At VECC, the Superconducting Cyclotron project made significant progress. The substructure work for the cyclotron building was completed and construction of the superstructure progressed. The superconducting coil-winding setup was installed and testing was done. Liquid helium plant was commissioned.

From the Variable Energy Cyclotron, energetic heavy ion beams were available for experiments.

Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) project of VECC made significant progress. ECR to RFQ beam line design was finalized and mechanical engineering design of the thick-target-surface-ioniser was undertaken.

CAT is engaged in developing synchrotron radiation sources Indus-1 and Indus-2, and accelerators for basic research, industrial and medical applications.

The Centre had earlier commissioned Indus-1 and installed two beam lines which were made available to researchers. Design of superconducting wiggler for Indus-1 was also completed. Construction of Indus-2 progressed as per schedule and the design of first beamline of Indus-2 was undertaken.

BARC continued with the testing of 500 keV accelerator, upgradation of KALI-5000 system, and setting up of an Electron Beam (EB) Centre at Kharghar, Navi Mumbai in collaboration with SAMEER. The EB Centre will be a commercial facility of electron beam irradiation.

Commissioning of the Folded Tandem Ion Accelerator (FOTIA) was successfully executed at BARC.

Heavy ion beams from the Pelletron Accelerator at TIFR were used in a variety of experiments in the nuclear and condensed matter physics.

CAT is involved in developing lasers for basic research, industrial and medical applications. The Centre has established a Prototype Unit for the manufacture and supply in limited numbers, of lasers and high-tech equipment developed here.

Subsystems of 20kW carbon dioxide laser were fabricated and their integration commenced at CAT. Assembly of the Nd:YAG laser continued. The development of terra-watt laser progressed as per schedule and development of regeneration amplifier and pulse selector system is nearing completion.

High quality large size crystals of KDP were grown by optimizing growth parameters.

At BARC, developmental work on EB welder, EB Evaporator, Plasma melter, Plasma RF reactor, Plasma microwave system, Laser RF CO2, Laser scan probe, Tunable femto- second dye Laser reached various stages of progress.

ANUPAM Supercomputer developed by BARC was under continuous upgradation. It provided a successful alternative to Cray-X-MP super computer at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Delhi.

For handling of radioactive components, IGCAR developed a remote controlled modular Power Manipulator (payload:25kg) with seven degrees of freedom; a wheel based mobile scanner (MOBSCAN) to automate the inspection of large plates, and a pneumatically operated, Wall Climbing Robot (pay-load:5kg), for the inspection of large vertical surfaces in the hazardous environment.

BARC contributed significantly towards the development of several control and instrumentation systems for the nuclear power plants. The systems developed included programmable digital comparator system, dual processor hot standby process control system, channel temperature monitoring system, on-power fuelling control system, supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA) and many others.

The 6300 cum /day Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant at Kalpakkam for demonstrating safe and economic production of potable water from sea water, made considerable progress.

A 40 cum/day Reverse Osmosis plant, for producing potable water, was installed at Trombay.

For production of demineralised water from sea water, the 30cum/day Desalination Plant , being set up at Trombay, gave satisfactory performance.

National Security

BARC continued implementation of necessary research and development as well as manufacturing activities to meet the national policy of credible minimum nuclear deterrence.

The TACTIC array at Mt. Abu, being built by BARC, will soon be ready for use. The design and development of MACE, BEST, MYSTIQUE telescope facilities have progressed.

Seismic monitoring and data processing facilities located at Mumbai, Gauribidanur and Delhi continued to function satisfactorily and upgradation of the facilities for improved sensitivity is progressing well.

Work on setting up the national facility for Superconductivity and Cryogenics at Trombay continued.

Facilities were established for carrying out bench and pilot scale studies on bene- ficiation of strategic and industrial minerals, expertise and facilities for carrying out petro-mineralogical and liberation studies of ores and their chemical analysis.

Methods were developed for the recovery of a rare element Protactinium from thorium concentrate and monazite. This element has an important role in thorium utilization.

Stable and continuous operation of a Pilot Plant for the manufacture of Sulphur Hexa Fluoride (SF6), was achieved at BARC.

At IGCAR, the mechanical properties of indigenously developed modified 9Cr-1Mo forging were characterised to assess its suitability for PFBR applications.