Prototype fast breeder reactor by 2001

To allay public fears about radiation hazards, people from Koodankulam were brought to Kalpakkam to show them how the local residents have been carrying on with their traditional fishing and other activities. Their environmental survey laboratory which presented periodical reports showed no sign of hazards of radioactivity around Kalpakkam, he said.

Former Atomic Energy Commission AEC chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Raja Ramanna said that now radio activity could be measured with great accuracy and it was possible to detect it to the minutest detail. 8220;Even though 15 years ago, I might not have said with so much confidence the need for nuclear energy, now I am very sure that nuclear energy is very important,8221; he said.

Former AEC chairman P K Iyengar reiterated the need for a national policy to induct more people into basic sciences research, stating that no attempt has been made on these lines at the national level. 8220;This society has become highly consumer-oriented. Just to make money, even the bright ones take soft options like computer science or management to atomic energy,8221; he said, pointing out that even if it was argued that the economy was getting better, it was an emphasis in the wrong direction.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre director Anil Kakodkar, speaking of decreasing numbers in basic sciences, said that out of 270 Master of Engineering students, 200 went into software. The needs in atomic energy and other areas were larger than the intake of around 140 scientists with physics or chemistry. They find it difficult even to compensate for the retiring scientists, he added.