Srinivasan was aware of the happenings in India’s neighborhood that dictated the bomb, but he was also keenly aware that a new country that did not have the resources and capabilities to develop needed power, energy, and electricity.
Published May 21, 2025 | 1:23 PM ⚊ Updated May 21, 2025 | 1:24 PM
MR Srinivasan (5 January 1930 - 20 May 2025)
Synopsis: Srinivasan grew up in and grasped the milieu that necessitated India’s nuclear bomb, but in hindsight, after Japan’s Fukushima disaster, he saw the point in Gandhian, pacifist inclinations, even though he insightfully translated the nuclear narrative into energy he felt was India’s pressing need well into its future
For understandable reasons, it is difficult for technical people, engineer-scientists, to understand geopolitics. But Malur Ramasamy Srinivasan — who passed away on Tuesday, 20 May, aged 95 — had that insight, owing to the context and the people he worked with and ideated.
MR Srinivasan was a mechanical engineer who studied gas turbine technology before Indian nuclear physicist Homi Jehangir Bhabha roped him into his team.
Bhabha was clear that India needed a nuclear bomb in the wake of Pakistan’s birth, the break-up of the sub-continent along religious lines, and China’s belligerence. Srinivasan could see and grasp that international politics was a determining factor in building India’s capabilities – in science in general and the nuclear world in particular.
Srinivasan was actively involved as Bhabha and his contemporaries pushed hard to build India’s nuclear bomb. From then on, Srinivasan was convinced that India must be a deterrent power. Interestingly, Srinivasan, who returned to the country after winning a Ph.D from McGill University in Canada, believed in the power of self-reliance.
India’s rise as a new country and Nehru’s inspirational persona, despite its many flaws, held sway over patriotic Indian thinkers.
Interestingly, Srinivasan returned when Bhabha supposedly spoke to Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrashekar about the need to cultivate an intense creative spirit in India.
“India needs to do a Paris or a Cambridge. Everything that is enervating there can and should be replicated here. We have a lot of good people, but there has to be an axis to bring them together, whether in basic research or applied,” Bhabha told Chandra.
“When we build a place where everyone works under the same roof, the benefits can be astounding, because we have talent. This could be in any domain, and particularly so in nuclear. If this applied to power production, we would no longer have to look abroad for expertise. We will have them right here,” he added.
This signalled Bhabha’s push for self-reliance, which inspired the early pioneers in nuclear and space research and application in India.
It is interesting to note that Srinivasan would naturally have taken to Bhabha’s nuclear ambitions, but he had his perspective. Srinivasan was aware of the happenings in India’s neighborhood that dictated the bomb, but he was also keenly aware that a new country that did not have the resources and capabilities to develop needed power, energy, and electricity.
Srinivasan eventually translated India’s physics talent into nuclear energy, which he felt would be central to India’s survival and eventual progress.
Meanwhile, he was also keenly observing Vikram Sarabhai’s dilemma. He recognised that Sarabhai at heart was a Gandhian, a pacifist, who was wary of the explosions, even if peaceful. But developments in Bangladesh brought pressure on Sarabhai, and India needed a few rockets to fire across the fence.
Sarabhai was in two minds, but is believed to have ordered the making of rockets.
“It is not clear whether Sarabhai completely said no to peaceful nuclear explosions, but he felt the need to order rockets. Sarabhai may or may not have changed, but he was caught in the bind and was perhaps less inclined to explosions even if peaceful,” Srinivasan is believed to have said.
Homi Sethna, the man who came in after Sarabhai, intensified the nuclear programme and set the stage for India’s first nuclear explosion.
How do you live life between a not entirely unjustified hardline stance and an accommodative, moderate outlook?
Apsara, India and Asia’s first nuclear plant. (Supplied)
Srinivasan saw both sides of the coin and, in the end, pioneered the development of nuclear energy, realising that perhaps India needed the bomb, but it needed energy as well. He was clear that solar and wind were good, but could not be scaled up to meet the requirements of a large population.
Only a source of energy that could be mass-produced could address the energy needs of a big country. That’s how a series of nuclear power stations came up during his time. But he was also clear that nuclear plants had to be built safely and exhibit reliability in safety terms.
During his time, conventional, large nuclear power stations came up, but now small, portable nuclear plants are coming up, drawing inspiration from the older models.
They are now called small modular reactors that generate nuclear electricity from a variety of locations. Indeed, spacecraft and satellites will be driven by nuclear power very soon. If 140 crore is the population, will solar, wind wings and hydro meet their needs? Is this scale feasible and possible? Srinivasan’s perspective is driven by scale while he is completely clear that there is no second opinion on safety of these systems.
It is believed that Srinivasan took stock of Japan’s Fukushima plant disaster and felt that contamination would not disappear for over a decade. He was naturally part of international energy agencies that sought establishment of safe and reliable nuclear systems.
This view corroborates with his philosophy of enjoying nature in its multiple forms. No wonder he loved butterflies, bees and wasps at Niligiris, where he chose to be one with nature — till he breathed his last on Tuesday.
“Some fifty years ago or so, any one going to the countryside would be greeted by hosts of bees, wasps, butterflies and other varied insect life. In the evening and night hours, the sight of glowworms whizzing past giving out streaks of light was a joy to behold,” he had said.
“The number of all these insects is going down with ever-increasing use of pesticides and other chemicals in our agricultural practices. The Niligiri Plateau offers an abode for a wide variety of butterflies. Our nature lovers should be enthused in the preservation of our wealth of butterflies. All living species are under threat due to population pressure and degradation of the environment and all enlightened people must join in the task of protection and preservation of our biological wealth and diversity,” he said.
It is also believed that Srinivasan critiqued environmentalists at a time when nuclear power was opposed. Srinivasan was aware of what a beautiful butterfly ecology meant, but he was also aware that the country needed energy that could be scaled only when sourced from a mass multiplier that could potentially upset the fragile ecology.
Srinivasan was a dreamer as well as a man given to practical proclivities. This would not have been easy. For the man who worked with Bhabha on India’s and Asia’s first nuclear plant, Apsara, and set the stage for 18 more.
(P Ramanujam is a science, space, and technology commentator. Views are personal. Edited by Majnu Babu).
