The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) plans to set up the country's first ‘high energy' Synchrotron. A proposal in this regard is awaiting approval from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

Synchrotrons are particle accelerators that produce light beams which are used in basic and applied research in various fields including particle physics, condensed matter, chemistry, nanoscience and medicine.

The Rs 6,000-crore project is expected to be executed over a 10-year period during the 12th and 13th and will help in “energy harvesting” and other fields of medical science, Mr Milan Kumar Sanyal, Director, SINP, told newsmen at a press conference organised on the eve of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to the institute.

Currently, there are four-such Synchrotrons across the world include in the US, Germany, Japan and France.

According to Mr Sanyal, the Synchrotron will help produce beams of very small size (less than 50 nanometres) and high energy that will enable researchers to see the molecular structure of the material being scanned.

The institute is also holding discussions with the West Bengal Government for availability of land - nearly 200 acres - and uninterrupted power supply for the project.

Foreign Faculty

The director further added that attempts to appoint foreign nationals as faculty scholars were shot down after Government rules made it mandatory not to recruit non-Indians. The institute, he said, had issued advertisements “to attract talents from abroad” as faculty and research scholars.

“We are talking to the Government so see what can be done with regard to appointment of foreign scholars,” Mr Sanyal said, adding that a good number of Indians residing abroad have been appointed.

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