Indian nuclear science took nimble steps towards n-power independence on Tuesday with the installation of an 80-tonne safety vessel in the 500-mw Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam. The indigenously-designed and fabricated vessel is the first crucial component to be erected at the plant, which is scheduled to go critical by September 2010. The vessel was designed by a team of scientists led by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) director Dr Baldev Raj and fabricated at the plant campus.The safety vessel is an inverted dome made of special quality steel and placed inside the reactor vault to guard the facility from leakages due to unforeseen incidents, said scientists working at the plant. The civil works at the Rs 3,492 crore power plant was started in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in October 2004.According to an IGCAR scientist, the installation of the vessel signals India’s entry into the highly-sophisticated fast breeder technology club, now led by France, Russia and Japan. “India is considered a front-ranking nation in fast breeder technology. Everything in this plant is made in India and our designs have very advanced features,” said Baldev Raj. This is the first of the four FBRs planned by the Department of Atomic Energy during the current five-year plan. A 2 X 500 mw plant will be set up in the same campus, while the location for the last one is yet to identified, Raj added.Pitching for more such facilities, Nuclear Power Corporation of India chairman S K Jain said the power generated from nuclear power plants work out cheaper than other means of energy production like coal and hydel power. Commenting on the present situation of nuclear power generation in the country, Jain said that two plants in Tarapur and Kaiga were lying idle due to lack of uranium. The department was making efforts to realise the uranium potential of the country by vitalising the mines and mills in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, he added. “The efforts to extract uranium from Meghalaya have met with local resistance. We are trying to make them aware that mining will not affect the environment. Pitching indirectly for the Indo-US nuclear deal, Jain said, “Our mission is to become an exporter of sophisticated nuclear technology and not just remain an importer,” he said. Scientists at the plant claimed that India had one of the best technology in FBRs, and can take up reactor works in other countries on a turnkey basis.
