PM to dedicate Tarapur nuke reprocessing unit next week

Amidst controversy over the 10,000 Mw Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would formally dedicate a reprocessing unit at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’s (Barc) Tarapur facility in Thane district.

The function is being organised by Barc during the PM’s visit to Mumbai slated for January 7. The plant, commissioned in October, would have an annual capacity of 100 tonnes to reprocess spent fuel.

The plant is for indigenous nuclear reactors and is not under any foreign safeguard agreement. The reprocessed spent fuel would be re-used as fuel and for medical and other purposes.

Currently, there are three reprocessing units, at Tarapur, Trombay (a suburb of this city) and Kalpakkam, near Chennai, with a total reprocessing capacity of 230 tonnes, none of which are under safeguard watch.

A Barc official told Business Standard, “As part of the commissioning process in October, the cold trial run of the plant has been started, with the use of inactive natural uranium-based fuel in place of spent fuel, which will follow later.”

The PM would also visit the Tarapur nuclear power plant. It has four units, with a combined capacity of 1,400 Mw.