The nuclear Industry of India has reached the new milestone in its journey.  The industry has set a record in production of nuclear fuel. ie uranium bundles. The number closes to 1,252 MT of uranium bundles, which is close to double the annual fuel requirement of atomic reactors in India. The production has also overreached country’s annual fuel requirement of 650 MT for the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). Now India has surplus nuclear fuel for next few months.

The Hyderabad-based Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) has produced more than 30 per cent fuel compared to its 961.023 MT production in 2013-14. NFC is the major producer of Nuclear Fuel in India and it supplies the fuel to  18 operating PHWRs and the two Boiling Water Reactors at Tarapur. India produces around 5,780 MW of nuclear power. Of this, 4,780 MW of electricity is generated by fuel processed at the NFC.

The nuclear fuel production in India has seen a gradual increase over the last seven years. A lot has been attributed to the Indo-US nuclear agreement and the subsequent Nuclear Suppliers Group that made the process of acquiring uranium simpler.

Tidbits

1. Nuclear power plants use Nuclear Fission reaction. ie the process of splitting an atom in two.
2. For every 18 to 24 months, a power plant must shut down to remove its spent uranium fuel, which becomes radioactive waste.
3. The world’s first nuclear power plant to create electricity for a power grid was USSR’s Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant (Opened in June 1954).
4. Nuclear energy is being used in more than 30 countries around the world and even powers Mars rovers.
5. Kazakhstan produces the largest share of uranium from mines (38% of world supply) followed by Canada (15.7%) and Australia (10.7%).