Nuclear programme to achieve new milestone

Chennai, Jan 30 (UNI) India's Nuclear programme will achieve a siginifcant milestone in April this year when the Safety Vessel will be loaded into the reactor vault of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), which was under construction at Kalpakkam, about 70 km from here.

Padmashri awardee and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) Director Dr Baldev Raj told reporters here today that the loading of the safety vessel would be one of the critical components of the PFBR.

Sanctioned in September 2003, the 500 MW PFBR would be commissioned as per schedule in September 2010, he said.

''We have committed to the DAE that the PFBR will be commissioned in Septemebr 2010. We stand by that commitment'', he added.

The high-level civic works were in an advanced stage and the reactor containment vault was nearing completion. ''Most of the clearance from the regulatory bodies had been obtained and the first componnet -- safety vessel -- will be loaded into the Reactor Vault in the first week of April'', Dr Baldev Raj said.

The PFBR was being constructed by the Bharathiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), a company owned by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited.

UNI