Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is one of India's premier nuclear research centres. It is the second largest establishment of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), next to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), located at Kalpakkam, 80 km south of Chennai, India. It was established in 1971 as an exclusive centre dedicated to the pursuit of fast reactor science and technology, due to the vision of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Originally, it was called as Reactor Research Centre (RRC). It was renamed as Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) by the then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi in December 1985. The centre is engaged in broad-based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering directed towards the development of Fast Breeder Reactor technology, in India.

Established

1971

Research type

Nuclear research centre

Budget

₹8,450 million (US$120 million) per annum

Field of research

Atomic Energy, Material

research

Atomic Energy, Material Physics, Nano-Sciences, Electronics and Instrumentation, Reactor Engineering, Metallurgy

Director

A. K. Bhaduri

Staff

2511

Location

Kalpakkam , Tamil Nadu , India

ZIP code

603102

Operating agency

Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India

Website

www.igcar.gov.in  

Abstract 

The present study evaluates the research publication trend among scientists of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research during the period 1989-2013. Data were analyzed based on type of publication, year of publication, language, source, country, institutions, most preferred journals and most prolific authors among other variables. The study revealed that majority (96.26%) of the researchers preferred to publish their research papers in joint authorship only and the degree of author collaboration ranges from 0.84 to 0.99 and its mean value is 0.95. It also revealed that IGCAR scientists preferred to publish their work in the Journal of Nuclear Materials and Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals. The top three collaborative institutions with IGCAR are Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai and Anna University, Chennai. Keywords: Research Productivity, Degree of Collaboration, RGR & Dt, Scientometric, and Pattern of Co-authorship and Scientometrics 

 Introduction 

 Scientometrics is the study of the quantitative aspects of science as a discipline or economic activity. It is part of the sociology of science and has application to science policy-making. It involves quantitative studies of scientific activities including among others, publication and so overlaps bibliometrics to some extent (Tague, 1992)1 . Research publications are clearly one of the quantitative measures for the basic research activity in a country. It must be added, however, that what excites the common man, as well as the scientific community, are the peaks of scientific and technological achievement, not just the statistics on publications (Chidambaram, 2005)2 . Scientometric evaluation is one of the key components of any research and development activities. This study mainly focused on scientometric indicators that are used to evaluate the research publication trend among the scientists of IGCAR. It examines the research output, authorship trend and Institutional collaboration, country-wise distribution, core periodicals and author productivity and so on. 

IGCAR  

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research [IGCAR], the second largest establishment of the Department of Atomic Energy next to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, was set up at Kalpakkam, in 1971. The main objective of conducting broad based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced Engineering, directed towards the development of sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactor [FBR] technology, in India. In addition, it is a part of the second stage of Indian Atomic Energy Programme, which is aimed at preparing the country for utilization of the extensive Thorium reserves and providing means to meet the large demands of electrical energy in 21st century. Over the years, the centre has established comprehensive research and development facilities and has developed a strong base in a variety of disciplines related to the advanced technology. The institute having collaborations with educational and R & D institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Pilani, Regional Engineering Colleges, National Research Laboratories, Public Units and Institutes abroad. IGCAR provides modern library services and it comprises 62,000 volumes of books, 28,400 back volumes, about 785 journals and 1.95 lakhs reports in all disciplines caters to the technical needs of the scientists and engineers 

History

 The fast reactor related research in India, originated at BARC, Mumbai. Later, RRC was established at Kalpakkam with the same mandate. The Central Workshop, Safety Research Laboratory and Materials Sciences Laboratory were constructed in 1975–1976. Soon, the Radio-Chemistry Lab and Electronics and Instrumentation Lab were constructed.

The centre houses a Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), which attained its first criticality in October 1985.

A few years later, in 1994, SQUID, ASIC and Diamond Anvil Cells were developed. In the same year, High-Power Physics and Engineering Experiments were undertaken in the FBTR.

In 1996, KAMINI reactor reached criticality. State-of-the-art Neutronic Channels were commissioned for FBTR in 1999.

A Boron-Enrichment Plant was commissioned in April 2001.

A BARC Training School was started in 2006. In 2009, FBTR was operated at a maximum power level of 18.6 MWt with 55 sub-assemblies for 1732 hours. 

 Commercial reactors

Main article: Madras Atomic Power Station

The facility houses two PHWR that generate 220MWe each that operate for commercial purposes. These are managed independently by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India