Even makers of reactor didn’t know about N-submarine

The secrecy attached to the development of the indigenous nuclear submarine project is almost legendary. What’s little known is the extent to which the Indian N-establishment went to conceal the research not only from the public but also large sections of the scientific community within the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
For nine years, most staff working at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam believed the plutonium recycle project (PRP) in the complex was used only for recycling plutonium. But with the launch of INS Arihant on July 25, top DAE officials have finally begun to lift the veil and reveal they were actually building the core (nuclear reactor and propulsion systems) of the submarine as well as the land-based version of the hull of the indigenous vessel, which served as the technology demonstrator of the main vessel, within the PRP unit. For those in the know, even the term ‘PRP’ denoted the N-sub.
Sunday marked the commemoration of the fifth year since the project attained criticality at the PRP site with a controlled N-chain reaction.
Ahead of a briefing by AEC chief Anil Kakodkar, a team of scientists escorted journalists around a gigantic, dark greycoloured hull of a submarine, which was the land-based version of the hull of Arihant. “It is a 1:1 model of the submersible. Everything was simulated here before being built on the main submarine at Vishakapatnam,’’ a scientist said. Work on the PRP site in Kalpakkam began only in 1999. But there was no official confirmation. Criticality was attained on November 11, 2003 with the land-based version running on a light water reactor, scientists said. But Arihant remained shrouded in mystery. Three years later, on September 22, ’06 when the reactor was operational and the propeller shaft was rolled with steam generated in its nuclear power pack, there was still silence. The first hints of the project’s success came only a year later on September 11, 2007, when former AEC chief P K Iyengar said at a public meeting, “Indian scientists are capable of making light water reactors. We are constructing one at Kalpakkam for a submarine.’’
Defending the need for stealth, an IGCAR official said, “We had to maintain so much secrecy as this was a project of high national security and we did not want other nations to know about this.’’ The project was developed by BARC, DAE, DRDO and the navy.


courtesy:Timesofindia