Architect of civil nuke energy programme

DR M R Srinivasan, a key architect of India's civil nuclear energy programme and former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, passed away in Udhagamandalam on Tuesday. He was 95.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Chennai

A technocrat who combined engineering rigour with institution-building foresight, Srinivasan helped shape the country's atomic energy trajectory for over four decades.

A mechanical engineer, Srinivasan joined the nascent Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1955 and quickly became part of the core team working under Dr Homi J Bhabha, father of India's nuclear programme. Together, they helped develop Apsara, India's first nuclear research reactor, which attained criticality in 1956.