As n-deal moves forward, scientists walk down nostalgia lane

New Delhi News.Net Thursday 24th July, 2008 (IANS) As India readies to seal the nuclear deal with the US to further consolidate its nuclear energy programme, a group of scientists here looked back nostalgically to the time the country indigenously developed its first reactor - using skid rollers to move heavy items and jacks and railway sleepers for lifting the heavy generator. But it was not always so. Celebrating the silver jubilee of the unit 1 of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam, 70 km from Chennai, Wednesday afternoon, the scientists shared their memories of the days when they worked under technological as well as monetary restrictions to launch the project. Recalled former station director M.H.P.Rao, 'We had to lift the generator weighing 186 tonnes. There were budgetary constraints for hiring a... [read full story]