Railway
The Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) was the earlier name of:
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Answer: Option A — Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)
Detailed Solution
The Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) was set up on 3 January 1954 by the Government of India, under the leadership of Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the father of India's nuclear programme. It was located at Trombay, in Mumbai. After Dr Bhabha's death in an air crash on Mont Blanc in the Alps in January 1966, the establishment was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in his honour on 22 January 1967.
BARC is India's premier multidisciplinary nuclear research centre. It works under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which reports directly to the Prime Minister. Its activities include:
Designing and developing nuclear reactors and nuclear fuels.
Research in nuclear physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and engineering.
Producing radioisotopes for use in medicine (diagnosis and cancer treatment), agriculture (development of improved crop varieties through radiation-induced mutations) and industry.
Food irradiation technology to preserve food.
Developing water purification and desalination technologies.
Supporting India's strategic (defence) nuclear programme.
BARC operated Asia's first research reactor, APSARA, which became critical on 4 August 1956. Other research reactors at Trombay include CIRUS (1960), built with Canadian help, and DHRUVA (1985). The plutonium for India's first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974 ("Smiling Buddha") came from CIRUS.
Other important nuclear institutions in India:
- Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR): Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu (1971), for fast breeder reactors.
- Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT): Indore (1984), for lasers and accelerators.
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR): Mumbai (1945), founded by Homi Bhabha with support from the Tata Trusts.
- Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD): Hyderabad.
- Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL): Mumbai.
- Good to know
- IGCAR is at Kalpakkam and works on fast breeder reactors.
- TIFR was founded by Bhabha in 1945, separately from AEET.
- RRCAT is at Indore and works on lasers and accelerators.
Quick tip
Remember: AEET (1954) became BARC (1967) after Homi Bhabha's death; APSARA = Asia's first research reactor (1956); CIRUS (1960), DHRUVA (1985); IGCAR = Kalpakkam; TIFR = 1945.
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Scientific Research Institutes & Organisations — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Scientific Research Institutes & Organisations, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's scientific research institutes and organisations, such as BARC, ISRO, DRDO, CSIR and its laboratories, ICAR and ICMR, and specialised research centres for crops, animals, oceans and medicine, along with where they are located. Questions usually ask where an institute is located and what it researches. For example, BARC is in Mumbai, the Central Rice Research Institute is in Cuttack, and the National Institute of Oceanography is in Goa. A table of institute, city and field is the best way to revise this topic. Practise the research institutes questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.