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The headquarters of the Atomic Energy Commission of India is at:
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Answer: Option B — Mumbai
Detailed Solution
The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of India has its headquarters in Mumbai, at Anushakti Bhavan.
About the Atomic Energy Commission:
It was first set up in August 1948 under the Department of Scientific Research, after the Atomic Energy Act, 1948 was passed.
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha was its first Chairman. He is called the "Father of the Indian Nuclear Programme".
In 1958, by a government resolution, it was given full executive and financial powers and placed under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which had been created in August 1954.
The DAE is directly under the Prime Minister.
The Secretary of the DAE is also the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The Commission formulates the policy of the DAE and prepares its budget.
India's three-stage nuclear power programme:
- It was formulated by Homi Bhabha in the 1950s to use India's limited uranium and large thorium reserves.
- Stage 1: Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) using natural uranium.
Stage 2: Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) using plutonium. The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam began core loading in 2024.
Stage 3: Thorium-based reactors.
Units under the DAE:
- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC): Trombay, Mumbai (1954 as AEET; renamed in 1967).
- Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR): Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu (1971).
- Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL): Mumbai (1987).
- Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research: Hyderabad.
- Nuclear Fuel Complex: Hyderabad.
- Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology: Indore.
- Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre: Kolkata.
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR): Mumbai (1945).
Regulator:
- Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB): set up in 1983; Mumbai.
- India's first nuclear reactor, "Apsara", started at Trombay on 4 August 1956; it was the first in Asia.
- India's first nuclear power station is at Tarapur, Maharashtra (1969).
- India conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran in 1974 ("Smiling Buddha") and 1998 ("Operation Shakti").
Why not the other options?
- ✗New Delhi has the offices of many ministries but not the AEC headquarters.
- ✗Kalpakkam has the IGCAR and the PFBR.
- ✗Hyderabad has the Nuclear Fuel Complex.
Quick tip
Remember: Atomic Energy Commission = Mumbai (1948; Homi Bhabha first Chairman; DAE created 1954, under the PM); BARC = Trombay; IGCAR = Kalpakkam; Apsara = 1956 (first in Asia); Tarapur = first nuclear power station.
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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.