL.

1970 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 73 79 SO 81 82 83 84 85 88 87

Control room of an atomic power station.

ElectronicsCorporationof IndiaLimited

Having achieved a production ofRs.204 crores, a gross turnover ofRs.218 crores and a profit ofRs.3.18 crores during 1988-89,ECIL for 1989-90 has set itself atarget of Rs.250 crores in produc-tion, a gross turnover of aboutRs.298 crores and a profit ofRs.5.34 crores.

Participationrammes

in DAE's Prog-

ECIL has been giving the highestpriority to the Control & Instru-mentation needs of the nuclearpower projects and other require-ments of the DAE. During 1988-89, the Corporation had suppliedaround Rs. 18 crores worth of Con-trol & Instrumentation systems toNAPP-1 & 2 and KAPP-1 complet-ing most of the supplies besidessupplying Fire Alarm systems toNAPP and CCTV systems toHeavy Water Plants and nuclearinstruments to various DAE units.For the year 1989-90, C&l suppliesworth nearly Rs.14.5 crores weremade to Nuclear Power Projectssuch as NAPP-I & II, KAPP-I & II.These supplies included Annun-ciator Systems, Flux Mapping Sys-tems, DPD Computer Systems,Relay Logic Equipment, FuellingMachine and Fuel Transfer Con-trols, Control Room Panels,Secondary Instrument Panels andCCTV Systems. In addition to

these, supplies were also made ofSolid State Interlock Logic Equip-ment to Hazira Ammonia Exten-sion Project. For KCR Project, sup-plies were completed and essen-tial erection and commissioningwork was also completed.

Besides meeting the require-ments of DAE in the areas of nuc-lear instrumentation 6c equipment,ECIL has been contributing signifi-cantly in the areas of Controls,Computers and Communicationsto the core sectors like Power, Oil,Steel, Cement and strategic sec-tors like Defence and Communica-tions. In the area of Controls dur-ing 1988-89, ECIL supplied aroundRs. 13 crores worth of equipmentsuch as Electronic Automationsystems for steam turbines toBHEL for various thermal powerplants at Khaparkheda, Gandhina-gar, Kota, Tenughat and controlmodules to Birsinghpur thermalpower plants, Remote telemetryunits and instruments to Naharka-tiya- Jorajan pipeline project, com-munication software to BhilaiSteel Plant, Tankodrome equip-ment, gyrostabilised horizontal barequipment and cockpit voice re-corders to Defence. During 1989-90, ECIL is supplying around Rs.20crores worth of control equipmentcomprising of electronic automa-tion systems to BHEL for Neyveli,Gandhinagar and Raichur thermal

Electronic Voting System.

power plants, Telesupervisoryequipment to NJ Pipeline projectof Oil India and to Vizag Steelplant's Energy Networks, cockpitvoice recorders to IAF, gyrostabil-ised horizontal bar equipment toGoa Shipyard and Mazagon Docks.

In the field of computers during1988-89, ECIL supplied SPC-Telexsystems valued ,at around Rs. 16.7crores to MTNL, store & forwardmessage switching systemsvalued at aroUnd Rs.2.4 crores toIAF and Super-32 computersvalued at Rs. 11.0 crores to NIC,IGCAR,ITl, Rourkela •& BokaroSteel plants and Kurukshetra Uni-versity. During 1989-90, ECILwhile continuing operations inthese areas, developed and intro-duced Unipower-30 ComputerSystem based on Motorola 68030.The major despatches planned areSPC-Telex equipment to DoT &MTNL valued at Rs. 12 crores,store & forward message switch-ing systems to Defence, valued atRs.6.2 crores Super-32 computersand Unipower-30 systems valuedat Rs. 13.8 crores to various usersincluding Indian Bank, Bokaro,Rourkela and Bhilai steel plants,DESU, LIC, Coal and Banking sec-tors. BHEL and IGCAR.

The Mainframe Computers unit,during 1988-89, sold a total of 5nos. of Medha-93O mainframecomputers and 4 nos. of Medha-830 mainframe computers to

South Central Railway, Secunder-abad Cfor passenger reservationsystem), All India Institute ofMedical Sciences, New Delhi Cforhospital management), Mhow (forDefence Research) and ONGC.During 1989-90, the productionfacility for manufacture of 930series is established and produc-tion is in progress. MCU has plan-ned to supply Medha-930 seriesMainframe computers valuedaround Rs. 15 crores to Oil Indiaand CMC Ltd., Secunderabad, De-fence Research Centre lmarat,Hyderabad and others.

In the Communications area,during 1988-89, ECIL has affectedsupplies valued over Rs.42 crorescomprising mainly of TVRO equip-ment alongwith the antennas toDoordarshan, self-radiatingmasts, curtain antennas andantenna changeover Switches toAIR, 32 M Wheel & Track antennafor VSNL and other Communica-tion equipment such as PCMequipment to DoT, air-traffic con-trollers to NAA and V/UHF receiv-ers to Cabinet Secretariat. Duringthe year 1989-90, the Corporationhas commenced the production ofhigh CPD line of sight antennasand digital facsimile equipmentunder collaborations from M/s.Kabel- metal Electro GMbH,Federal Republic Germany and M/s. NEC, Japan respectively. TVROequipment with antennas are pro-duced and supplied on crash basis

darshan. Apart from the above,the total sale of around Rs.53crores of the communicationequipment comprises the earthstation antennas for DoT andMCF, Hassan and FM antennas toAIR. ECIL has completed thesupply of all antennas and ex-ecuted civil works for variouscommunication projects of RCPO.

In the- field of consumer electro-nics, ECIL continues to have itsshare of market inspite of generalslump in the market. ECIL hastaken-up development of newmodels and has been giving in-creased thrust to export of TVsets.

As regards nuclear and industrialinstruments, ECIL has suppliedKs.20 crores worth of Instru-ments & Instrumentation systemsduring 1988-89 and is supplyingnearly Rs.22 crores worth during1989-90. The 'major supplies areX-ray baggage inspection systemsto Civil Aviation. CCTV systems forimportant installations, data dis-play consoles for computer baseddata handling systems for IAF,sound ranging systems for IndianArmy and a host of other nuclearand non-nuclear instruments forindustries. During the year ECILreceived an order for the manufac-ture of 75000 of electronic votingmachines valued around Rs.37crores that were to be supplied inabout four months. ECIL took-upthis challenging task and com-pleted the manufacturing of thesemachines for Election Commis-sion.

In the components area, ECILcontinued to produce HMCs,PCBs, Ceramic Components dur-ing the year and almost doubledtantalum capacitors production byinstalling automated processequipment.

During the year, AurangabadUnit has manufactured FM anten-nas and has further taken-up anew line of 400 W high poweramplifiers for production.

Having made a beginning of theexport of TVs during 1-988-89,considerable progress has beenmade in the export this year andapproximately Rs.50 lakhs worthof TVs were exported.

5.7

I

OtherActivities

Emergency Planning

The Crisis Management Groupheaded by Additional Secretary,DAE and the National EmergencyResponse Committee chaired bySecretary, DAE, provides policyguidelines for emergency pre-paredness planning at various nuc-lear installations of the Depart-ment. The decisions taken by theCommittee with respect toemergency preparedness, arebeing implemented. Emergencyplans for nuclear installationswere put to tests by carrying outvarious types of exercises: plantemergency exercise, site

emergency exercise, off-siteemergency exercise, and com-munication exercises, to ensuresatisfactory functioning of thesystems. The exercises carriedout so far indicated that the De-partment, with the assistance ofthe District and State authorities,is in full readiness to meet anyemergency. However, these planswill be put to review at regularintervals.

Left:Chairman, AEC explaining the display on atomic energy to thePrime Minister in the exhibition set up during trie first meetingof the Consultative Committee of the Scientific Departmentsin the Parliament House Annexe.

Middle:

Participation in the India International Trade Fair-1990 at

Pragati Maidan New Delhi.

Participation in the "Vigyan Gaon Ki Aur" at Gouriganj (Uttar

Pradesh) during 4-15 March, 1989.

Bottom:

Valedictory Function of the "Appreciation Course on Nuclear

Science 6< Technology" held in December 1989.

To co-ordinate the various activi-ties during exercises/emergency,a Central Emergency ControlRoom equipped with wirelesssets for interacting with the nuc-lear power plants and heavy wateFplants was set up at DAE Head-quarters and since September1989 it has been operating roundthe clock.

Efforts are underway for prepa-ration of data base managementfor emergency planning for va-rious nuclear installations.

International RelationsIndia was once again designatedto the Board of Governors as oneof the countries "most advancedin the technology of atomic ener-gy including the production ofsource materials", for the 33rdyear in succession since the incep-tion of the IAEA, underscoring itsleading status in this frontier tech-nology.

India continued to offer trainingfacilities, fellowships, scientificvisits, etc and to make availablethe services of its scientists forexpert assignments both throughthe IAEA and to countries withwhich we have entered into bi-lateral agreements for coopera-tion in the field of peaceful uses ofatomic energy.

About 300 scientists/ engineersparticipated in international sym-posia, workshops and confer-ences held under the auspices ofvarious UN and other multilateralorganisations as also the IAEA. In-dia also hosted 9 IAEA meetings,symposia etc. during 1989.

Secretary, DAE and Chairman,Atomic Energy Commission

attended the World Association ofNuclear Operators CWANO) held inMoscow during May 1989.

Secretary, DAE also lead the In-dian delegation to the 33rd regularsession of the IAEA General Con-ference and attended the WorldEnergy Conference held in Mon-treal during September 1989.

During the year, the first meet-ing of the joint lndo-USSR WorkingGroup on Nuclear Power was held.The Working Group has been setup under the Indo-USSR Inter-governmental Commission for Sci-entific, Technical and EconomicCooperation to facilitate imple-mentation of the Indo-USSR Inter-governmental Agreement ofNovember 1988, for cooperationin the construction of nuclearpower station in India. A contractfor supply of 150 tonnes of naturaluranium pellets for use as fuel forRAPS was concluded with France.A safeguards agreement was con-cluded with IAEA in respect ofthese pelletes.

Financial Assistance

The Department supports re-search activities of universitiesand other research institutions inthe country in the field of atomicenergy and other related areas.The Department has sanctionedgrants for the selected researchprojects on the basis of the re-commendations of an AdvisoryBody viz. the Board of Research inNuclear Sciences (BRNS) compris-ing of eminent scientists andsenior research officers who over-see all such activities. Besides giv-ing research grants for specificprojects, grants are also sanc-tioned for organising symposia/conferences/ seminars etc. TheDepartment also awards Dr. K.S.Krishnan fellowships to the re-search scholars and also awardsfellowship to Bombay Universitystudents under the DAE-BombayUniversity collaborative program-mes, to carry out research in diffe-rent disciplines in various institu-tions in the country. During theyear 1989-90, BRNS recom-mended 125 renewal projects and7O new projects with an esti-mated expenditure of Rs. 236.83lakhs. BRNS has conducted 19

departmental symposia in additionto partial financial assistance pro-vided to about 101 symposia/ con-ferences/ seminars etc. organisedby the agencies other than DAEwith a total expenditure ofRs. 24.00 lakhs.

A sum of Rs. 42.00 lakhs wasalso provided by the Departmentfor the award of Dr. K. S, KrishnanFellowship through an open com-petition to the talented studentsfor carrying out research in diffe-rent disciplines in various institu-tions in the country. Departmentis fully funding four research in-stitutions under the administra-tive control of this Departmentviz. Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Saha Institute of Nuc-lear Physics, Tata Memorial Centreand Institute of Physics, Bhu-baneswar. Besides these insti-tutes, grants were also given forthe Institute of Mathematical Sci-ences CMATSC1ENCE), Madras;Mehta Research Institute, Allaha-bad and National Board for Higherences mathematics Madras;

Directorate of Purchase 6cStores

Directorate of Purchase &Stores continued to provide activesupport to all the units of the De-partment of Atomic Energy in theirvarious material managementfunctions. During the period from1.4.1989 to 31.12.1989, theDirectorate processed 29,460purchase requisitions receivedfrom the different units and en-tered into 31,872 purchase con-tracts. The total value of contractsis around Rs. 150.00 crores.

The Transport and ClearanceWing of Directorate of Purchase &Stores continued to handle con-signments through air, rail, sea,road and post parcels. 2300 con-signments by air, 141 by sea, 342by post parcels and 677 by rail/road/air, locally were handled apart from69 export cases. Major and impor-tant items comprised of 440 M/T ofmother pipes, 250 M/T of magne-sium metal and other valuable andsophisticated equipment such asmicro-processor based weldingsystems CCIF value Rs. 1.00 crore)EPITEXY coating system forPMD, BARC CCIF value Rs. 1.5O

6.2

crore), gamma camera i ui v i_ .̂v-,cobalt for BRIT and spectrophoto-meter for PEP;

The Central Stores Unit ofDirectorate of Purchase & Storescontinued to make centralised pro-visioning of common user itemsand undertook review of the entirerange of items during the year.Value of scrap disposed and thenumber of consignments receivedand issued by the Central StoresUnit and the Regional Stores Unitsduring the period from 1.4.1989 to31.12.1989 are given below: -

Total value of scarpdisposalTotal number ofconsignmentsreceivedTotal number ofissues

crores: Rs.1.53

: 47,232

: 1,11,393

The Technical Liaison Mission inParis rendered assistance for in-spection and follow up of criticalsupplies, vendor appraisals andlocation of new/alternativesources of supply. They also con-tinued to handle matters con-nected with supply of TAPS fuelfrom M/s. COGEMA, France.

Construction & ServicesGroup

OV;7 Engineering Division

The Civil Engineering Division,Construction & Services Group,Department of Atomic Energy isperforming the planning, design-ing, construction and commission-ing of civil, public health, electrical,air conditioning and ventilationworks in respect of housing, hos-tel, school, hospital, laboratoriesand various other public buildingsvarigated all over the country forvarious units of Department ofAtomic Energy including aided in-stitutions.

Trombay Township Project

Out of 744 flats proposed in VIIPlan, 48 flats of Type I-4 and 32flats of Type Il-B were completedand handed over for occupation.Work orders for the balance 644flats of Type Il-B and Ill-C havebeen issued in phases during the

year-and about aLWb of tne aooveworks will be completed duringthe year 1990. Construction ofsecondary school of 3725 sq.m.built up area,, a community centreof 1352 sq.m. built up area, havebeen commenced and theseworks are expected to be com-pleted during the last quarter of1990.

Besides, construction of a co-vered area of 735 sq.m. for anexisting community centre, sixtennis courts at two locationswith an area of 4865 sq.m. ana"covered car parking of 2200 sq.m.for existing type V CE) flats hasbeen taken up and are expectedto be completed during the year.Planning and estimation for 404flats of Type Il-B and VCE) flatsunder additional VII Plan workwere completed, and the con-struction of these works will com-mence during 1990.

Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch

Construction of 28 flats of TypeV-E at Colaba, Bombay, is in adv-anced stage of completion and isexpected to be completed duringfirst quarter of 1990. Constructionof 24 residential quarters of Type 1to V for staff working for RadioAstronomy Centre at Ooty, werecompleted and handed over foroccupation. Planning and estii na-tion for 28 flats of Type VKE-1) atColaba and 88 flats of Type ll-Band Ill-C at Mandala have beencompleted. These works will com-mence during 1990.

Giant Meterwave RadioTelescope

Construction of 32 residentialquarters of Type ll-B and V-E,guest house having 780 Sq.m.plinth area and laboratory buildinghaving 2593 sq.m. plinth area atPune, were completed and hand-ed over for occupation. Construc-tion of 14 flats of Type II, III, and iVat Narayangaon has commencedand the same will be completed in1990. Constnjction of laboratorybuilding having 2060 sq.m. at'Khodad' has commenced and is inprogress. Construction of 32antennae at Narayangaon hascommenced. Planning and En-gineering details for efficiency

apartment, Guest Mouse navmy528 sq.m. plinth area, securityquarters and services were per-formed and construction of thesame will commence in 1990.

Tata Memorial Centre

The Engineering details for Con-struction of TMC Rear Annexebuilding having plinth area of13808 sq.m. was completed andconstruction of the same hascommenced and about 60% of thework is expected to be completedin the year 1990. Construction of24 residential quarters of Type III-C at Mandala has commenced andthe same will be completed duringthe last quarter of 1990.

Atomic Minerals Division

Construction of additional 28 flatsof Type IV-D and V-E at Hyderabadwill be completed during 1st quar-ter of 1990.

Engineering details for 128 re-sidential quarters of Type 1-A toV-E at Khasmahal, Tata Nagar,Bihar was completed and con-struction of the same will com-mence in the 1 st quarter of 1990.

Construction of laboratory build-ing having 6353 sq.m. plinth areaat Khasmahal, Tata Nagar, Biharwill commence during 1990.

Construction of stores and gar-rage and compound wall for AMDcomplex at Bangalore is in prog-ress and same is expected to' becompleted in March 1990.

Engineering details and planningfor construction of laboratoryPhase-ll and guest house and hos-tel for AMD at Shillong are in prog-ress.

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

Out of 64 flats of Type l-A to IV-DCPhase-ll), 56 flats ware con-structed and handed over foroccupation, balance 8 flats will becompleted during 1 st quarter of1990. Construction of 44 flats ofType ll-B, Ill-C, IV-D Phase-Ill willcommence during 2nd quarter of1990. For accommodating visitingscientists, the existing hostel atCalcutta has been proposed forextension, the construction workis expected to commence in 1990.

6.3

Construction of laboratory buildingPhase-ll having plinth area of 4220sq.m. was completed and com-missioned.

Planning and estimation for 46residential quarters of type l-A toV-E and a hostel having 1605sq.m. plinth area performed andconstruction of the same will com-mence in 1990.

Institute of Physics

Constnjction of pelletron buildingat Bhubaneswar, has commencedand the same is expected to becompleted during the secondquarter of 1990.

Society for Applied MicrowaveElectronics Engineering Reesearch

The administrative and environ-mental testing laboratory having atotal plinth area of 7620 sq.m. isunder construction and the sameis expected to be completed in1990.

Planning and designing of labora-tory in Phase-Ill at Vashi, NewBombay is in progress.

'Electronics Corporation of IndiaLimited

Extension of existing ECIL buildingat Prabhadevi, Bombay for publicdistribution of ECTV has beencompleted and handed over foroccupation.

College of Catering Technologyunder the Department of Tourism

Tender action for constnjction ofcatering college at Prabhadevi,Bombay having 6367 sq.m. builtup area is in progress, the con-struction work is expected tocommence in mid 1990.

Homi Bhabha Centre for ScienceEducation

Planning, designing for HomiBhabha Centre for science educa-tion having about 453O sq.m.plinth area is under progress. Theconstruction for the same is ex-pected to commence during 1990.

Board of Radiation and IsotopeTechnology

Planning and engineering detailingfor laboratory building at Vashi,New Bombay and administrativeoffice building at Anushaktinagar,Bombay for BRIT is in progress.

DAE premises.

On the occasion of VVIPs visitsthe Maintenance Wing of C&GS atDAE performed co-ordinationwork involving high degree of re-sponsibilities. The Wing has under-taken development of a part ofOYC Building into an exhibitionhall.

Directorate of EstateManagement

Directorate of Estate Manage-ment is responsible for the allot-ment of residential flats to the em-ployees of DAE and its units situ-ated at Bombay. 32 Type 'B' flatsand 48 Type 'A' flats were con-structed during this year and allot-ted to the employees.

Management Service Group

The Management Services Groupis an in-house cell providing staffsupport for analysis and dissemi-nation of management informa-tion to the top officials in the De-partment's Secretariat. TheGroup has assisted the Depart-ment in conducting perspectiveplanning exercises on nuclearpower, financial analysis, systemstudies, manpower planning anddevelopment and computerisationof activities at the Secretariat.Further, the Group carries outspecific tasks assigned by Chair-man, AEC. It operates a compre-hensive information base andgenerates periodic reports to thePrime Minister, the Atomic EnergyCommission and the top officialsof the Department on (a) thephysical and financial progress ofmajor projects under constructionand Cb) performance of nuclearpower stations, heavy waterplants, nuclear fuel plants andpublic sector undertakings underthe Department.'

The Group also prepares reviewpapers on the quarterly perform-ance of, public sector undertakingswhich forms the basis for the re-

views conducted by the Chairman,AEC. In addition, it prepares theAnnual Action Plan of the Depart-ment and serves as the nodal pointfor interaction with the Ministry ofProgramme Implementation formonitoring major projects underconstruction.

The Management ServicesGroup operates an EDP centre atthe Secretariat which comprisesa multi-user UNIX based supermicro-computer system and anumber of PC workstations. Itassists the various sections in theSecretariat as also some of the de-partmental units in the develop-ment of software and training inthe use of computers.

Training

To face the challenges of 10,000MWe nuclear power profile, apartfrom technical competence, com-petence of administrative, financeand accounts cadres needs to beenhanced by propertraining. With aview to upgrading their'knowledgein their respective fields, and alsomanagerial skills of senior officers(including scientists & engineers)the Department has embarkedupon regular training programmeswith the faculty support of Jam-nalal Bajaj Institute of Manage-ment, National Institute of Train-ing for Industrial Engineering, Hu-man Resources Development In-stitute, Continuing EducationTraining Centre (all in Bombay), In-stitute of Costs & Works Accoun-tants, Calcutta and the Institutefor Secretarial Training and Man-agement, New Delhi.

In the wake of this thrust ontraining, 22 training programmeswere organised during 1989-90,and about 40 training courseshave been planned during 1990-91. The favourable impact of thisendeavour has been felt from thefeedback received.

General ServicesOrganisation

General Services Organisation,Kalpakkam was set up in 1978 tolook after various general servicesat Kalpakkam. Following are thedetails of activities during 1989-90.

1. Construction or nesiucnu™Quarters and Public Buildings

Presently, the construction wingof GSO is handling the followingconstruction works:

I. NPC Housing:

(Rs. in lakhs)

a) Construction of 24 Nos.scientist apartments 24.90

b) Construction of 59 Nos.Type Ill/C quarters 54.90

c) Construction of 18 Nos.Type Ill/C quarters 16.90

d) Construction of 17 Nos.Type IV/D quarters 22.70

e) Construction of 18 Nos.Type V/E quarters 54.30

f) Construction ofInformation Centrenear ESL building atSadras 5.3O

Total

II. Non-NPC Housing:

179.00

(Rs. in lakhs)

a) Construction of 52 Nos.Type Ill/C quarters 49.20

b) Construction of 38 Nos.Type IV/D quarters 50.40

c) Construction of 57 Nos.Type III/C quarters 54.50

d) Construction of 28 Nos.Type III/C Quarters 26.60

e) Construction of CISFArmoury & Storesbuilding 3.10

f) Construction of AtomicEnergy CentralSchool 25.90

Total 209.70

2. Estate Management includingGuest House, Hostels <S PublicBuildings

a) Allotment of residential quar-ters, recoveries of licence fee,electricity and other charges.

b) Allotment of shopping facilitiesin the Township.

c) Allotment of accommodationof land and co-ordination in re-spect of public services.

d) Running of the Guest Houseand Hostels.

e) Acquisition of land.f) Co-ordination with Panchayats,

Collectorate and State Govern-ment authorities.

6.4

3. Township Maintenance

Maintenance of civil, electrical andpublic health of the entireTownship of 4019 residential quar-ters, public buildings-schools, hos-pital, CISF barracks, guest houseand hostels, shopping centre,assembly hall and other public faci-lities, distribution of water supply,maintenance of sewage treat-ment plant, upkeep of roads in theTownship as well as the main arte-rial road upto Kokkilamedu Gate,bridge over Sadras and Edaiyurbars, bridge over BuckinghamCanal, Maintenance of Parks andGardens.

Power Supply:

Maintenance of power supplythrough H.T. lines from 1GCARSite to Township. Maintenanceworks at sewage treatment plantat IGCAR and lift station at MAPSsite, maintenance of civil and elec-trical works at auto garage at site.

4. DAE hospital

This is a 38 bed Hospital with di-agnostic facilities namely X-ray,Pathology and Clinical investiga-tion laboratories. There is Materni-ty Ward, Dental Clinic and Opera-tion Theatre.

Hospital facilities are beinggiven on a non-contributory basisand the treatment is regulatedunder CS CMA) Rules. Plans arebeing made to increase facilitiesfor decontaminations and handlingof radiation emergencies. Stepsare also under way to establish aSite Medical Service for IGCAR/MAPS. The Site Medical Servicewill take care of not only first-aidrequirements, but also statutoryrequirements of providing medicalassistance at site plus measuresat site relating to decontamina-tions before hospitalisation.

5. Departmental Transport

Lorries are mainly used for diffe-rent duties of 1GCAR, MAPS andCWMF including transportation ofsensitive equipment and heavywater.

6. Auto-Oarage

Maintenacce of all heavy and lightvehicles of DAE Units at Kalpak-

kam is carried out in Auto Garage.Maintenance of heavy tractor trail-ers used for transportation of overdimensioned equipment andmaintenance of road roller are alsocarried out by Auto-Garage.

7. Miscellaneous General Ser-vices

Apart from the functionenumerated above, certainfunctions of a miscellaneousnature also performed by GSOas under:

a) Making arrangements forgeneral functions in theTownship.

b) Providing assistance by way ofcivil and electrical works forfunctions arranged by nuclearemployees sports and culturalorganisation and other secialand cultural organisations inthe Township.

O Providing assistance in theshape of minor civil/electricalworks in the existing TamilMedium School run by theState authorities.

d) Co-ordination work relating toKalpakkam Management Com-mittee, Kendriya VidyalayaManagement Committee andLocal Management Committeerelating to Atomic EnergyEducation Society.

e) A Co-operative Canteen is runby GSO employees in theTownship for providing goodquality food at reasonableprices.

Information & Library

The Publications Division of DAEbrings out information literaturefor media and public, and also ca-ters to the publication needs ofthe Department and its units.

Besides normal publicationsassignments including twoperiodicals in English and Hindieach, information material aimedat public education of employees'awareness was produced. In viewof need for the information dis-semination amongst masses,material was produced in Hindi aswell as in other Indian languagessuch as Telugu, Tamil, Kannada,Malayalam, Urdu and Gujarati.Publication services were also ex-

tended to vanous omer uius uiDAE.

Computerisation for efficientmanagement of publications acti-vities such as mailing, budgetarycontrol and bill clearance/corres-pondence etc was introduced.

Efforts were directed towardsbuilding up information bank forstorage and retrieval of informa-tion.

The DAE Library rendered ser-vice to the Secretariat and con-tinued to serve as a repository ofinformation on diverse subjectssuch as management, environ-ment, energy, to name a few. Dur-ing the year, the Library acquiredover 650 books and received over200 periodicals. This was besidesthe upkeep of over 10,000 booksand other reading material. Com-puterisation is being introduced inLibrary operations.

PublicityTo inform the public about safe-ty and environmental protection,measures relating to nuclear pow-er plants and other installations,the Public Awareness Programmehas been launched.

Publicity Division organised aseries of seminars on the theme'Atomic Energy & Environment"and also exhibitions as part of thePublic Awareness Programmes atKaiga, Cochin, Kota, Hyderabad,Ottapalam, Jaipur and Allahabad.In addition, intensive tour wasundertaken around Kaiga andKudankulam along with senior sci-entists to deliver lectures to thegroup of intelligentsia, studentcommunity and Chambers of Com-merce etc.

DAE participated in the photo-graphic exhibition organised bythe Minister/ of ExternalAffairs in New York during theFirst Convention of the People ofIndian Origin in USA. The exhibi-tion and DAE exhibits were wellappreciated.

For the first time, the Depart-ment organised an All India EssayContest in all the regional lan-guages on the following subjects:

1. Peaceful Uses of NuclearEnergy;

6.5

2. Nuclear Energy & Environment.The winners were given theprizes.

In order to have a close link be-tween the academic institutionsand the atomic energy program-me, the training programme forthe senior scientists was orga-nised in which senior professorsof the Indian Institute of Tech-nologies and Regional EngineeringColleges, from all over India hadparticipated.

Exhibitions and lectures orga-nised in different places in thecountry as part of the PublicAwareness Programmes paid richdividends. These programmes willcontinue. Public are also encour-aged to visit the nuclear powerstations, and other establish-ments for a better appreciation ofthe safety measures adopted.Information material on low levelradiation and its effects, environ-ment surveillance, emergencyplans etc have been made avail-able. A programme of lectures andseminars in schools and collegeshas been drawn up.

Use of Hindi

During the year, there • wasfurther progress in the imple-mentation of the Official Lan-guage Policy of the Union in theDepartment and its constituentunits, and the public sector under-takings under its control. In ser-vice training in Hindi, Hindi type-writing and stenography was im-parted to 269 officials, 97 typistsand 32 stenographers respective-ly. Hindi workshops were or-ganised in AMD, DPS, IGCAR,HWP Baroda, ECIL, IRE, RAPS andMAPS. Thirty-five Devanagiri type-writers were purchased duringthe year, raising the total numberof such typewriters to 1 70. Also,orders were placed for 9 moresuch typewriters. Eight bilingualelectronic typewriters were alsopurchased raising the total num-ber of such typewriters to 18. TheDepartment has a bilingual "WordProcessor CLIPD" and 3 Devanagirisoftwares for use on personalcomputers. Hindi books worth ab-out Rs 30,000/- were purchasedduring the year.

The Official Language Imple-mentation Committees of the De-

partment and its units and publicsector undertakings met to re-view the position regarding use ofHindi. Chairmen and Hindi officersof all DAE units and public sectorundertakings were also invited atthe meeting of the DAE OfficialLanguage Committee held on9.2.90 with a view to review theoverall position of the use of Hindiand take decisions about effectiveimplementation of the OfficialLanguage Policy. The seventhmeeting of the Joint Hindi Advis-ory Committee of the Departmentof Atomic Energy, Space and Elec-tronics was held in New Delhi. Onthe 11 October, 1989. The Mem-bers of the Committee com-plimented the Department for thework done by it in the field ofpromotion of Hindi.

Action continued to be taken toimplement the provisions of theOfficial Languages Act and Rulesframed thereunder. All gazettenotifications, Cabinet notes andsummaries, reports and otherdocuments submitted to variouscommittees of Parliament, etc.were prepared bilingually. Inspec-tions of the headquarters of theMAPS, BARC. AMD, ECIL andNFC, and regional offices of theAMD and DPS were carried outduring the year.

Under the "Dr. Homi BhabhaAward Scheme" which was intro-duced by this Deartment in July,1985 for giving awards to authorsfor writing books in Hindi onsubjects pertaining to DAE, tobooks and manuscripts writtenduring the years 1986 and 1987were invited for consideration.Four books/ manuscripts were re-ceived, out of which one bookwas selected for awarding a con-solation prize of Rs. 3,000/-.Books and manuscripts writtenduring the year 1988 have alsobeen invited for consideration.Two brochures on "Use of radia-tion for development of plants giv-ing higher crop yields" and "Use ofradiation for prevention of sprout-ing of onions" were brought out inHindi. The NPC brought out itsmonthly house Magazine "NUPower" in bilingual form, and theRajasthan Atomic Power Stationand Tarapur Atomic Power Stationbrought out their quart* rly HouseMagazines "Anushakti" and

"Anubharti" respectively in Hindi.The News Bulletins of the IRE andECIL also had a portion in Hindi.The OLIC of BARC brought outthe quarterly Rajbhasha Bulletin inHindi. The Hindi Vigyan SahityaParishad.a voluntary organisationof BARC, which has been pub-lishing a popular quarterly Hindibulletin "Vaigyanik", was providedfinancial assistance of Rs. 15,000/- this year.

The OLICs of BARC. NFC andCAT were given grants of Rs.80,000/-. Rs. 24,000/- and Rs.10,000/- respectively for program-mes to popularise and promoteuse of Hindi, with a view to popu-larising Hindi and encouraging em-ployees to use Hindi in officialwork a "Hindi week was organisedin the DAE Secretariat, HWP,Kota, NFC, ECIL, NPC, KAPP andIGCAR, and a "Hindi Day" wascelebrated in BARC, HWB, CAT,IRE, DPS, Calcutta and BangaloreRegional offices of AMD, HWP,"Tuticorin. GSO. TAPS and MAPS.An all India Kavi-sammelan wasorganised by the DAE at Anushak-ti Nagar. BARC organized AllIndia Hindi seminars on "NuclearEngery" and "Environmental Pollu-tion and Industry". NPC organizeda seminar in Hindi on "Literature,Science and Philosophy-Search forTruth". CAT, also organized a Hindiseminar on "Religion andScience." Seminars were orga-nized by NFC and AMD in Hindi on"Safety Conciousness in StrategicIndustries" and "Rare Earths inScience and Technology" respec-tively. Souvenirs containing pro-ceedings of all of these HindiSeminars were also brought out.

Under the incentive scheme forwriting original notes and drafts inHindi, 6 employees were awarded.Awards were also given to oneHindi stenographer and 3 typists.

Hindi workshops for trainingemployees in writing notes anddrafts in Hindi were organised inDAE, AMD, ECIL, DPS. RAPS,IRE, CAT and MAPS. A 3-dayWorkshop-cum-Seminar for Hindiofficers of DAE and its units andPSUs was also organised.

With a view to implementing theOfficial Language Policy moreeffectively, Hindi cells of the DAEand its various units were further

6.6

strengthened. The DAE has now1 Director COL), 2 Hindi Officers, 1Senior Hindi Translator, 1 HindiAssistant and 3 Hindi Translators.The DAE Units and PSUs alsohave 20 posts of Hindi Officers, 4posts of Senior Hindi Translatorsand 42 posts of Hindi Translators.

Atomic Energy EducationSociety

The Atomic Energy EducationSociety completed two decadesof its existence. Starting with oneschool at Bombay in 1969, theSociety has now 24 schools at i 2centres with a strength of about11OO teachers and 22,600 stu-dents on roll.

The Society continued to main-tain its all-round growth and ex-cellence in academic and alliedareas. In Class X of the All India Se-condary School Examination, theoverall pass percentage was over96% with 2O distinctions in aggre-gate and 1185 in one or more sub-jects. In Class XII examinations theoverall pass percentage was 90%.Five students from Bombay andone from Hyderabad figured in themerit lists. Atomic Energy JuniorCollege (AEJO, Bombay waslisted fifth among the 424 juniorCollege affiliated to the BombayDivisional Board. One student ofthe college topped in the Board inelectrical maintenance for thefourth time since 1985 and onestudent topped in Hindi. As manyas 104 students secured 90% andabove marks in PCM combinationwhich was an all time record.

Thirteen students from AEJCBombay, and two each fromHyderabad and Narora passed thejoint enterance examination 1988and many secured admissions inprofessional courses.

Class X student AEJC Bombaywas selected at the National Ex-amination organised by theNational Board of HigherMathematics of DAE in Septem-ber, 1988.

In the National Standard Ex-amination in Physics, three AECSstudents were among the top 1 %of the achievers.

An orientation programme forstudents to prepare them for thevarious medical entrance examina-tions was conducted in AEJCBombay in collaboration with theIndian Medicos Amity of New De-lhi. In all the schools of AEES, co-curricular activities and competi-tions were organised. A numberof students successfully partici-pated in the U.N. InformationTest, All India General KnowledgeTest, Inter AECS — G. K. Quiz Con-test, Elementary and Intermedi-ate Grade Drawing Examinationand others. Students also took-part in the All India Science Festiv-al. Many of the students wonprizes from various organisations.

AEES schools did well in ensur-ing maximum participation of thestudents in various sports andgames and athletic meets. Manystudents excelled in zonal, stateand national level in various gamesand sports. Cadets from variousschools participated in the Repub-lic Day Camp, All-India TrekkingCamp, National Integration Campand Annual Training Camp orga-nised at different places and wonlaurels at state and national level.An Enrichment Camp for selectedclass IX students was held inBombay for the first time.

In-service 3-week courses in va-rious subjects for primary andsecondary teachers were con-ducted at Jaduguda, Narora,Rawatbhata, Hyderabad andBombay.

The Principal is a recepient ofthe National Award as an out-standing teacher for the year1988.

Reservation in Services forSCs/STs.

During the year ending 1989, theDepartment undertook specialdrive to ensure the effective im-plementation of the Governmentpolicy on reservation in servicesfor SC/STs and to ensure theappointments of members be-longing to the SC/STs communi-ties to the reserved posts. Thetotal number of SCs/STsappointed in various constituentunits/PSUs and aided institutionsof the Department stood at

10,305 as on 31.12.89. The impactof the drive can be assessed fromthe following figures:

Group Group Group GroupA B C D

SC 26 35 201 30ST 8 9 86 36

Inspection of rosters was car-ried out by the Liaison Officers forSC/ST and suitable steps weretaken, wherever necessary.

75 Officials belonging to SC/STcommunities were deputed forappreciation/orientation coursesduring the year 1989.

Also 69 SC/ST Officials belong-ing to Group C and' D were givenin-service training.

Appointment of minorities

208 persons belonging to minoritycommunities were appointed toGroup C&D posts in the Depart-ment including the organisationsunder its control.

Reservation in services for Physi-cally Handicapped persons and Ex-Servicemen

As on 31 December, 1989, thetotal number of physically hand-icapped persons employed in theconstituents units/PSUs/aided in-stitutions under the Departmentstood at 389. Similarly, the totalrepresentation of Ex-Servicemenas on 31.12.89 is 1,386.

Co-operative Canteens

The Employees' Co-operative can-teens functioning in the DAE Un-its/PSUs continued to provide sub-sidised food to employees. Thetotal subsidy paid to the canteensduring the year was Rs.1,57,72,090/-.

6.7

ABBREVIATIONSAERB:Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

AMD:Atomic Minerals Division

BAROBhabha Atomic Research Centre

BHEL:Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited

CAT: Centre for Advanced Technology

COGEMA:Compagnie Generale Des Matieres Nucleaires

DAE:Department of Atomic Energy

DMRL:Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory

DPS:Directorate of Purchase & Stores

DRDL: Defence Research Development Laboratory

ECIL: Electronics Corporation of India Limited

FBTR:Fast Breeder Test Reactor

GSI:Geological Survey of India

HWP: Heavy Water Project

HARL-.High Altitude Research Laboratory

HCL: Hindustan Copper Limited

IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency

IGCAR: Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

IRE: Indian Rare Earths Limited

ISRO: Indian Space Research Organisation

KAPP: Kakrapar Atomic Power Project

KARP:Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant

KRlBHCO-.Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited

MAPS: Madras Atomic Power Station

MECL:Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited

NAPPiNarora Atomic Power Project

NFC: Nuclear Fuel Complex

NFL:National Fertilizer Limited

NLONeyveli Lignite Corporation

NPC: Nuclear Power Corporation

NRL: Nuclear Research Laboratory

ONGOOil & Natural Gas Commission

OSCOM:Orissa Sands Complex

PREFRE:Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant

RAPS: Rajasthan Atomic Power Station

RCF:Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers

RMC: Radiation Medicine Centre

SINP:Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

TAPS:Tarapur Atomic Power Station

TIFR:Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

TMC:Tata Memorial Centre

UCIL:Uranium Corporation of India Limited

VECC: Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

Miscellaneous

AGSM: Airborne Gammaray Spectrometric

and Magnetic Surveys

Cum: Cubic metre

CVL: Copper Vapour Laser

EB: Electron Beam

IHX: Intermediate Heat Exchanger

MEI: Mechanical Engineering Inspection

MHD: Magnetohydrodynamics

Te: Tonne

MWe:Magawatt Electrical

MWt: Megawatt Thermal

PFBR:Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

PHT:Primary Heat Transport

PHWR: Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor

QCl.Quality Control Inspection

RIA: Radioimmunoassay

TG: Turbine Generator

Tc: Critical Temperature Cfor superconductors

Minister of State (S & T)

Nuclear Power Corporation

Tarapur AtomicPower Station

Rajasthan AtomicPower Station

Madras AtomicPower Station

Narora AtomicPower Project

Kakrapar AtomicPower Project

Kaiga AtomicPower Project

Tarapur AtomicPower Project 3 & 4

500 MWe

Rajasthan AtomicPower Project 3 & 4

235 MWe

Rajasthan AtomicPower Project 5,6,7,8

500 MWe

Kudankulam AtomicPower Project2 x 1000 MWe

Future Power Projects

Prime Minister

Department of AtomicEnergy

Atomic MineralsDivision

Atomic EnergyCommission

Atomic EnergyRegulatory Board

Directorate ofPurchase & Stores

Other General Services

Nuclear FuelComplex

Heavy Water Projects

Nangal

Baroda

Talcher

Tuticorin

Kota

Thai

Manuguru

Hazira

Future HeavyWater Projects

Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre

Indira Gandhi Centrefor Atomic Research

Centre for |Advanced Technology!

Indian RareEarths Ltd

Uranium Corporationof India Ltd

Electronics Corporationof India Ltd

Board of Radiationand Isotope Technology

Aided Institutions

Tata Institute ofFundamental Research

Tata MemorialCentre

Saha Institute ofNuclear Physics

Institute of PhysicsBhubaneswar

Atomic EnergyEducation Society

Atomic EnergyEstablishments

in India

sElD•m

Atomic Minerals Division

Nuclear Fuel Complex

Heavy Water Plant

Atomic Power Station

Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant

Waste Immobilization Plant

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre

Seismic Station

Nuclear Research Laboratory

High Altitude Research Laboratory

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Centre tor Advanced Technology

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

Tata Memorial Centre

Institute of Physics

Electronics Corporation of India Ltd

Uranium Corporation of India Ltd

OSCOM

Rare Earths Plant

Mineral Sands

Published by R.K. Bhatnagar. Scientific Officer. SE (Publications). Department of Atomic Energy. Government of India, Anushakti Bhavan, CSM Marg, Bombay-400 039, and printed at Sudershan Art PrintingPress. Bombav-31.

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Chhatrapur

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