BARC Has Led Training In India: Nuclear Engineer

Please trace the evolution of the scope of study of nuclear engineering in India.

The training school programme conducted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in the late ’50s, for which bright engineers and science graduates were recruited, formed the pillars of evolution of nuclear engineering in India.  Currently there are training schools located at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Indore, Kalpakkam and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd centers, which offer training in nuclear engineering.

What are the challenges facing the profession of nuclear engineering today? 
Some of the challenges which are facing the profession are:
.   Issues regarding safe disposal of nuclear wastes and spent fuel management.
.   Proliferation concerns with growing terrorism activities around the world.
.   Large capital investment for construction of new projects.

Please give us an insight into the research work being carried on in the field and how it might help the industry.
The current researches in the field are:
.   Management of water resources by desalination technologies using waste heat and reverse osmosis techniques.
.   Constructing mobile nuclear reactors using accelerator driven system technology for providing electricity to villages/ colonies and also for destruction of long
    lived nuclear wastes.
.   New reactor designs utilizing thorium-oxide as a fuel and reduction of U inv- entory so that generation of plutonium is reduced
.   Fusion technology for generation of energy
.   Medical radioisotopes production for treatment of diseases like cancer etc.