Indian nuclear scientist Homi Sethna dead (Lead)
September 6th, 2010 - 11:19 pm ICT by IANSMumbai, Sep 6 (IANS) Renowned nuclear technocrat and scientist Homi N. Sethna died at his home here late Sunday, official sources said Monday.
A former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Sethna was 86. He is survived by a daughter Meher Dadabhoy and son Rustam.
Sethna, ailing for some time, breathed his last at his Malabar Hill residence. His funeral will take place Tuesday at the Doongerwadi Tower of Silence.
An eminent chemical engineer, Sethna made vital contributions to nuclear materials development and production over the entire nuclear fuel cycle.
After obtaining his B.SC (Tech) from the Department of Chemical Technology of Bombay University in 1944, he did his masters from University of Michigan in 1946.
He returned to India in 1949 and joined the AEC after working with Imperial Chemical Industries in the United Kingdom.
His first assignment was the construction of a plant for the extraction of rare earths from Kerala in 1952, followed by a plant for producing pure thorium nitrate at Trombay in 1955. The commissioning of the uranium metal plant in 1959 and plutonium plant in 1964 at Trombay and Jaduguda uranium mill in 1966 were very creditable achievements that followed in quick succession.
Sethna was the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) during 1966-72, when the plan for the construction of India’s largest research reactor, Dhruva was conceived.
During his tenure as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (1972-83), the nuclear experiment at Pokhran was successful carried out May 1974 in the Rajasthan desert. Sethna steered the country’s atomic energy programme through the difficult period of late 1970s and early 1980s.
Decorated with the second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, Sethna later served the corporate world as director with several companies including the Tata Group.
- Indian nuclear scientist Homi Sethna dead - Sep 06, 2010
- Prithviraj Chavan condoles passing away of Homi Nusserwanji Sethna - Sep 07, 2010
- President, Prime Minister condole passing away of Dr. Homi Sethna - Sep 07, 2010
- New AEC chairman Sinha expert on n-reactor technology (Profile) - Apr 30, 2012
- Nuclear scientist P.K. Iyengar dead (Lead) - Dec 21, 2011
- India to phase out Cirus nuke research reactor soon - Dec 01, 2010
- India aims at over 50,000 MW of nuclear power by 2030 - Aug 25, 2011
- PM unveils new Power Reactor Reprocessing Plant - Jan 07, 2011
- President, PM condole Homi Sethna's death (Second Lead) - Sep 07, 2010
- PM condoles Homi Sethna's death - Sep 07, 2010
- PM to launch fuel reprocessing plant - Jan 05, 2011
- Manmohan Singh dedicates Tarapur reprocessing plant to nation - Jan 07, 2011
- Did Bhabha accelerate China's nuclear ambitions? (Lead) - Feb 25, 2009
- Did Bhabha trigger off China's nuclear ambitions? - Feb 25, 2009
- R.K. Sinha takes over as new AEC chairman, DAE secretary - Apr 30, 2012
Tags: atomic energy commission, atomic research centre, bhabha atomic research centre, bombay university, chemical engineer, dadabhoy, imperial chemical industries, malabar hill, nuclear experiment, nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear scientist, plutonium plant, rajasthan desert, research reactor, tata group, thorium nitrate, tower of silence, uranium metal, uranium mill, vital contributions