THE HINDU dated 26.10.2003

MUMBAI Oct. 25. The Department of Atomic Energy has floated a new Public Sector Undertaking, Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (BHAVINI), to construct and commission the first 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu.

The PFBR is the forerunner of future fast breeder power reactors and is expected to provide energy security to the country. The PFBR to be built with design and technology developed at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) also located at Kalpakkam, is expected to go on stream by 2010. The PFBR is estimated to cost about Rs. 3492 crores.

The PFBR will generate power by recycling plutonium and depleted uranium recovered from the spent fuel of the pressurised heavy water reactors of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), another PSU of the Department.

The fast breeder reactor technology would, thus, allow the nuclear power generation capacity to grow to 3.5 lakh MWe without needing any additional uranium, said a press note of the Department.

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