Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan | |
|---|---|
_and_Member_Planning_Commission_and_presently_Member%2c_AEC%2c_Dr._M.R._Srinivasan_addressing_at_the_India_Power_Awards_2011_ceremony%2c_in_New_Delhi_on_November_24%2c_2011.jpg) Srinivasan speaking in 2011 | |
| Born | (1930-01-05)5 January 1930 |
| Died | 20 May 2025(2025-05-20) (aged 95) Udagamandalam, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Citizenship | India |
| Alma mater | University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering McGill University |
| Known for | Nuclear program of India Gas turbine |
| Children | Sharada Srinivasan (daughter) Raghuvir Srinivasan (son) |
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan (2015) Padma Shri (1984) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mechanical engineering |
| Institutions | Atomic Energy Commission of India Department of Atomic Energy International Atomic Energy Agency Planning Commission |
Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan (5 January 1930 – 20 May 2025) was an Indiannuclear scientist andmechanical engineer. He played a key role in the development ofIndia's nuclear power programme and the development of thePressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR). He received thePadma Vibhushan award in 2015.[1]
The third of eight siblings, Srinivasan was born inBangalore, on 5 January 1930.[2] He completed his schooling at the Intermediate College,Mysore in the science stream where he chose Sanskrit and English as his language for study. Despite physics being his first love, he joined the newly started engineering college (currentlyUVCE) by M.Visvesvaraya, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering[2] in 1950. He subsequently completed his master's in 1952 and was awarded a doctor of Philosophy degree in 1954 fromMcGill University, Montreal, Canada. His field of specialization was gas turbine technology.[3]
Srinivasan joined the Department of Atomic Energy in September 1955. He worked withHomi Bhabha on the construction of India's first nuclear research reactor,Apsara,[2] which wentcritical in August 1956. In August 1959, Srinivasan was appointed Principal Project Engineer in the construction of India's first atomic power station. Following this, in 1967, Srinivasan was appointed Chief Project Engineer at theMadras Atomic Power Station.[citation needed]
In 1974, Srinivasan was appointed Director, Power Projects Engineering Division,DAE and then Chairman, Nuclear Power Board,DAE in 1984. In these capacities, he was responsible for planning, execution, and operation, of all nuclear power projects in the country. In 1987, he was appointed chairman,Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary,Department of Atomic Energy,[4] with responsibility for all aspects of the Indian Nuclear Program. TheNuclear Power Corporation of India was created in September 1987, with Srinivasan as the Founder-Chairman. He was responsible for a total of 18 nuclear power units, of which seven are in operation, another seven under construction, and four still in the planning stages.
Srinivasan was a senior adviser at theInternational Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna from 1990 to 1992. He was a Member of thePlanning Commission,Government of India from 1996 to 1998, looking after the portfolios of Energy, and Science & Technology. He was a Member of India's National Security Advisory Board from 2002 to 2004 and again from 2006 to 2008. He was also Chairman, Task Force on Higher Education, Karnataka from 2002 to 2004. Srinivasan was Founder Member ofWorld Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO); Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering andInstitution of Engineers (India) and Emeritus Fellow of the Indian Nuclear Society.[5]
Srinivasan died on 20 May 2025, at the age of 95.[6]
