Debashish Sengupta

Biography

Professor, Geology and Geophysics, IIT, Kharagpur.

Research Interest

The Nuclear Geophysics Laboratory, is one of the state-of-art measurement Facility, equipped with Low Level Radioactive Counting, TL Dosimetry, Radon Measurements and REE earth studies. The major area of research interests of my research group are: Vehicle borne/hand held radiometric survey for uranium and thorium resource evaluation. Application of Radon-222 as a geophysical tracer for modelling of ‘NAPL Contamination’ and long distance migration within fractured media. ‘NORM’ Calculation and the effect of ‘TENR’, specifically in utilization of energy resources like shale gas and hydrofracking, radioactive waste disposal and nature of uranium tailings pond, suitable disposal of fly ash in the vicinity of thermal power plants. Non-invasive studies for subsurface lithological studies and its application including modelling of ‘Contaminant migration’. Thorium prospecting for rare earth resources and suitable methodology for its extraction from Monazites. Long Term Radiation Damage studies for design of Nuclear/Geological Waste Repository, specifically using naturally occurring minerals like zircons and monazites. As an alternative to reprocessing and to geologic disposal of the resultant nuclear waste, a process of partitioning and transmutation (P/T) is also being also studied. Role of Thorium Based Nuclear Reactors for indigenous Energy development. This is pertinent in view of the large availability of high grade thorium when compared to known uranium resources in India.