Atomic Energy Commission of India
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 March 1958 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | Indian government |
| Headquarters | Mumbai |
| Employees | Classified |
| Annual budget | Rs. 214.70 billion (FY 2009) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | http://www.aec.gov.in/ |
The Atomic Energy Commission is the governing body of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India. The DAE is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.
The Indian Atomic Energy Commission was set up on 3 August 1948 under the late Department of Scientific Research. A resolution passed by the Government of India later replaced the commission by "Atomic Energy Commission of India" on 1 March 1958 under the Department of Atomic Energy with more financial and executive powers.[2]
The functions of the Atomic Energy Commission are: (i) to organise research in atomic science in the country; (ii) to train, atomic scientists in the country; (iii) to promote nuclear research in commission's own laboratories as well as in India; (iv) to undertake prospecting of atomic minerals in India and to extract such minerals for use on industrial scale.
It has five research centres viz.
- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai
- Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu)
- Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore
- Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata
- Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), Hyderabad.
It also gives financial assistance to autonomous national institutes doing research in the field and has various other organisations under it.
History
List of Chairmen:
- Homi Bhabha (1948–1966)
- Vikram Sarabhai (1966–1971)
- H.N. Sethna (1972–1983)
- Raja Ramanna (1983–1987)
- M.R. Srinivasan (1987–1990)
- P.K. Iyengar (1990–1993)
- R. Chidambaram (1993–2000)
- Anil Kakodkar (2000–2009)
- Srikumar Banerjee (2009–2012)
- Ratan Kumar Sinha (2012–2015)
- Sekhar Basu (2015–2018)
- K.N. Vyas (2018-)