Nuclear Fuel Complex is largest nuclear-fuel producer

The Nuclear Fuel Complex produced 1,503 metric tonne of pressurised heavy-water nuclear reactor fuel in 2015-16, becoming the largest producer of the fuel worldwide for the second time. Speaking to the media on Saturday, N. Saibaba, chairman and chief executive of NFC, said that NFC could produce 2,000 MT of nuclear fuel in the near future.

Allaying fears over nuclear power, Dr Saibaba said that nuclear fuel was the only solution for satisfying India’s growing energy needs, which at present was 150 GW and was growing at 10 per cent per annum. He said, “Thermal power is highly damaging to the environment. The price of coal is also increasing. Moreover, calorific value of excavated coal is now going down and coal ash content is increasing. Resources for hydel energy is less and solar is still in an infant stage with low efficiency. It also requires huge chunks of land, causing more displacement than nuclear plants. What happened in Fukushima was mainly because of the tsunami which damaged the diesel generators required for cooling nuclear reactors, which were shut down.”

Dr Saibaba said India’s nuclear power generation capacity was set to increase to 15,000 MW by 2022-23 from the present capacity of 5,800 MW, and by 2033 the production capacity would go up to 43 gigawatts (GW), or 43,000 MW.

He said that in three years, NFC in Kota, Rajasthan, would become operational, which will add around 800 MT of nuclear fuel per annum.

Dr Saibaba said that increase in production capacity of nuclear fuel had been possible mainly because of automation and improved fuel recovery through better technology.

When asked about concerns of radiation leaks from NFC Hyderabad, he said that the areas where nuclear fuel was present in NFC were protected by two layers. The second layer was such that if there was any disturbance it would trip and huge amounts of water would be pumped in, drowning the entire area and controlling radiation.

On a request from Isro, NFC has also designed a nickel-based alloy, Inconel 718, which can withstand high temperatures, specifically for the manned mission to the moon.