BARC, NPCIL unveil India's first private test facility for depleted heavy water upgradation
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
(NPCIL) and the
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC) have jointly inaugurated India's first private sector test facility for the upgradation of depleted heavy water commissioned by TEMA India, a manufacturer of specialised equipment.
The facility was inaugurated by Rajesh V, director – technical, NPCIL, and K T Shenoy, director, Chemical Engineering Group, BARC. According to the official press release, the modules manufactured by the company are slated for delivery to critical nuclear power plant projects such as RAPP 8, GHAVP Units 1–4, and KAIGA Units 5 & 6.
'BARC has transferred the indigenous technology to TEMA to build the
vacuum distillation columns
for upgradation of depleted heavy water at its private test facility,' it added.
The new testing facility will help overcome the challenge of delayed deliveries by decentralising the nuclear supply chain, ensuring quality control, and reliability in components supplied to Indian nuclear utilities to accelerate the delivery and commissioning timelines of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWRs).
The technology transfer to TEMA India is a step towards narrowing the key infrastructure gap, overcoming the delayed deliveries and de-bottlenecking of nuclear facilities.
As India prepares for the big leap to leverage the indigenous PHWRs as a part of the three stage programme to reach 100 GW of installed nuclear capacity by 2047, the demand of distillation columns for
depleted heavy water upgradation
will increase, added the release.
India is a major producer and global exporter of heavy water primarily used as coolant in nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactors are filled with heavy water at the time of construction and refueling. During the operation of nuclear reactors, it is critical to upgrade the depleted heavy water to maintain the content of Deuterium to ensure consistent and efficient supply to the nuclear reactors.
The process of producing reactor-grade heavy water involves ultra-high efficiency vacuum distillation columns that are specifically designed to handle the unique challenges of separating deuterium from other isotopes in water to support the nuclear reactors through their entire lifecycle of 60-70 years.
The BARC has been instrumental in developing the indigenous technology for these vacuum distillation columns, including the design of efficient structured packings and has continued to supply to NPCIL across all the PHWRs installed in India.
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