13 Facts About Sekhar Basu

Dr Sekhar Basu was an Indian nuclear scientist who served as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy.

Sekhar Basu served as the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the Project Director of Nuclear Submarine Program, and later as the Chief Executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board at Bhabha Atomic Research Center.

Sekhar Basu was a recipient of India's fourth highest civilian honor Padma Shri in 2014.

Sekhar Basu is credited for his efforts in building the nuclear reactor for India's first nuclear powered submarine INS Arihant, nuclear waste recycling plants in Tarapur and Kalpakkam, and the Indian Neutrino Observatory in Theni, Tamil Nadu.

Sekhar Basu attended Ballygunge Government High School, Kolkata, and graduated in mechanical engineering from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, University of Mumbai in 1974.

Sekhar Basu went on to work as a project director of the Nuclear Submarine program and as the chief executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board at BARC India.

Sekhar Basu further went on to become the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 2012 and was appointed the chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy in 2015, and served in this position through September 2018.

Sekhar Basu was involved in the design and building of reprocessing plants, fuel storage facilities, and nuclear waste treatment facilities at Trombay, Maharashtra, Tarapur, Maharashtra, and Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.

Sekhar Basu oversaw the launch of various projects at the Department of Atomic Energy, including the commercial power production of the second 1000MWe nuclear reactor at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, and construction of two further nuclear power plants, KKNPP Units 3 and 4, of the same capacity, starting in June 2017.

Sekhar Basu signed a MoU in April 2018, with the then US energy secretary Rick Perry to expand collaboration between India and the US in neutrino research paving the way for collaboration between the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility, Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in the US, and the India-based Neutrino Observatory in Theni, India.

Sekhar Basu was a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and the Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing.

Sekhar Basu died from COVID-19 in Kolkata on 24 September 2020, four days after his 68th birthday, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Sekhar Basu was suffering from kidney ailments at the time of his death.