The Hindu Business Line : Make best use of thorium deposits, scientists told

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct. 25 The Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Dr S. Banerjee, has asked the scientific community to find ways of exploiting the natural resources available in Kerala for the larger benefit of the country.

Delivering his presidential address at the International Conference on Advanced Materials and Composites (ICAMC-2007) being organised here by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIST), he said that available resources of uranium were sufficient to produce an estimated 10,000 KW only.

This is too insignificant when considering the huge energy requirements of the country.

But India houses almost a third of the world’s thorium deposits, acclaimed as the best nuclear fuel of the future. The fast breeder reactors being developed by the country will convert non-fissile thorium to fissile uranium using the excess neutrons produced.

Once the country develops this capability indigenously, it will have made the biggest leap towards energy self-sufficiency, Dr Banerjee said.

Tech rejuvenation

Earlier, Prof K. Padmanabhan, Professor of Eminence, Anna University (former Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur), inaugurated the three-day seminar. He spoke about the need to rejuvenate old technologies and innovate anew to aid the development of the country.

Prof Padmanabhan observed that information technology would have a major role to play in the evolvement of new interdisciplinary subject, material informatics, dealing as it does with data mining, data processing and data storage related to materials science and technology.

Prof P.K. Rohatgi and Dr A. D. Damodaran, former directors of NIIST, extended felicitations.

Prof Rohatgi appreciated the efforts of NIIST scientists in the development of advanced materials such as light alloys, metal matrix composites, ceramics and polymers.

Dr Banerjee and Dr Padmanabhan jointly released the souvenir and conference proceedings.

Prof T. K. Chandrashekar, Director, NIIST, welcomed the invitees and delegates. Among others who spoke were Dr B.C. Pai, Senior Deputy Director, NIIST, and Dr U.T.S. Pillai.

More than 400 delegates from all over the world are attending the conference.

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