President’s Swiss visit to improve access to nuke tech

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar is slated to fly in to Geneva on May 25 to join the President during his visit to CERN. He will finalise a statement of intent that will create access to the kind of high technology experiments that India cannot afford.

CERN is not new to Indian scientists as there have been interactions in the past. However, it was not until recently that India was accorded observer status by CERN. ‘‘This is a recognition of our capabilities because observer status has been given to countries like US, Russia and Japan,’’ Kakodkar said.

This paved way for Indian participation in one of the most advanced particle accelerators ever built, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an effort to ‘‘probe deeper into matter than ever before’’. Kakodkar said such projects were expensive one and presented an unique opportunity to Indian scientists.

The statement of intent that will be agreed upon during the President’s visit will start the process for Indian participation in the upgraded version of the LHC, slated for completion by 2007.

‘‘Also, we will look to get more of our scientists involved in other CERN projects,’’ said Kakodkar.