R Chidambaram, architect of India's nuclear weapons programme passes away

New Delhi/Mumbai: Rajagopala Chidambaram, the architect of India's nuclear weapons programme who played a key role in the atomic tests at Pokhran in 1974 and 1998, passed away in Mumbai on Saturday morning. He was 88. 

A world-class physicist and an astute science administrator, Chidambaram made legendary contributions to the field of nuclear physics and introduced innovative technologies to empower communities in rural India.

Chidambaram joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1962 and became its director in 1990. In 1993, he headed the country's nuclear programme as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), a post he held until 2000.

After retirement, he was appointed the principal scientific advisor (PSA) to the Government of India in 2001, a post he held until 2018. He also served as chairman of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (1994-1995).

As PSA, Chidambaram steered India's forays into nano-electronics, implemented the National Knowledge Network, and set up Rural Technology Action Groups (RuTAG) to find rural applications for advanced technologies.

Chidambaram will be best known for his contributions to India's nuclear weapons programme, with which he had been associated since 1967 when peaceful nuclear explosion technology was much talked about globally.

As part of Operation Smiling Buddha (the 1974 nuclear tests), Chidambaram was known to have personally brought the plutonium from Mumbai to Pokhran in Rajasthan.

He famously donned army fatigues along with the then Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman APJ Abdul Kalam in 1998 while working on the Pokhran-II tests, dubbed Operation Shakti.

Born on November 12, 1936, in Chennai, Chidambaram did his initial schooling at the Sanatan Dharam High School in Meerut. From eighth standard onwards, he studied at the P S High School in Mylapore in Chennai and graduated from the Presidency College.

Chidambaram did his postgraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. He was honoured with prestigious accolades, including the Padma Shri in 1975 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1999. 

He is survived by his wife, Chella, and daughters, Nirmala and Nithya.