Veteran Scientist R Chidambaram, The Architect of India's Nuclear Programme Passes Away at 88
Dr R Chidambaram who served as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission breathed his last in Mumbai today.
Veteran Scientist R Chidambaram, The Architect of India's Nuclear Programme Passes Away at 88
Indian nuclear scientist Dr R Chidambaram passed away today at the age of 88 in Mumbai. He served as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India when the country carried out the crucial Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998.
Born in Chennai in 1936, Chidambaram went on to pursue B.Sc (Honours) in Madras University, thereby becoming the university topper later on. He also joined the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, in 1956 and completed his Masters after one year and went on to secure his Phd in 1961. Chidambaram said, “Many of my friends went to the US for post doctoral studies. I was however not interested in going abroad. Instead, I joined Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1962.” This is how India got one of its brightest minds.
Though Chidambaram is credited with Pokhran-II (India’s second nuclear tests, in May 1998), he was also instrumental in the 1974 Pokhran-I, for which he was awarded the Padma Shri award in 1975.
In a memoir Chidambaram wrote by giving a point-by-point response to doubts raised by Dr P K Iyengar, a former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and a few others by stating that, “It can be concluded that the May 1998 tests were fully successful in terms of achieving their scientific objects.”
Pokhran-II
After the successful completion of Pokhran-II tests in 1998, Chidambaram got an opportunity to meet Bill Richardson, the Energy Secretary of the US. During a conversation Richardson held Chidambaram by his shoulders and gave a friendly shake by saying, “Oh, you are Dr Chidambaram, who shook the whole world?” Chidambaram replied by saying, “Now you are the one who is shaking me who shook the whole world.”
An essay written by Dr S Kailas, the scientist-nephew of Chidambaram said that the Indian nuclear scientist “is a spiritual person and a follower of Kanchi and Shakatapuram Acharyas” and a “strong supporter of Bharatnatyam and carnatic music.”
