9 Apr (NucNet): India has registered record production of more than 1,250 tonnes of uranium bundles, manufacturing close to double the annual fuel requirement for the country’s 18 commercially operational pressurised heavy-water reactor units (PHWRs) and two boiling water reactor units, Press Trust of India said.
The bundles were produced at the Hyderabad-based Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), which supplies nuclear fuel and reactor core components for India’s nuclear programme.
According to the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), the NFC is responsible for supplying Zircaloy clad uranium oxide fuel assemblies and zirconium alloy structural components for nuclear reactors in India. The facility converts yellowcake (U3O8) into uranium oxide (UO2). The uranium oxide is then processed into pellets for nuclear fuel assemblies.
India’s PHWRs need about 650 tonnes of uranium fuel bundles a year, reports said. In 2014-2015 the NFC increased production by nearly 300 tonnes to 1,252 tonnes.
According to the Paris-based OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, uranium requirements for India’s 18 PHWRs have been met with a combination of indigenous and imported sources. Two operating boiling water reactors at Tarapur and two VVER-type light water reactors at Kudankulam, one of which is still under construction, require enriched uranium and are fuelled by imported uranium. Future LWRs will also be fuelled by imported uranium, the NEA said.
The NEA said that as of January 2013, total installed nuclear capacity in India was 4,780 MW (gross). The present plan is to increase nuclear installed capacity to about 35,000 MW by 2022, which will be comprised of 11,460 MW by pressurised heavy water reactors, 22,320 MW by light water reactors, 1,500 MW by fast breeder reactors and 300 MW by advanced heavy water reactor, the NEA said.
NFC deputy chief executive Goverdhan Rao said the facility had produced 47 percent more fuel bundles than its rated capacity. This means the country has enough “buffer stock” of nuclear fuel, he said.
India’s Department of Atomic Energy is building another nuclear fuel facility in Kota, central India, to cater to the country’s nuclear development programme.
The NTI said while the vast majority of the work done by the NFC is in support of India’s civilian nuclear power programme, there were activities of proliferation concern.
The NFC processes uranium ore concentrate and zircon sand from Bihar and Kerala through a series of chemical and metallurgical operations using indigenously developed flow sheets, the NTI said.
The NFC also produces seamless tubes of stainless steel, carbon steel, titanium and other special alloys of nickel, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, niobium, and silver.
The products of the NFC are supplied to the Department of Atomic Energy, the Indian Navy, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and other defence organisations, as well as the chemical, fertiliser, and ball bearing industries.
