Mumbai, Nov 30 (IANS) Senior scientist Srikumar Banerjee Monday took over as the new chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, at a simple function here Monday evening. He was till now the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here.
Banerjee took over from Anil Kakodkar, who stepped down following the end of his extended tenure and a career spanning 45 years, according to an AEC spokesman.

An expert in materials science and technology in the country, Banerjee is credited with outstanding contributions to many materials related areas, both basic and applications oriented.

He obtained a B. Tech degree in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-K) in 1967 and then went through the BARC Training School.

He joined BARC’s erstwhile Metallurgy Division and has spent his entire scientific career in the centre. Based on his work at BARC in his early days IIT-K awarded him a doctorate in metallurgic engineering in 1974.

Besides publishing over 300 scientific papers in reputed national and international journals, Banerjee is credited with developing a novel fabrication schedule for the pressure tubes used in Indian pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR).

The winner of several national and international honours, Banerjee has traveled widely was conferred the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in 2005.

He was appointed the BARC director in April 2004.