Indian Nuclear Society (INS) award to NFC Chief Executive

Hyderabad, Nov 20 (UNI) Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) Chief Executive, R N Jayaraj has been selected for the Prestigious award of the Indian Nuclear Society for his outstanding contributions in the field of Nuclear Fuel Fabrication.

The award was being conferred by the Indian Nuclear Society in its Annual Conference, which is scheduled from November 21 to 24 here, an official release said here tonight.

Mr Jayaraj has vast experience in fabrication of enriched and natural uranium fuels used in Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) and Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in the country.

After obtaining his Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering in the year 1973 from Osmania University, Mr Jayaraj joined the 17th batch of the Training School of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, for one-year orientation course in nuclear engineering.

The Chief Executive then joined the Atomic Fuels Division of BARC where he contributed in the production of metallic uranium fuel assemblies for CIRS reactor and development of production processes for the manufacture of fuel assemblies for DHRUVA reactor.

At NFC he played a key role in establishing the assembly plant for the production of core sub-assemblies required for Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). He was instrumental in successfully fabricating and supplying all the core sub-assemblies for FBTR for the first time in India.

In mid-80s, Mr Jayaraj was given the responsibility of production of natural uranium dioxide fuel bundles required for all the PHWRs.

He immensely contributed to the indigenous development of various equipment for critical process involving welding, machining and assembly stations.

He also contemplated several process improvements in the uranium- dioxide pellet production and fuel bundle fabrication, resulting in substantial increase in the production recoveries.

Mr Jayaraj played a pioneering role in standardising and manufacturing fuel for the two 540 MWe PHWR reactors at Tarapur, first of its kind in the country, commissioned recently.

UNI