Ashley J. Tellis
Introduction
Ever since its independence in 1947, India has obsessively pursued the goal of domesticating high technology. After the Second World War, atomic energy came to symbolize the acme of scientific prowess. It is therefore not surprising that a country whose nationalist narrative held that Western technological superiority had ensured its colonial subjugation would want to master the most important scientific advances as a means of preserving its newly secured freedom.
The history of atomic energy in India, however, predates the country’s independence. Homi Bhabha, the visionary who founded India’s nuclear program, created the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in 1945 to pursue his myriad scientific interests, which included nurturing nuclear science to promote nuclear power production in India after it was freed from British rule.1 Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, knew Bhabha well and shared his belief that economic development required dramatically increased availability of electricity. Consistent with the common assumption then, that atomic energy would provide electricity plentifully and cheaply, Nehru created the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1948 to oversee India’s efforts to develop nuclear technology and govern its accompanying institutions.2 And in 1949, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research—the agency overseeing science and technology development within India—would designate the TIFR as the nodal center for all large-scale projects in nuclear research.3
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