Series 7: Artefacts

The NL Char Collection is a small donation consisting of a handful of letters, certificates, official documents, newspaper clippings, an essay, ephemera and artefacts that are arranged into the following series:

Series 1: Personal

Series 2: Administration

Series 3: Correspondence

Series 4: Writings

Series 5: Media coverage

Series 6: Ephemera

Series 7: Artefacts

Personal contains records of Char’s school and college education, as well as some information about subsequent training. It also includes a brief biodata prepared by Char as well as a detailed personnel form for the IAEA which includes details of Char’s roles and specific projects that he worked on in the course of his career. Given the limited amount of material in this collection and about NL Char generally in the public domain, this personnel form provides an interesting snapshot of Char’s work life. This series also includes ephemera such as a business card, id card and pension booklet. This series has no sub-series.

Correspondence contains letters exchanged about promotion, retirement, and invitations to the anniversary of the reactor he helped build at Kalpakkam. This series has no sub-series.

Administration contains memoranda related to appointment, promotion, and retirement. This series has no sub-series.

Writings contains an essay authored by Char about his role in India’s nuclear programme; it offers a broad view of the early years of India’s nuclear programme, mentioning colleagues and key figures. This series has no sub-series.

Media coverage contains two newspaper clippings in which Char is mentioned. This series has no sub-series.

Ephemera contains published material created by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam about the different aspects of the fast breeder test reactor (that Char played a pivotal role in building and operating), some of it commemorating anniversaries of the reactor’s commissioning. It also includes a 2006 paper about the functioning of the reactor authored by engineers at IGCAR. This series has no sub-series.

Artefacts contains two pewter medals commemorating 10 years of the Phénix reactor in the Rhone Valley, France. This series has no sub-series.