3Pf7i -, c o 3 - ;Tr,~? -~ ogDepartment of Atornmc Energy

Golden JubileeYearAugust 2003-August2004

ISSN 0972-5741

Technical Articles

IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR

INSIDE THE NEWSLETTER

On-power frictional forcemeasurement of ControlRods In FBTR

Post-irradiation examinationof FBTR Carbide fuel, fuelpins and clad tube after aburn-up of 100 GWd/t

Real time computer systemsfor Safety relatedapplications in PFBR

* In-house development ofComputerized Work OrdersManagement

System (CWMS) at CentralWorkshop (CWS)

Highlights of Symposia/Seminar/Conferences

The 17th National and 6thISHMT-ASME Heat & MassTransfer Conference(January 5-7, 2004)

DAE-BRNS NationalSymposium on NuclearInstrumentation (February17-20, 2004)

* National Science DayCelebration

IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR

CAR IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR IGCAR IGCARINDIRA GANDHI CENTRE FOR ATOMIC RESEARCH

http ://www.igcar .ernet.in/lis/nl60/igc6O .pd f

Fromthe Director's Desk

NEWSLETTER

50 YEARS OFDEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

Volume 60APRIL 2004

The Department of Atomic Energy is celebrating its Golden Jubilee yearfrom August 2003 to August 2004 . Incidentally, this coincides with the 50years of declaration of the "atoms for peace" in the United Nations. Dr.Homi Bhabha envisaged the use of nuclear energy for peaceful applicationsmuch before this declaration was made. In his letter to Sir Dorab TataTrust, he wrote in 1944 when nuclearenergyhas been successfullyappliedforpowerproduction in say, a couple ofdecades from now, India willnothave to look abroad for its experts but will find them ready at hand. Thenuclear energy programme in India has grownwith many constraints viz.,lack of adequate infrastructure for mega science and hitech projects, lackof indigenous availability of special materials, inadequacy of Indianindustries to manufacture nuclear components to stringent specifications,government procedures for contracting and manpower management,isolation from the rest of the world on political grounds, small size ofreactors, unreliable electrical grids and low grade limited uranium reserves .Even proper roads were not existing at that time for transporting the largeand heavy components . The power programme started with the threeimported reactors - two BWR and one PHWR. The fourth half-constructedreactor had been completed indigenously with some delays .

Inadequateproduction of heavy water was also an important reason for the initialdelays . The capacity factors were initially low. Lack of adequate fundsand embargo on the import of equipment also resulted in lower growth ofpower programme. India has crossed all the above barriers one by one.

IGC Newsletter

Behind these successes, there wereproblems of cost and time overrun.The performance of the NuclearPower Corporation of India Limitedin operating the reactors during thelast 5 to 6 years is excellent. Theyare on the top of many countries.This success is the joint effort of theR&D units, NPC, Heavy WaterBoard, NFC, UCIL and mostimportantly the Indian industries . Itis a matter of pride that India isoperating successfully fourteenreactors at present at high capacityfactors. Construction of nine reactorsis in progress, the highest numberof reactors being built today by anycountry in the world. This goes toshow the maturity of the Indiannuclear power programme. This is

coinciding with acknowledgement ofimportance of nuclear energy in thecountry's energy fabric . At present,there is not only good support withinthe country but the expectations arealso rising.

The second stage of the nuclearpower programme i.e . usingplutonium and uranium in fastbreeder reactors has started in a bigway, with the financial approval ofthe 500 MWe Prototype Fast BreederReactor accorded in September2003 .Prior to this, fifteen years ofsuccessful operating experience hasbeen gained on FBTR,using sodiumas coolant and an unique carbidefuel . The experience is veryencouraging.

2

The fuel cycle facilities need toimprove their performances and alsoshould be augmented, in order tomeet the requirement of nuclearpower programme. This is a veryimportant technology . India haslong experience in reprocessing,starting with the plutonium plant,commissioned in 1965 . The growthof the nuclear powerwill depend onthe front end and back end of thefuel cycle. Reprocessing of theirradiated fuels and radioactivewaste management are the keys tothe success of the nuclear powerprogramme in India.

S. B. ehole(Director)

Dr. Baldev Raj assumesresponsibilities as Director, IndiraGandhi Centre for AtomicResearch, Kalpakkam, when thecountry is launching a large energyprogramme based on Fast BreederReactors . The Centre is the secondlargest R&D Centre of theDepartment of Atomic Energywith a mission programme todevelop a robust science-based

Press Releases

technology for Fast Breeder Reactorsand the associated reprocessingtechnology . The Centre pursuesbasic research in a few select areaswith the objective of leadership andexcellence .

Dr. Baldev Raj is well known for hiscontributions to nondestructive

evaluation, materials developmentand performance, reactor technologyand associated fuel cycletechnologies . He joined theDepartment in 1969 in the Training

School of Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre and moved to Kalpakkam,the then Reactor Research Centre inJune 1974 . He is a graduate ofRavishankar University, Raipur and

did his Ph.D in interdisciplinary areaof Materials Science & AerospaceEngineering from Indian Institute ofScience, Bangalore. Dr. Baldev Rajis a prolific researcher, who, has 550publications in leading national andinternational journals and editedvolumes. He has written 9 books

and edited 17 books. He has also

15 patents to his credit . Dr . BaldevRaj is a Fellow of the IndianNational Academyof Engineering,Indian Academy of Sciences,Bangalore, The National Academy

of Sciences, Allahabad, Tamil NaduAcademy of Sciences . He has beenhonoured with many awardsincluding NDT Man of the Year,National Metallurgist, G.D. Birla

Gold Medal and VASVIK award.He has been the Past-President ofInternational Committee on NDT,

the prestigeous world body thatsteers the programmes of

professional NDT societies ofvarious countries. His otherinterests include holistic education,

heritage, philosophy and religion.

Dr . Baldev Raj brings with him a

vast and rich experience of pursing

and managing advanced research

and development for the fast

reactor programme.

On-Power Frictional Force MeasurementofControl Rods in FBTR

Six control rods (CR) containingneutron-absorbing material namelyboron carbide form the shut downdevice of FBTR . They are also usedto regulate the reactor power. TheCR moves inside individual outersheaths, which are locatedsymmetrically in the grid plate. EachCR is guided at three locations insidethe outer sheath . The diametricalclearance between outer sheath andCR at the foot location is very small(0 .2 mm max) to maintain verticality.Two gripper fingers, which arelocated at the bottom of the lowermobile part of the control rod drivemechanism (CRDM), hold the CRfirmly . The vertical up and downmovement (total travel 450 mm) ofCR is obtained by means of areversible motor through a gear trainand a nut and screw arrangement inCRDM. (Fig1) . CRDM is in two partsviz . upper and lower. While theupper part containing the motor,brake and instrumentation is locatedat -1100 mm level on top of controlplug, the lower mobile part extendsbelow -1100 mm level and dipsbelow sodium level. Thus the entireassembly is subjected to atemperature gradient from ambient(< 60 °C) at -1100 mm level to coreoutlet sodium temperature ( 520 °C)

The CRDM have two safetyfunctions to perform viz. rapiddropping of the mobile part holdingthe CR to bottom limit within 500ms during a scram order andsimultaneous lowering of all the CRto bottom limit by drive motorduring an order for LOR (loweringof rods). When the reactor is onpower and there is no demand forany safety action, one CR is operatedby manual raise / lower commandfor burn-up compensation

During reactor operation both CRand its outer sheath swell due toneutron irradiation resulting indecrease in diametrical clearance.Coupled with temperature gradientand grid plate shift, this results in

increased friction . It is essential toensure that the friction does nothamper the safety and powerregulating functions of CRDM. Straingauges fixed on CRDM upper partprovide load signals for friction forcemeasurement. During shutdown,friction force (1717) is measured byraising one CR at a time to 450 mmand lowering it back to 0 mm.Though friction force measurementduring reactor shutdown facilitatesmeasurement over the entire rangeof travel, it does not simulate alloperating conditions . Hence, frictionforce has to be measured duringreactor operation as well . Thismeasurement, however, cannot bedone for the entire range of travelwhen the reactor is operating .During on-power friction forcemeasurement, it is essential to ensurethat reactor power does not vary.Hence it is requiredto raise one controlrod and lower theother simul-taneously to thesame extent. But asper the designintent, provisionexists to raise orlower only one CRat a time thusnecessitating logicmodifications .Hence extensivelogic modificationswere done tofacilitate selectionand operation oftwo CR ensuringthat only one ofthem can be raisedand the otherlowered simul-taneously for thepurpose of CRexercise . Themodifications wereengineered such thatthe procedure andinterlocks fornormal operation

IGCNewsletter

are not affected and also that thereis no scope for human error. Mostimportantly, it has also been ensuredthat all the safety functions and theinterlocks are available during thecourse of the exercise also . Themodification involved provision ofadditional push button station forselection of CR and additional logiccircuitry to facilitate the test whenauthorized through a keyswitch andproviding the required inputsnamely, CR selected for raise / loweroperations and their position to thefriction force measurement system(FFMS) .

A PC based Data acquisition systemhas been commissioned for thecomputation of friction force bothduring shutdown and reactoroperation. Six CR position signals,six load signals from the straingauges and a signal from anResistance Temperature Detector(RTD) fixed near the upper part tocompensate for variation of straingauge signal due to change in

~'JTROL ROD

Fig . 1 : Control Rod Drive Mechanism

1GC Newsletter

CMYNvL

4

3

c0v

0

Fig . 2 : Block diagram of frictional force measurement system (FFMS)

55 75 95 105

Fig . 4

The indigenously developed mixedcarbide fuel (70% PuC, 30% UC), theMark-I driver fuel of Fast BreederTest Reactor (FBTR) has successfullycrossed a burn-up of 120 GWd/twithout any failure. Periodic PostIrradiation Examination (PIE) andperformance assessments carried outon irradiated fuel subassemblies(FSA) after various levels of burn-up have played a significant role inthe progressive enhancement of the

361 363 365 367

Position (mm)Fig . 3 : Position vs . Frictional Force during Reactor operation .

125 145 165 185 205 225 245 265 285 305 325 345

Position (mm)Position vs . Frictional Force during Shutdown .

365 385 405

Post Irradiation ExaminationofFast Breeder Test Reactor FuelSubassembly andfuel pins after aburn-up of 100 GWd/t

performance of this unique fuel . Thisarticle briefly explains the salientresults of PIE carried out in the hotcells of Radiometallurgy Laboratory(RML) on an FSA that has crossed aburn-up of 100 Gwd/t.

Visual examination indicated thesurface of the FSA to be in very goodcondition. There was no observableabnormalities, scratches, dents,peeling of chrome plating on thebutton etc. Dimensional measure-

4

ambient temperature are wired tothe FFMS. The strain gauge signalsare connected to the data acquisitionsystem of FFMS, through alowlevelamplifier and a signal conditioner asshown in Fig 2. The CR selectioncontacts, raise and lower switchesare wired as digital signals to FFMS.

FFMS calculates the friction forcefrom the lifting force data storedduring raising (LFR) and lowering(LF L) of the CR vide equationFF = MFR -LFR) / 2. The differencein position of any two CR cannot bemore than 20 mm during reactoroperation to respect pre-alert alarmof LOR on CR level discordance.Hence CRs are exercised in theregime of operating height ofCR ± 10 mm to obtain friction forceduring reactor operation. The CRsare exercised in pairs by raisingoneCR and lowering the othersimultaneously in the operatingregime and the power variation wasless than 10 kWt. The on-powerexercising of CR is done once in afortnight to ensure operability of theCR.

The system was commissioned inSeptember 2003 and the frictionalforce values were found to be lessthan 4 kg . Typical graphs of frictionmeasurement of CR during reactoroperation and shutdown are givenin Fig.3 and 4 respectively

(C. Gowri, K. Vinolio, V. Ramanathan,S. Usha, M. Subramaniam and

V. S Krlshnamacharl)

ments of FSA were carried out toevaluate the irradiation inducedincrease in dimensions like thewidth-across-flats and corner-to-corner-distance etc. of the hexagonalwrapper. Fig.1 shows the graphsshowing variation of thesedimensions along the length of theFSA. These dimensions were seen tobe gradually increasing from theends towards the center of the fuelcolumn . A maximum increase of

Variation ofW idth-across-fiatalonq the ]engh ofFSA for three orientations

50 .4

50 .3

50 .2

50 .1

50

49 .9

49 B

49 .7

Fuelce~m~

0

200 400 600

800

!! axm um in-aae " 0 .34 m m

-O S-16-31

-0~nt.(5-2)

1000 1200 1400 1600

D Satan- from the footend ofthe FS A

O _-A-11

-Oppeilfi t

-LOV eIIm t

A

Da

B

8

u

57 .6

57 .5

57 .4

A 57 .3 -A 57 2

57 .1

57

56 .9 . .

0 200

Variation ofcornerbo cornerdistance forthree orientations

Fualcenmr a>,rmn ~emmr

1400

600

800 i 1 1000

1200

M axis um increase = 029Distance from the footand ofthe FS A

1400 1600

-OrientQF-C 1 -o-Orient (1-D 1 -A.-Orient (E -B ) -UpperLin it -LoaerLin it

Fig.1 : Variation of width-across-flats and corner-to-corner distance of hexagonalwrapper along the length of FSA

about 0.7% was observed in thewidth-across-flat and 0.5% in thecorner-to-corner distance. Head-to-foot misalignment of the FSA wasfound to be 4.3mm . No significantincrease was noticed in the length ofthe FSA. The observed changes indimensions are not likely to hamperfuel-handling operations in thereactor.

The fuel pins extracted from the FSAwas found to be in very goodcondition. Fig. 2 shows a photographof the fuel pinbundle . Dimensionalmeasurements on nine selected fuelpins, which lie along a diagonal ofthe fuel pin bundle in the FSA, werecarried out using a speciallydesigned bench and a lengthmeasurement set up. The length ofthe fuel pins has undergone amaximum increase of 0.4%. Diameterof the fuel pins has increased in thefuel region, with maximumoccurring at the center of the fuelcolumn . The increase in diametervaried from pin to pin andmaximum increase was 1.6% . Thisincrease is caused by both creep andswelling on the clad tubes.

Eddy Current (EC) testing of the fuelpins did not reveal any significantdefects on the clad tubes. X-radiographic examination revealedthat the pellet-to-pellet gap andpellet-to-clad gap have closed at thecentral region of the fuel column.

The fuel pellet stack lengths wereseen to have increased from theoriginal values . The increase rangedfrom 1 to 2.6% with an average of1.73% . This increase when comparedwith the results of earlier PIEcarriedout on FSA after 25 to 50 GWd/tburn-up is seen to be linear as afunction of burn-up.

The percentages of fission gasreleased to the plenum estimatedindependently at RML & Radio-chemistry Laboratory (RCL) bypuncturing and analysis indicatedthat the maximum gas release is only14%, which is less than anticipated. .

Mechanical property evaluation ofclad tube indicated that the uniformelongation of the clad is around 3 %at 430 C, the estimated nominal mid-wall operating temperature of thefuel pin clad .

Metallographic examinations carriedout on fuel pins indicated that thefuel-clad gap has closed at the centerof the fuel column . The pattern offuel cracking has been found tochange from radial to circumferentialafter 100 GWd/t burn-up, indicatingthat radial cracks are gettingannealed due to fuel-clad-mechanical-interaction (FCMI) . Nosignificant clad carburization hasbeen observed where the fuel hascome in contact with the clad. Fig. 3shows a comparison of

Fig .2 : Photograph of fuel pin bundle

25 GWd/t

50 GWd/t

IGCNewsletter

Fig .3 : Comparison of metallographicimages of fuel pin cross sections at themiddle of the fuel column after 25, 50

and 100 GWd/t burn-up

IGCNewsletter

metallographic images of fuel pincross sections examinedprogressively after 25, 50 and 100GWd/t burn-up.

The void swelling of the clad tube atthe centre of the fuel column, wherethe dpa is estimated to be highest (-70 dpa) was evaluated from theremote density measurementscarried out on specimens from themiddle and end of the fuel pins. The

Real Time Computer Systems for SafetyCritical & Safety RelatedApplications in PFBRThe PFBR, the first of many fastbreeder reactors to be set up hasbeen designed with emphasis onSafety and Electronics Division isresponsible for all the Safety Criticalsystems except Neutronic & Sodiuminstrumentation, Safety relatedsystems and Systems not related tosafety . The safety systems that areresponsible for the primary safety ofthe reactor are all hard wiredsystems except the CoreTemperature Monitoring System,which is based on triplicated realtime computer systems. The twologic systems that initiate safetyaction to shutdown the reactor underemergency conditions are based ondiverse design and technologies toeliminate common cause errors .

The safety systems are backed up bysafety related systems to ensure thesafe operation of the reactor andconsist of the following:

Alarm generation systemDiscordance supervision systemReactor Start-up systemTransfer Arm Control systemCSRDM Control systemDSRDM Control system &Distributed Digital Control

swelling induced reduction indensity was seen to be of the orderof 4.3%.

The PIE results indicate that ingeneral the fuel has performed well .The clad tubes still have residualductility of the order of 3%. Theswelling of the clad accounts for themajor portion of the increase indiameter observed on the fuel pins .

System.

These systems, which are essentialfor the safe operation of reactor, havebeen designed in a fault-tolerantmanner with two computer systemsand switchover logic . TheDistributed Digital Control system isa network of computers physicallyand logically distributed across theentire plant and interconnected by adual Fibre optic Local Area Network.Separate data highways areprovided for Safety Critical andSafety related signals . Thisdistribution has reduced the cablingcost to a great extent . Nearly 20,000signals from the plant are processed,stored and analysed on thiscomputer system thus enabling theoperators and designers to access theplant data in any permutation andcombination.

The computer systems to be used inthese applications have beendesigned and built indigenously andsubjected to harsh environmentaltests to ensure maximum reliability .While the reliability of hardware canbe analysed, predicted anddemonstrated, software reliabilitycannot be quantified. However,following engineering practices such

Swelling of the fuel with resultantexhaustion of porosities, FCMI andthe reduction in ductility of the cladwill be the detrimental factorsgoverning further enhancement ofburn-up of the fuel.

Contributed by Post-lrradiatlonExamination in-service Inspection,

Remote handling & Robotics Section(PlR) Section

as Verification & Validation canensure it . The codes set by AERB arestrictly followed for both hardwareand software design .VME (Versa Module European)computer bus, a proven bus systemfor real time applications has beenchosen for the applications and anew generation of hardware hasbeen designed as follows:

68020 based Central ProcessorUnit card with salient featureslike Error Detection &Correction logic for memoryand on-line testable watchdogtimer

(ii) 42 Channel Analog input card(iii) 32 Channel Digital input card(iv) Digital output board(v) Analog output board

6

(vi) Synchro to Digital Connectorboard

All these boards have been designedusing Very Large Scale IntegratedCircuits to reduce component countand interconnections to offer highreliability. The designs have beensimulated, verified and prototypeboards made for detailed testing andevaluation . Figure 1 shows thePhotographs of some of the boardsthat were developed.

(Contributed byElectronics Division)

Fig . 1 : WE Bus compatible boards (a) CPU board ; (b) Relay output board ; (C) Synchro to Digital converter board

In-house development ofComputerisedWork ordersManagement System (CWMS) by Central Workshop (CWS)

A number of Work Orders (WOs) arereceived by CWS regularly from variousdivisions of this Centre. The jobs coveredby these work orders involve machining,fabrication and inspection . Between thereceipt of WOs from Sections/Divisions/Groups and the delivery of completedjobs to the end-user, a number of stagesare involved as given below :

Detailedprocess sheetdescribing (a) theprocesses involved (b) the sequence ofthe processes (c) the machine and theoperator needed for each process and(d) time duration, is prepared byplanning section of CWS. Since thesework orders have to be completed usingthe fixed resources (man & machine)available in the shop, a detailedresources loading chart has to beprepared depending on the priority ofactivities of various WOs and timeduration for each of the activity and themachines involved . Wherever aparticular machine or particular type ofoperator is over loaded, we have toresort to "leveling " the resources so thatthe total time duration is stretchedproportionately . In a mass productionshop where the same sequence isfollowed for long period these loadingcharts can be prepared manually .However, the nature of each WOreceived in CWS is very unique with

respect to dimensions and profilesinvolved . There fore it is necessary toprepare the resources loading chart foreach WO as and when received .Considering the variety of machinesinvolved in many of these work ordersand the large number of work orders tobe handled, it is practically impossibleto prepare or update such machineloading chart manually for each workorder. Thus difficulties were experiencedin arriving at the scheduled start andfinish dates of these work orders .

An analysis carried out on the aboveissues pointed to practical limitation inthe preparation of schedule andresources loading sheets by manualmethods . Updating these documentsbased on the revised status of activitieswas practically impossible. Therefore itwas felt that computerization of theabove activities is the only practicalsolution for the problem .

The requirement for developing acomputer programme for the abovenature of activities could not bestraightaway fitted into any of theavailable packages . The closest packageavailable for the same was MSP projectsoftware, which was available in CWS.Significant efforts were put in-house forthe development of the aboveprogramme in MS Project software. After

HIGHLIGHTS OF SYMPOSIA/SEMINARS/CONFERENCES

The 17th National and 6th ISHMTASME Heat &Mass Transfer Conference (January 5-7, 2004)

The 17" National and 6" ISHMT-ASMEHeat & Mass Transfer Conference washeld at the Convention Centre,Anupuram, during 5-7, January 2004.Shri S.B . Bhoje, Director, IGCARpresided over the inaugural session . Hebrought out the complex thermalhydraulics phenomena in fast breederreactors and the challenges faced innormal and accidental situations . Heemphasized on the inputs obtainedthrough large interactions witheducational institutions and R&Dinstitutions within the country for thePrototype Fast Breeder Reactor . Dr. AnilKakodkar, Chairman, AEC andSecretary, DAE, in his inaugural addressindicated the important role the biannualconferences of Heat & Mass Transferhave played in bringing together theacademic and R&D institutions .

Indicating the strong interests of DAEin this area, he mentioned about thechallenges faced in understanding thethermal hydraulics of the pressurizedheavy water reactors. He also mentionedareas where integral approach wasdifficult and solution by parts had to beresorted to . He also brought out thedesire of the Department to go in for700 MWe PHWR with the present designof 540 MWe PHWRs but by allowinglittle boiling in the core . He made amention about the Advanced HeavyWater Reactor (AHWR) where thenormal circulation through the core isby thermosyphon . He also brieflytouched upon the program of thedepartment with respect to AcceleratorDriven System (ADS), where one has toface high energy density removal andcompact high temperature reactors .

IGC Newsletter

a number of trials and corrections, aworking programme was developed .The same has also been implementedwith effect from 1" M'Y 2003 . As a resultof the successful implementation of theabove programme, the following detailsare readily available now with respectto various WOs.

a) Detailed schedule for each WO up tothe latest one . b) The loading chart foreach resource available . (This has helpedin locating the resources, which areoverloaded, and action taken foroutsourcing .) c) A variety of reports aremade available which help in reviewingthe progress achieved and takingcorrective measures to minimize delays .d) Communication with user section atvarious stages has become very effective.e) The jobs, which are to be loaded foreach machine by the workshop foremen,are easily available to them in the formof sequential loading chart and not leftto any random decision .

In short, the whole process of planningand execution of various Work Ordershave become very user-friendly andeffective due to the development andimplementation of the computerized WOscheduling system .

(M. Krishnamoorthy,R. S. Raghavendran and

M. A . K. lyer)

The Conference comprised of 2 plenarytalks, 18 keynote lectures and 164contributed papers . The talks coveredMicro / Nano fluidics, wall functionapproaches for turbulent flow, advancesin Numerical heat transfer, Heat transferin thermal spray cratings, Measurementof thermo-physical properties bynoncontact methods, Heat transfer in fastreactors, Simulation of laser and electricbeam Melting problem and Heat pipes .

200 delegates out of whom 28 were fromabroad attended the Conference . Thedeliberations provided a goodinteraction with the Heat & MassTransfer Community . This was the firstConference held at Convention Centre,Anupuram .

The delegates felt that the Conferencevenue along with SRI Guest houseprovided an ideal environment and werein praise for all arrangements and timelycompletion of all technical sessions .

(G. Vaidyanothan, M. Ro/on andS. C.Chetal)

IGC Newsletter

DAE - BRNS National Symposium on NuclearInstrumentation - 2004 (NSNI- 2004)

February 17-20,2004The Electronic Divisions of BARC &IGCAR jointly organized a NationalSymposium on Nuclear Instrumentation(NSNI-2004) at Convention Centre,Anupuram from 17"' to 20` February2004 . Shri S . B . Bhoje, Director, IGCARinaugurated the symposium andemphasized the need for self-reliance innuclear instrumentation right fromsensor onwards . The function waspresided by Shri G . Govindarajan,Director A&M and E&I groups, BARC.Shri G . P. Shrivastava, Chairman &Managing Director of ECIL, Hyderabaddelivered the keynote address coveringthe entire spectrum of technical activitiesthat are provided by ECIL for nuclearreactors and ECIL's capability ofhandling latest technology to meet thediverse needs ranging from Safetysystems to Security systems .The response to the symposium wasoverwhelming with 23 invited talks, 60oral presentations and nearly 100 papersin poster sessions . Over 300 delegatesfrom Space, Defence, BARC, IGCAR,ECIL, BEL, DST, educational institutesand industry participated in thesymposium . The topics that were

covered are Programmable Logic design,Reactor Instrumentation, RadiationDetectors, Computers and Networks forNuclear Instruments and Bio-MedicalInstrumentation . An industrialexhibition was also arranged in whichten private firms participated along withECIL . IGCAR & BARC alsodemonstrated their products, developedin-house .A felicitation function was alsoorganized on the first day evening forShri G . Govindarajan, BARC and Dr.S.M . Lee, IGCAR on the eve of theirattaining the age of sixty and variousspeakers recalled the services renderedby them to the Department and theNation . On the second day evening, Dr.Mondal, TIFR gave a very informativeand interesting talk on "High energyphysics instrumentation" and a fewindustrial presentations were made onthe third day evening. The delegatesexpressed satisfaction with respect to thetechnical content and hospitalityarrangements of the symposium .

(B. Krishnakumar andS llangoSambasivan)

Inauguration ofVideo Conference FacilityA video conference facility, basedcameras, two 29" XGA Monitors, a

on Tanderg 2500 with two wide-angle viewDocument camera and a LCD projector, has

been installed atIGCAR . It is designedto enable four-partysimultaneous videoconferencing . ISDNconnectivity is used forinteracting withIndustries and V.35connectivity for otherDAE units throughANUNET This facilitywill enable morefrequent discussionswith various agencies

Shri R . Prabhakar, Director (Technical), BHAVINI, Shri like

manufacturers,S.B . Bhoje, Director, IGCAR, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman,

suppliers, consultantsAEC & Secretary, DAE and Shri S.C . Jain, CMD, NPCIL etc . during variousand other senior officials, during the inauguration of Video

stages

of

PFBRConference Facility.

construction and it willalso aid better communication among various DAE units . Dr. Anil Kakodkar,Chairman, AEC & Secretary, DAE has inaugurated the facility on February 28,2004.

National ScienceDay Celebrations

As part of the "National ScienceDay" celebrations and forencouraging scientific awareness inthe community, an essay and slogancompetitions were conducted for theSchool students ofThirukalikundram Taluk . Aroundone hundred students from thirteenschools participated in the function .The essay competition wasconducted at AECS School premisesat Anupuram on 13-03-2004 . Thiswas followed by a lecture on NuclearEnergy in Tamil by Dr. A. Natarajan,Head, RSD and prize distribution atthe Convention Centre, Anupuram .Library & Information Services andTamil Nadu Science Forum,Kalpakkam Chapter coordinated theprogram .

As part of the public awarenessprogram and to disseminate themessage of Atomic Energy amongthe professional students, a visit forstudents of AdiparashakthiEngineering College,Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu, wasarranged on 28-02-2004 . The studentswere given an introductory lectureon the activities of the Departmentof Atomic Energy with a specialemphasis on Fast Reactor program .Later they also visited FBTR.

(Reported by Shri M. Somasekharan)

Honourable Minister of State for AtomicEnergy, Govt. of India, Shri Satya Brata

Mookherjee visited IGCARand other DAE units at Kalpakkam on

January 31, 2004

Chairman, Editorial Committee : Dr. Baldev Raj, Advisory Members : Shri S.C . Chetal .Members : Dr. P.R . Vasudeva Rao, Dr. K . Govinda Rajan, Shri . V .S . Krishnamachari, Shri . M . Somasekharan and Dr G . Amarendra .Published by L&IS, IGCAR, Karpakkam