Science TechnologyRise of Dravidian rule

Reactor Research Centre set up at Kalpakkam

· Kalpakkam

An order by Vikram Sarabhai set up the Reactor Research Centre at Kalpakkam, which later became the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.

Vikram Sarabhai, as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, created the Reactor Research Centre through an executive order on 30 April 1971. Sited at Kalpakkam, some 80 km south of Madras, it was meant to develop fast breeder reactor technology for the second stage of the national nuclear power programme. Since 1985 it has carried the name Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research. Among establishments of the Department of Atomic Energy, it grew to be the second largest.

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