Chitra N
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
Kalpakkam
25
years of professional experience
1
Certification
Scientist with thorough background in scientific research and analysis. Known for delivering impactful results through meticulous experimentation and data interpretation. Highly focused on team collaboration and adapting to evolving project requirements, showcasing strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Work History
Scientific Officer /F
13 Years 9 Months- Environmental radioactivity measurements, Research activities in Radon and thoron Studies
Health Physicist
3 Years- Health Physicist at Radio chemistry Lab
Scientific Officer /D
4 Years- Non destructive testing by Gamma back Scattering technique
Scientific Officer /C
5 Years- Operation of Medical Cyclotron for the production of Medical radio-isotopes
Education
Master of Science - Physics
- 8.44 GPA/CGPA
- Summer Training in Physics, IGCAR, Completed 1999
PhD - Physical Sciences
Orientation Course in Nuclear Science - Nuclear Industry
Skills
Analytical data insights
Finite difference modeling techniques
Monte Carlo Modeling
Proficient in MATLAB coding
Laboratory techniques
Scientific communication
Written and verbal communication
Scientific presentations
Accomplishments
Department of Atomic Energy
Group Achievement Award 2010
Group Achievement Award 2013
Group Achievement Award 2020
Certification
RSO Certification for Radiological Calibration Laboratories (Radiation Monitoring Instruments and Personnel Monitoring Badges) - December 02 - 13, 2024
Timeline
Scientific Officer /F
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
01.2013 - CurrentRead More
Health Physicist
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
01.2010 - 01.2013Read More
Scientific Officer /D
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
01.2006 - 01.2010Read More
Scientific Officer /C
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
01.2001 - 01.2006Read More
Pondicherry University
Master of Science from Physics
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Homi Bhabha National Institute
PhD from Physical Sciences
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Bhabha Atomic Research Center
Orientation Course in Nuclear Science from Nuclear Industry
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Research Area & Experience
My research experience is focused on radon and thoron studies in different environmental matrices supplemented with development of innovative measurement methodologies. I have been involved in this field for the past 12 years till date. Most of the investigations during this period were concerned with soil, particularly as the source term for radon. The site and sample-specific experimental observations have been explained with the help of existing radon transport and emanation theory by supplementing them with suitable adaptations. These adaptations are achieved by simple innovations in measurements as well as theoretical models. This has lead to better understanding of the role played by soil properties on the radon emanation and transport characteristics pertaining to specific soil type found in southern coastal area of the country which is marked with higher proportion of heavy minerals. My current research interests include effect of meteorological parameters on thoron diffusion in air, standardization of radon in water measurements using Liquid scintillation Counter and radon progeny measurements in air.
Publications
- Bala Sundar, S., Chitra, N., Vijayalakshmi, I., Danalakshmi, B., Chandrasekaran, S., Jose, M. T., & Venkatraman, B. (2015). Soil radioactivity measurements and estimation of radon/thoron exhalation rate in soil samples from Kalpakkam residential complex. Radiation protection dosimetry, 164(4), 569-574.
- Bhaskaran, R., Damodaran, R. C., Kumar, V. A., Panakal John, J., Bangaru, D., Natarajan, C., ... & Mishra, R. (2017). Inhalation dose and source term studies in a tribal area of Wayanad, Kerala, India. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2017(1), 1930787.
- Bhaskaran, R., Damodaran, R. C., Kumar, V. A., John, J. P., Bangaru, D., Natarajan, C., ... & Mishra, R. (2017). Research Article Inhalation Dose and Source Term Studies in a Tribal Area of Wayanad, Kerala, India.
- Chitra, N., Danalakshmi, B., Supriya, D., Vijayalakshmi, I., Sundar, S. B., Sivasubramanian, K., ... & Jose, M. T. (2018). Study of radon and thoron exhalation from soil samples of different grain sizes. Applied radiation and isotopes, 133, 75-80.
- Chitra, N., Sundar, S. B., Jose, M. T., Sivasubramanian, K., & Venkatraman, B. (2019). A simple model to simulate the diffusion pattern of radon in different soil media. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 322(2), 1151-1158.
- Chitra, N., Sundar, S. B., Subramanian, V., Jose, M. T., Baskaran, R., & Venkatraman, B. (2020). Quantification of back diffusion in radon and thoron exhalation rate measurements. Radiation protection dosimetry, 189(2), 182-189.
- Chitra, N., Sundar, S. B., Valan, I. I., Subramanian, V., Jose, M. T., & Venkatraman, B. (2021). Modeling and Experiments to Estimate Radon Emanation Factor in Soil—Grain Size and Moisture Effect. Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 194(2-3),104-112.
- Chitra, N., Jose, M. T., & Venkatraman, B. (2021, August). Methodology to estimate using thoron concentration online monitors in flow mode with low flow rates. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2352, No. 1). AIP Publishing.
- Chitra, N., Chandrasekaran, S., Srinivas, C. V., Athmalingam, S., Venkatraman, B. (2022). Determination of soil porosity by a simple and novel technique of fusing thoron diffusion experiment and modeling Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 331, 2461–2468 .
- Chitra, N., Chandrasekaran, S., Srinivas, C. V., Athmalingam, S., &Venkatraman, B. (2023). Track detector based discriminative thoron measurement–An optimization study through experiments and modelling. Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 205, 110755.
- Natarajan, C., Seethapathy, C., Challa, V. S., & Balasubramanian, V. (2025). Study on the dynamics of radon concentration buildup in the closed-loop measurement system with RAD7 online radon monitor. Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 20(1), 18-30.