Neutron beam facilities at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Abstract

The Dhruva reactor at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, is, at present, India's highest flux reactor for Neutron Beam Research (NBR) and other applications. It is a 100 MW (th) natural-uranium fueled, heavy-water moderated, heavy-water reflected, and heavy-water-cooled thermal research reactor, providing a maximum thermal neutron flux of 1.8 × 10¹⁴ neutrons/cm²/sec. The design of the Dhruva reactor and its nuclear components is based on Indian know-how and technology. The reactor became fully operational in January 1988 (criticality in 1985). Until then the neutron scattering experiments at BARC were carried out at the CIRUS reactor with a flux of about one third that of Dhruva. The old neutron spectrometers at CIRUS have since been decommissioned and a new set of well-engineered computer-controlled spectrometers have been installed around the IShruva pile block and in the attached Neutron Guide Tube Laboratory. A program in condensed matter research is being pursued by BARC scientists using facilities at BARC and abroad. Scientists from national institutes and universities in India also carry out collaborative neutron scattering experiments at BARC [1] through a proposal-based scheme similar to those followed at other neutron scattering facilities.