The Atomic Energy Commission was set up in August 1948 to look after atomic energy activities in the country. The functions of the Atomic Energy Commission are: (i) to organise research in atomic science in the country; (ii) to train, atomic scientists in the country; (iii) to promote nuclear research in commission's own laboratories as well as in India; (iv) to undertake prospecting of atomic minerals in India and to extract such minerals for use on industrial scale. It has five research centres viz.