A nuclear scientist who advocated disarmament

Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan, who dedicated his entire life to India's nuclear programme, was in many ways an odd man out in the country's nuclear establishment.

- DEVANGSHU DATTA

Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan, who dedicated his entire life to India's nuclear programme, was in many ways an odd man out in the country's nuclear establishment. He was an advocate of nuclear disarmament and focused on the peaceful use of nuclear power at a time when the popular view among the "hawks" was that India should build a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.

Srinivasan, who died on Tuesday aged 95, was only 25 when he started to work with Homi Bhabha, the father of India's nuclear programme. A mechanical engineer by background, with a doctorate in gas turbine technology, he helped to design India's first nuclear assets, playing a crucial role in building the country's first nuclear research reactor, Apsara, which achieved criticality in August 1956.