Around the time the India-US civil nuclear agreement was being hammered out, this writer was witness to an unusual incident, at a meeting organised by the Triplicane Cultural Academy, Chennai, on the agreement. Two tall individuals, both highly accomplished in their fields, got into a heated personal exchange on the dais, in full view of the audience. One was the celebrated bureaucrat, B S Raghavan; the other was Dr M R Srinivasan, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. The two had never met before. Raghavan was completely against the proposed agreement with the US, fearing “swarms of inspectors” from the US nosing around India’s nuclear power plants. Srinivasan, the principal speaker of the evening, on the other hand, was fully in favor of the agreement.
As Raghavan was speaking, Srinivasan fidgeted uneasily and smiled, as though saying, “oh, this man does not understand the nuclear deal”, but as Raghavan went on and on, Srinivasan got visibly angry and told the speaker to stop, and not to try to hijack the proceedings. Raghavan told Srinivasan that he was 80 and “standing next to God” and had no desire to hog the limelight and continued with his speech.
When Raghavan finished his speech and took his seat, Srinivasan gave him a friendly smile, shook hands with him and said, “we like to spar, don’t we?”
This incident gives a glimpse into the mind of Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan (and indeed of Bahukutumbi Srinivasa Raghavan) who breathed his last this morning, at the ripe age of 95. (Raghavan passed away last year.) Srinivasan, who was as affable as he was intensely intellectual, was not one given to impulsive fulminations, but he could not stand someone try to stop a development that he believed was in India’s favor. On that evening, his love for his country got the better of his cool.
Immense contributions
From the time Srinivasan joined the Department of Atomic Energy in 1955, as a young man of 25, armed with a fresh PhD in physics from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, till his technical superannuation as the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission in 1990, his contributions were everywhere in the nuclear energy space. He was, for instance, involved in the building India’s first nuclear reactor, Apsara. Though after his retirement, Srinivasan took up residence in the pristine hills of Ooty, Tamil Nadu, (where he continued to live till his passing today), he was actively involved in public life for many years, such as Member, (erstwhile) Planning Commission (1996-98) and Member, National Security Advisory Board (2002-04 and 2006-08).
Much of what we see in India’s nuclear energy sector today owes its existence to Srinivasan. Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas, another former Chairman of AEC, observes that Srinivasan contributed immensely to India’s nuclear energy program in its formative years, working alongside the legendary nuclear scientist, Dr Homi Bhabha. In 1974, Srinivasan was appointed as Director, Power Projects Engineering Division, Department of Atomic Energy; he successfully lobbied for converting the division into Nuclear Power Board, which later, in 1987, became the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, with Srinivasan as its Founder-Chairman. Vyas told businessline today Srinivasan was involved in thinking behind India and Russia for setting up nuclear power plants in India—the 2x1000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a result of that thinking.
Srinivasan is survived by his wife Geetha and their daughter, Sharada. Srinivasan, a recipient of several awards and honours, was recognised for his services by the government of India, which gave him the Padma Vibhushan award, the country’s second highest civilian award, in 2015.