Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan: A nuclear scientist who advocated disarmament

After the first peaceful nuclear explosion at Pokhran in 1974, Srinivasan was one of the small group of scientists and technocrats who ensured that the country's nuclear sector achieved self-reliance

Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan, who dedicated his entire life to India’s nuclear programme, was in many ways an odd man out in the country’s nuclear establishment. He was an advocate of nuclear disarmament and focused on the peaceful use of nuclear power at a time when the popular view among the “hawks” was that India should build a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent. 

Srinivasan, who died on Tuesday aged 95, was only 25 when he started to work with Homi Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme. A mechanical engineer by background, with a doctorate in gas turbine technology, he helped to design India’s first nuclear assets, playing a crucial role in building the country’s first nuclear research reactor, Apsara, which achieved criticality in August 1956. 

He spent his entire career in the nuclear power industry, working for the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for over five decades. Apart from Homi Bhabha, he worked with legends such as Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Sethna, Raja Ramanna, P K Iyengar, R Chidambaram and Anil Kakodkar. 

He served as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and DAE secretary, and was the founder-chairman of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. In essence, he was one of the architects of India’s civil nuclear programme, helping to set up most of the country’s nuclear power facilities and guiding their expansion. 

After the first “peaceful nuclear explosion” at Pokhran in 1974, India was going it alone, and Srinivasan was one of the small group of scientists and technocrats who ensured that the country’s nuclear sector achieved self-reliance, despite sanctions and the withdrawal of all external aid.  Functioning nuclear power stations at Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Rawatbhata (Rajasthan), Kaiga (Karnataka), Kakrapar (Gujarat), and Narora (Uttar Pradesh) bear testimony to his technical and organisational skills. 

He also had an international profile as a senior adviser at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna and was a founder member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators. He was a member of the Planning Commission, in charge of energy, and science & technology, as well as a member of the National Security Advisory Board for several years. 

Given the sanctions after Pokhran and India’s geopolitical compulsions, Srinivasan would have known his wishes on nuclear disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear power were a practical impossibility. But he focused on the task of ensuring that nuclear facilities were developed and worked efficiently and safely, while continuing to advocate disarmament. Post-retirement, he was also a champion of sundry environmental causes. 

His book, Fission to Fusion: The Story of India Atomic Energy Programme, is considered a great insider account of India’s nuclear energy programme, with its description of the five or so decades when he was intimately associated with it. 

Atomic energy pioneer 

*  1930s: Born in Bengaluru; completed schooling in Mysore; studied science with Sanskrit and English

*  1950: Graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bengaluru

*  1952–1954: Earned Master’s (1952) and PhD (1954) in engineering from McGill University, Montreal, specialising in gas turbine technology

*  1955: Joined Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in September. At age 25, worked under Homi Jehangir Bhabha on Apsara, India’s first nuclear research reactor, which went critical in 1956

*  1959: Appointed principal project engineer for the construction of India’s first atomic power station

*  1967: Promoted to chief project engineer, Madras Atomic Power Station, which was a major milestone in India’s nuclear energy generation efforts

*  1974: Named director, Power Projects Engineering Division, DAE

*  1984: Became chairman, Nuclear Power Board

*  1987: Appointed chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, and secretary, Department of Atomic Energy. Also became founding chairman, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. Led the expansion of India’s nuclear power infrastructure

*  1990–1992: Served as senior advisor, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna

*  1996–1998: Member, Planning Commission of India; oversaw energy and science & technology portfolios

*  2002–2004 & 2006–2008: Member, National Security Advisory Board

*  2002–2004: Chairman, Task Force on Higher Education, Karnataka government