Senior nuclear scientist Chandrashekhar Gaurinath Karhadkar has taken over as the director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam, near Chennai.

He succeeds B Venkatraman who retired from services, today, Thursday, May 31, according to a report by PTI.

Karhadkar, who graduated from the 31st batch of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Training School in Mumbai, joined the Reactor Operations Division of Reactor Group, an official release said.

As Director of the Reactor Group, Karhadkar was responsible for the overall Research Reactor Programme of BARC, including safe and efficient operation, utilisation, decommissioning, and planning for new research reactors at BARC.

He has worked extensively to improve the fuel performance of the Dhruva reactor which includes changing the material specifications, interacting with vendors to develop relevant material, and studying and improving the manufacturing processes.

Karhadkar has chaired several administrative, financial, technical, and regulatory committees.

He has been instrumental in reforming the procurement procedures, which has simplified the procurement process for the speedy execution of projects in BARC.