Indo-Asian News Service, Chennai, March 24: India’s first indigenously designed 500 MW fast breeder reactor is expected to generate power from September and the focus is on not missing the deadline, a top official of the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI) said Tuesday.
“This September, the unit will be connected to the southern power grid, generating around 30 percent of the total capacity. Full power generation is expected to begin around April 2016,” P. Chellapandi, chairman and managing director of the organisation told IANS.
BHAVINI is setting up the country’s first indigenously designed 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, around 80 km from Chennai.
A breeder reactor is one that breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes. The PFBR will be fuelled by a blend of plutonium and uranium oxide, called MOX fuel.
While the reactor will break up (fission) plutonium for power production, it will also breed more plutonium than it consumes. The original plutonium comes from natural uranium.
The initial power generation would be gradually increased based on various test results. According to Chellapandi, all the construction related works will be over in a month’s time. “The physical progress achieved by the PFBR is 98 percent. The balance is mainly intellectual or knowledge inputs,” Chellapandi said.
He reiterated that there were no external items that were needed for the project’s completion. He said various stages of the project were being tested and officials from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) were regularly visiting the project.
“We are trying to make sure that the deadline is not slipped,” Chellapandi said.
The dummy fuel (fuel pins similar to the real fuel pins but without the fission material) pins numbering 1,757 were loaded in 2013.
Meanwhile, the operators are being trained to run the plant.
The successful commissioning of the reactor will be a big feather in the cap of Indian nuclear scientists.
The PFBR is designed by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR).
