The role played by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in renewable energy came in for praise, as the 48th foundation day of the Centre was celebrated Tuesday.

Paying rich encomiums to the IGCAR, located at Kalpakkam about 70 km from here, former principal scientific advisor R Chidambaram described it as the pride of the country.

He emphasised the role played by the centre in renewable energy.

The centre, the second largest R&D (research and development) unit of the government's Department of Atomic Energy, was set up in 1971, an IGCAR release said.

A grand ceremony was held as part of the celebrations.

Chidambaram presided over the event.

Awards were distributed to research scholars and post graduate students who brought out exceptional theses on the day, while DAE Secretary K N Vyas inaugurated the 50th campaign of CORAL facility, it said.

Compact Reprocessing of Advanced nuclear fuels in Lead shielded facility - CORAL is a facility to reprocess spent fuel from Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), the release said.

The centre was set up with the main objective of conducting multi-disciplinary scientific research and advanced engineering for the development of sodium-cooled Fast Breeder Reactor [FBR] technology in India, it added.

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