Southern States - Tamil Nadu

'Closer look' at Kalpakkam Prototype FBR

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI May 25. In a rare Atomic Energy Commission meeting outside New Delhi and Mumbai, members had a closer look at `ground zero' of the technologically challenging Rs. 3,000-crore Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, near here, today.

The meeting was termed "routine", but the presence of top officials of the Central Government and the Atomic Energy establishment came in for considerable speculation. Sources said that the meeting was "long due" and that the current Indo-Pakistani stand-off did not in anyway influence it. Committee members refused to confirm or deny the "stories" put out by various news organisations on the meeting.

The eight-member committee consists of the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Brajesh Mishra, the Cabinet Secretary, T.R. Prasad, the former AEC chairman and MP, Raja Ramanna, the Union Secretary for Economic Affairs, C.M. Vasudev (finance member), the president, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, C.N.R. Rao, the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) CMD, V.K. Chaturvedi, and the Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, B. Bhattacharjee. The AEC chairman, Anil Kakodkar — who was associated with both the peaceful nuclear explosions, Pokhran-I in 1974 and Pokhran-II in 1998 — heads the committee.

Mr. Mishra left later in the day to brief the Prime Minister, sources said. He, along with the others, reviewed the performance of the NPC (production in 2001-02 — 19,000 million units; capacity factor — 83 per cent; profits — Rs.1,275 crores) and the production of other AEC units. NPC's funds are not subject to audit.

For the establishment, the PFBR represents a quantum leap over that of the 13-MW Fast Breeder Test Reactor (which attained criticality in 1985) in terms of both technology and energy generation. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam — one of the two centres providing research and development support to the nuclear power programme — had successfully tested the Mark-1 core of the FBTR, a precursor to the PFBR. It was the first reactor of its kind that used plutonium-uranium mixed Carbide fuel. The FBTR has reached a burn-up of 87,650 MW day/ton. Fabrication of a Mark-2 version is on at IGCAR.

The design of the sodium-cooled pool-type 500 MW PFBR is complete.

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