NUCLEAR MILESTONES

1956 1 MWt (megawatt thermal) APSARA research reactor attains criticality

1973

The Canadian-built 100 MWe (megawatt electrical) heavy water reactor Rajasthan-1 begins operations at Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS)

1998

India conducts two rounds of nuclear weapon tests at Pokhran

1957

Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, set up; later renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

1960 40 MWt CIRUS reactor attains criticality and begins making weapons-grade plutonium

1974

India conducts an underground “peaceful nuclear explosion”, codenamed Smiling Buddha, at Pokhran, Rajasthan

1999

DRDO chief A.P.J. Abdul Kalam says “the Agni II (intermediate-range ballistic missile) is designed to carry a nuclear warhead if required” and claims that an Agni-class payload was tested during the nuclear test at Pokhran in 1998

1962

Heavy water production begins at Germanbuilt Nangal plant

1982

BARC’s Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant at Tarapur is commissioned

2015

DBT launches NBDS-II, a five-year programme to turn India into a biotech hub

1963

The US and India sign an accord stipulating that the former will supply enriched fuel to the Tarapur nuclear power plant

1985

The heavy water 100 MWt Dhruva reactor attains criticality and starts producing weapons-grade plutonium

2017

Government approves the construction of 10 700 MW heavy water reactors

1968

India refuses to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; Nuclear Fuel Complex set up in Hyderabad

1997

PM I.K. Gujral says India will not sign the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) or any other “discriminatory” nuclear agreement

2018

The International Panel on Fissile Material estimates that India has a net stockpile of 0.58 MT of weapons-grade plutonium, enough for 100-150 nuclear warheads