India selects contractor for Kalpakkam nuclear fuel cycle facility

Hindustan Construction Company won the US$120m contract.

The Indira Ghandi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) of India has awarded Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) a Rs 7.64bn (US$120m) contract to build a fast reactor fuel cycle facility at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, according to Enerdata.

Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (Bhavini), a government enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), is currently building a 500MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) in Kalpakkam; construction started in 2004 and is expected to be completed in late 2017. Two further 600MW PFBRs are also planned for the site.

"The fuel cycle facility to be built by HCC within 48 months (by late 2021) will help India establish a fuel cycle to exploit its thorium resources, by using the plutonium produced in pressurised heavy water and light water reactors and breeding fissile uranium-233 from thorium," Enerdata said.

This story was originally published by Enerdata.