Report of the National Symposium on Nuclear Energy-Its Generation and Applications
Day 1: 23|02|2023
The inaugural session commenced at 9.30 am at MCA hall, Union Christian college Aluva. The symposium was inaugurated by Dr.K.N Madhusoodanan, Vice chancellor, CUSAT. Dr.M.I Punnose.Principal, Union Christian College, Aluva presided over the inaugural function.Shri.M.Venkatachalam, Executive Director, NPCIL delivered the keynote address.
Session 1 started at 11.45 am. Dr.M.R Iyer, Head RSSD, IAEA (Retd), chaired the session. Shri.R.G Panicker, Rtd. Scientist was the co-chairman.
Dr.Arun Nayak, Head, Nuclear Control &Planning Wing, DAE spoke on “Climate change, clean energy transition, role of nuclear power &fear of radiation”. The talk focussed on possible energy demand of India by 2050.Dr.Nayak provided a historical review on radiation, nuclear reactor accidents, and radiation effects on the health of human beings, industrial conspiracies and fabrication of phobia against radiation. He concluded that nuclear energy replaces carbon – based energy sources as the clean and green energy source.
Shri.Martin Mascarenhas, Head of Laser & Plasma Technology Division, BARC talked about developing and deploying indigenous technology for industrial applications in BARC.He presented Beam technology development group of BARC’s contributions in producing radioisotopes and eco-friendly waste management.
After the lunch break, session 2 started under the chairmanship of Dr.Arun Nayak.Dr.M.P Rajan, Retd Scientist of DAE co-chaired the session.
Dr.K.Drisya, Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Calicut talked about Nucleosynthesis in low-mass stars: understanding the cosmic origin of heavy elements. The talk highlighted understanding the galactic chemical evolution(GCE) to obtain accurate abundances of chemical elements in stars and compared them with yield predictions from nucleosynthesis models.
Mr. Umed Yadav, Additional Chief Engineer, NPCIL, Mumbai discussed Understanding fear of unknowns- a nuclear energy perspective. The presentation summarized the basic understanding of nuclear technology, its safety aspects, and the associated topics on fear of radiation and loss of livelihood.
Dr. A. K. Rhine Kumar, Assistant Professor of Physics, CUSAT presented on an overview of Nuclear fusion reaction and its importance in nuclear power generation. He reviewed the physics of nuclear processes and the recent developments in nuclear energy generation.
A tea break followed the talk.
Session 3 started at 04.15 pm. Shri. Umed Yadav chaired the session while Dr. Krishna Prasad, Retd. Scientist, BARC co-chaired the session.
Mr.Satyawan Bansal, AERB, Mumbai discoursed Nuclear safety. He mentioned the principles of nuclear safety. He concluded that nuclear power plants are among the safest and most secure facilities in the world.
Shri M.R Iyer, Head RSSD, IAEA (Retd), shared the development of science in the early 20th century in India. The presentation enumerated the progress of education and science in India during the last two centuries.
Shri.G.D Mittal, Secretary, Indian Nuclear Society (INS) highlighted the achievements of INS over the past years. He shared his thoughts based on his life experiences. He encouraged the audience to follow the You Tube channel for more informative videos.
The meeting came to an end by 5.30 pm.Cultural activities of the students followed this.
Day 2: 24/02/2023
Day 2 started with session 4 at 9.30 am under the chairmanship of Shri.S Bansal, AERB, Vice President, INS.Dr.A.Venugopalan, Retd. Scientist BARC co-Chaired the session.
Dr.G.S Shagos of Aster Medcity, Kochi spoke on the title “Introduction to nuclear medicine imaging-what, how, when?” She discussed about nuclear medicine, a specialized branch of modern medicine. Over the past decade this branch of medicine progressed significantly with wide variety of radioactive tracers and new imaging machines.
Dr.Vijay Harish Somasundara, Senior Consultant, Nuclear Medicine & Molecular imaging, Rajagiri Hospital, Aluva talked on Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine: the use of radioisotopes for targeting diseases. He described the role of radioactive advents in the treatment of metastatic cancer.
G.Sugilal, Head, FRD, BARC discussed on Spinoff technologies of India Nuclear Power programme.He reminded that the production of medical isotopes, used for diagnosing and treating various diseases, has been a major spinoff of India’s nuclear power program. The talk concluded by demonstrating the versatility and potential of nuclear technology for the benefit of society.
Dr.Midhun C.V, Department of Physics, University of Calicut spoke on the Low energy nuclear Physics-highlights, hope and challenges. He argued that the low energy nuclear reactions are the most highlighted academic subject in Nuclear Physics as they reveal the true nature of nuclear force.
By 11.45 am the conference dispersed for a tea break.
Session 5 commenced at 12.05 pm.Shri.G.D Mittal, Secretary, INS was the session Chairman and Dr.K.K Surendranathan, Retd Scientist, BARC, the co-chairman.
Mr.Amritesh Srivastava, Dy.General Manager (Media), NPCIL spoke on Nuclear Power: an inevitable option for clean, green and safe generation of electricity. The presentation focused on how to make general people aware that nuclear power is a clean, green and safe source of energy. The presentation also emphasized ongoing and proposed innovative public awareness campaigns and media facilitation activities.
Dr.Susen Eapen, The former Senior Scientist, BARC, discussed nuclear technology for feeding the world. She showed that nuclear energy in agriculture has improved food crops and increased their shelf life.Dr.Susan pointed out that using radiation, BARC has released 55 varieties in oil seed crops, pulse crops, rice and jute grown throughout India.
Dr.Anilkumar, Associate Professor and Head of the department of Botany, UCC, Aluva, talked about the applications of radiation in biological research. He emphasized the application of radiation in different fields of science with particular reference to agriculture.
A lunch break followed the session.
Student’s session started around 02.15 pm under the chairmanship of Dr.Martin Mascarenhas, Head, L&PTD, BARC. Dr.Susen Eapen, Former Senior Scientist,BARC, Dr.K.K Surendranathan ,Retd Scientist,BARC co-chaired the meeting.07 students presented their studies on various fields of nuclear energy. The session concluded at 4.30 pm.
Valedictory ceremony and concluding session followed by this. Dr.Sreejith C.M, Controller of Examinations, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam was the Chief Guest. Rev.Thomas John, Manager, UCC addressed the gathering. The overall experience and feedback on symposium were shared by students representatives .The session came to an end by 6.00 pm.
Proceedings of symposium can be read at : Abstract-Book-Full-revised.pdf (62 downloads)
