Eminent scientist R.K. Sinha Wednesday took over as director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) from Atomic Energy Commission chairman Srikumar Banerjee, an official said.

Sinha was director of the Reactor Design & Development Group and Design Manufacturing & Automation Group in the organisation. He took over from Banerjee at a small ceremony in BARC here in the afternoon. He was overseeing the programmes for new advanced reactors under design and development at BARC to utilise thorium. These include the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, which produces most of its power from thorium and encompasses several passive safety systems.

The reactor has been designed to be robust against equipment malfunction, human errors and even insider's malevolent acts, and other innovations under Sinha's guidance. These technological innovations would subsequently enable a large-scale deployment of such advanced nuclear power plants close to populated areas.

Outgoing director Banerjee has nearly four decades of research experience and is among the foremost experts in material science and technology areas in the country.