India's Nuclear Energy Programme

Nuclear energy is one of the most contentious areas of India’s technology policy today. This book contains state-of-the-art discussions, by top experts, of a whole range of diverse issues that constitute this complex subject. The topics discussed include public concerns, such as reactor safety and radiation hazards; technical issues, such as the use of breeder reactors and closed fuel cycles; and legal issues, such as the regulatory bodies, major legislative acts, international conventions, and rules. It brings together, for the first time, expert contributions both from apex leaders of the nuclear program and from those who have serious reservations about the program. Arguments both for and against nuclear energy are given, and matters are discussed in sufficient from contributors including Shree Kumar Apte, Srikumar Banerjee, S.A. Bhardwaj, P. Chellapandi, S.C. Chetal, Rajagopala Chidambaram, Surendra Gadekar , Sanghamitra D. Gadekar, Chaitanyamoy Ganguly, Ravi B. Grover, Frank von Hippel, P.C. Kesavan, Baldev Raj, R. Rajaraman, and R. Ramachandran.

R. Rajaraman is an emeritus professor of theoretical physics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is a cochair of the International Panel on Fissile Materials and the former vice president of the Indian National Science Academy. He has researched and taught theoretical physics at Cornell University, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, Harvard University, M.I.T, Stanford University, CERN, Delhi University, and the Indian Institute for Science.