Atoms for India

From Bhabha’s sketches in wartime Bombay to Kudankulam’s glowing domes, India’s atomic journey has embodied persistence, ingenuity and purpose.

India’s nuclear odyssey began with an idea of peace, not war. Whereas the West’s atomic pursuits in the mid-20th century were rooted in weapons, India’s pioneers saw in nuclear energy the promise of national progress. In 1944, Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme, had envisioned a self-reliant nation built on indigenous expertise. His conviction that India could master the atom on its own terms became the cornerstone of a strategy that has endured for eight decades.

Self-sufficiency

From the start, India chose the hard road of self-sufficiency across the nuclear fuel cycle, from mining uranium and designing reactors to reprocessing fuel and managing waste. It was a feat of resilience and innovation unmatched in the developing world. In 1945, Bhabha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India’s first nuclear research centre. As chairman of the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission in 1948, he charted an audacious course. While most nations pursued uranium-based systems, Bhabha conceived a three-stage plan to exploit India’s abundant thorium reserves by converting thorium into uranium for power generation and research. His vision rested on institutional strength and human capital. When he set up the Atomic Energy Establishment at Trombay in 1954, he was clear that India would one day need no foreign experts.

Bhabha’s sudden death in an air crash in 1966 might have derailed that vision. Instead, his successor, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, broadened it. He infused the atomic enterprise with a developmental ethos, harnessing advanced technology to solve real-world problems. Under his watch, the nuclear effort expanded to include applications in space, industry, medicine and agriculture. Centres like the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre reflected his philosophy of national relevance and pragmatism.

The institutional foundations for this vision took shape through the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), created in 1954 under the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure coordination and resource priority. It spawned key agencies: the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for research, the Atomic Minerals Directorate for exploration, the Nuclear Fuel Complex for fuel fabrication, the Heavy Water Board, and the Electronics Corporation of India Limited for instrumentation. Together, they anchored India’s nuclear independence and strategic autonomy.

Early milestone

India’s first major milestone came on August 4th, 1956, with the commissioning of APSARA - the first research reactor in Asia, designed and built indigenously. This was followed by CIRUS, a 40 MW reactor built with Canadian collaboration. These early successes laid the foundation for home-grown reactor design.

The commercial era began with the Tarapur Atomic Power Station in Maharashtra, commissioned in October 1969 with American assistance. Its twin 210 MW Boiling Water Reactors provided not only electricity but critical operational experience. Tarapur’s success paved the way for India’s own Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and the eventual expansion of a national nuclear power grid.

The geopolitical realities of the 1960s defined by China’s 1964 nuclear test and India’s wars with Pakistan, forced a shift from peaceful research to strategic capability. The 1974 Pokhran test, described as a ‘peaceful nuclear explosion,’ marked India’s entry into the nuclear weapons domain. It made India the world’s sixth nuclear-capable power, the first outside the UN Security Council’s permanent five. The backlash was immediate. The newly formed Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) cut off fuel and technology transfers, and existing agreements were cancelled.

Yet, adversity only deepened self-reliance. With limited help from France and the Soviet Union, India strengthened its domestic industry, refining the full fuel cycle and building indigenous reactors. Rejecting the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as discriminatory, India continued to engage the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under bilateral safeguards, championing disarmament while preserving its independence.

Strategic resolve

The 1998 Pokhran-II tests underlined India’s strategic resolve. Five underground detonations demonstrated mastery of fission and fusion, miniaturised warheads, and advanced weapon design. Sanctions followed swiftly: the United States froze $20 billion in aid and loans. India countered with diplomacy.

That responsibility and restraint laid the groundwork for India’s return to the global nuclear order. The turning point came in 2005 with the India–US Civil Nuclear Agreement, ratified with an NSG waiver in 2008. The deal required India to separate civilian and military facilities under IAEA oversight. In return, it lifted three decades of technological isolation and recognised India as a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology.

The agreement opened global supply chains from Russia and France, restored access to advanced technologies, and allowed participation in international projects like ITER and Generation-IV reactors. It also spurred domestic industry through technology transfers and the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Crucially, the deal preserved strategic autonomy by protecting India’s weapons programme even as it unlocked international cooperation. Similar agreements with France, Russia, Canada, and Australia followed. The NSG waiver made India the only nuclear-armed nation outside the NPT to enjoy such privileges.

The Indo–US pact also transformed the legal landscape. The 2009 IAEA safeguards agreement placed 35 civilian facilities under international monitoring, while the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act established a new framework for accountability. By 2025, reforms are being drafted to allow greater private and foreign participation in uranium mining, imports, and processing.

Today, India operates 22 reactors across seven sites in six states, with a total capacity of 6,780 MW. Major plants include Tarapur (1,400 MW), Kudankulam (2,000 MW), Rawatbhata (1,180 MW), and smaller units at Kakrapar, Kaiga, Kalpakkam, and Narora. Eight reactors totaling 6,000 MW are under construction, with a dozen more approved, targeting 22,480 MW by 2031–32.

Government backing remains robust. The 2025–26 Union Budget allocates Rs. 37,482.93 crore for the Viksit Bharat Nuclear Mission, Bharat Small Reactor programme, and public–private partnerships. Challenges like high costs, limited uranium, waste management and public scepticism persist, but the opportunities are vast: thorium-based reactors, small modular systems, expanded isotope applications, and nuclear technology exports.

Nuclear energy remains a quiet but strategic pillar of India’s march toward a $5-trillion economy and a net-zero future. Central to the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, the Nuclear Energy Mission aims for 100 GW capacity, indigenous reactor innovation, and export readiness. In mastering the atom, India mastered itself and continues to illuminate its path to power.

(The author is a Chartered Accountant with a leading company in Mumbai. Views personal.)