May 20,2025: Recipient of the prestigious civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, veteran nuclear scientist M R Srinivasan, dies at 95
At 95, he was fit and active enough to be re-inducted as member of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) earlier this year. But age finally caught up with M R Srinivasan on Tuesday.
Among the first generation of nuclear technologists in India, Srinivasan was one of the key people who built the country’s nuclear power programme. Joining the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1955 at the age of 25, Srinivasan rose to become its Chairman in 1987 and also headed the AEC. A mechanical engineer, his most important contribution was in the refinement and adaptation of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, which went on to become the backbone of nuclear power in India.
President Droupadi Murmu expressed grief and said, “Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr M R Srinivasan whose contribution to India’s nuclear energy development program has been extraordinary. His contribution to India’s energy security and scientific development will always be remembered. His legacy will continue to inspire future generations of engineers and scientists.”
Condoling the passing of “a stalwart of India’s nuclear energy programme”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “His instrumental role in developing critical nuclear infrastructure has been foundational to our being self-reliant in the energy sector. He is remembered for his inspiring leadership of the Atomic Energy Commission. India will always be grateful to him for advancing scientific progress and mentoring many young scientists.”
Srinivasan was part of the team that built Apsara, India’s first research reactor in the 1950s, and was involved with every nuclear power plant built thereafter.
“If I have to identify one person who has been the most influential in guiding India’s nuclear power sector, it will have to be Dr Srinivasan. He was one of the early pioneers, and remained active till his last,” Anil Kakodkar, one of his successors as Chairman of DAE and AEC, said.
Kakodkar said Srinivasan used to regularly attend the meetings of AEC and other places where he was invited. “He was amazingly active, and interested in nuclear issues. Of course, you cannot defeat age,” he said.
Srinivasan had become the head of the Nuclear Energy Board in 1984. The Board managed and operated all nuclear power plants before it was transformed into the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) in 1987. Srinivasan was the obvious choice for the position of its founder-director.
“The nuclear power stations now operating at Kalpakkam, Rawatbhata, Kaiga, Kakrapar, and Narora are all shining testimonies to his yeoman contributions to nation-building,” former Union minister Jairam Ramesh said.
“Picked by Homi Bhabha himself, he played a pivotal role in the setting up of India’s very first nuclear power plant at Tarapur in the late 60s. Later he led the team that established India’s extensive nuclear power complex at Kalpakkam. It was under his inspiring leadership that India resolutely and successfully withstood the withdrawal of Canadian association after India’s nuclear test of May 1974,” he said.
CM M K Stalin said Srinivasan was “a pillar of India’s atomic energy programme” who was a “true nation builder”.
Srinivasan was one of the first from his generation to initiate public engagement on nuclear energy and write in newspapers, and spoke in public, something that his colleagues in the nuclear establishment at that time were reluctant to do.
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