Annual Report 2016-17 - Dae

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17EXECUTIVE SUMMARYOver a period of time, HWB has emerged as thelargest global producer and a trusted supplier of heavywater. HWB continued to nurture and facilitate R&Dactivities in the area of non-nuclear applications ofdeuterium and heavy water in life sciences,pharmaceuticals and technology. Many Indiancompanies and leading research institutions are nowregularly sourcing heavy water from HWB instead ofimporting the same, for their research work andproducing deuterated compounds as NMR solvents.Quality AssuranceQuality Assurance/Surveillance activities arebeing carried out expeditiously by NPCIL for projectsand stations. Corporate reviews of operating stationshave been conducted based on WANO guidelines. NPCILcontinued to provide QA consultancy services to BARC,BHAVINI and DRDO.FRONT END FUEL CYCLEFront-End Fuel Cycle comprises operations suchas mining, milling and processing of ore, and fabricationof fuel. In addition, production of heavy water, used asmoderator and coolant in pressurized heavy waterreactors, also constitute a major programme segmentof the Nuclear Power Programme.Performance of the Board during the periodwas excellent with respect to production, specificenergy consumption, on stream factor and plant safety.As per the Annual Action Plan for the year 2016-17,major Turnaround of Exchange Unit-II of HWP,Manuguru was completed during the period includingcommissioning of the new DCS system. HWP, Thal hasalso completed Annual Turn Around during the period.The specific energy consumption at all the plantsincluding the non-productive consumption during theplanned shutdown period is less than the target. Theoverall specific energy consumption is the lowest everfigure achieved so far. This could be achieved mainly dueto continual and meticulous review of the processparameters to ensure optimum levels of plantoperation. Consequently, during the period Boardcould surpass the production target by more than 15.8%and also achieved 125.1% of overall capacity utilization.DAE has wide-ranging capabilities in uraniummining and mineral processing, and is self-sufficient inthe production of heavy water, zirconium alloycomponents and other materials and supplies, forpressurised heavy water reactor. The Nuclear FuelComplex at Hyderabad manufactures fuel assembliesfor pressurised heavy water reactors, boiling waterreactors and fast breeder reactor.Heavy Water ProductionHeavy Water Board (HWB) has contributedsuccessfully to the first stage of Nuclear PowerProgramme by producing Heavy Water for allPressurized Heavy Water Reactors in a cost effectivemanner enabling the Department to provide nuclearpower at an affordable cost to public. Presently, HeavyWater Board is not only self-sufficient in meeting thedomestic demand of heavy water, but is also geared upto supply heavy water for the future PHWRs and AHWRsas per the envisioned nuclear power programme ofDAE. The largest Heavy Water Plant in the world, HWP,Manuguru has completed 25 years of operation andsurpassed 5 Million Kg production of nuclear gradeheavy water during the period.Preliminary activities for restart of HWP,Tuticorin such as plant health assessment and designadequacy evaluation of plant structure under revisedSeismic & Tsunami condition has been initiated.The Heavy Water Board achieved more than115% of targeted production for the financial year2016-17 and the specific energy consumption was 27.9(GJ/Kg D2O).Diversification ActivitiesAfter meeting the primary mandate, HWB hasVI

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17EXECUTIVE SUMMARYmade major progress on the extended mandate ondevelopment, demonstration and deployment oftechnologies for in-core and out of core material inputsfor Indian Nuclear Power Program such as solvents forfront and back end hydrometallurgical operations ofnuclear fuel cycle; demonstrating Solvent Extractiontechnologies for nuclear hydrometallurgy; producing10stable isotope like B for Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR);production of nuclear grade Sodium for FBR's and18production of O for societal applications.for second stage of NPP based on FBRs, HWB, with itsdecades of experience of handling isotope separationprocess, under took initiatives like development,demonstration and deployment of indigenoustechnologies for production of enriched Boron. In orderto support the progress of PFBR , HWB has successfullydelivered the entire quantity of enriched Boron for its1st core. India has marked a place in the world alongwith only few countries possessing such capability.Sodium MetalSolvent TechnologyThe operation of the 2000 Amp test cell forproduction of Sodium metal is continued to further finetune the process and establish performance of cellcomponents. Assimilation and analysis of the data fromthe trial operation is being done for improvement in theproposed industrial unit of 600 MTPA at Baroda.In the area of solvents, both the industrialfacilities at HWPs, Baroda and Talcher for production ofTBP and D2EHPA have performed very well enablingHWB to meet the entire requirement of NFC, NRB and allother units of DAE.Mineral Exploration and MiningAt HWP, Tuticorin, the diversified activities fordevelopment of technology for synthesis of neworgano-phosphorus solvents in the Versatile SolventSynthesis Pilot plant (VSSP) is in progress. The plant is inoperation for synthesis of TiAP, D2EHPA II, DHOA andTAPO in campaign mode as scheduled. Small quantitiesof these novel solvents were supplied toBARC/NFC/IGCAR for R&D applications. HWB hasinitiated setting up of Solvent Production Plant (SPP) forindustrial scale production of these solvents with anobjective to achieve self-reliance. HWB is also planningto take up synthesis of some special solvents viz. DGA,Calixarene etc. based on collaborative efforts with DAEunit as requested by them.Atomic Minerals Directorate for Explorationand Research (AMD) continued the accelerated pace ofexploration activities during the year by integrated,multi-disciplinary methodology and judicious utilizationof man power with a focused approach onaugmentation of uranium, thorium and rare metals.This resulted in the augmentation of additional uraniumoxide (U3O8) reserve of over 15,011 tonnes in the areasof Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan andJharkhand. The country's uranium reserve has beenupdated to 2,44,947 tonnes of Uranium Oxide (U3O8).Significant uranium anomalies were located inHimachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, andChhattisgarh. About 1,71,122.30 m reconnoitory,exploratory and evaluation drilling was carried out toestablish additional uranium reserve in the knowndeposits and sub-surface continuity of uranium and REEmineralization in the new promising areas. Significantmineralized intercepts/bands have been identified inboreholes drilled at Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.HWB has successfully demonstrated thesolvent extraction technology in industrial proto-typescale at its Technology Demonstration Plant for variousnuclear hydrometallurgical operations. Processoptimization and development of more efficientequipment are the current thrust areas.Boron EnrichmentIn consonance with the material input requiredVII

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17EXECUTIVE SUMMARYof AMD at Rohil Uranium Project located at Sikar districtof Rajasthan has already been started. Declinedevelopment and portal excavation is in progress.Identification of water sources and preparation of 3Dore body modeling is in progress.Pre project activities have been taken up at GogiUranium Project located at Yadgir district of Karnataka.Land acquisition has been completed (governmentland) except tailings pond area. Construction of MineWater Treatment Plant is in progress.Exploratory mining site at Rohil uranium deposit, Sikar district, RajasthanPotential/significant blocks have also been identified atRajasthan, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka andMadhya Pradesh.UCIL intends to revive the processing of coppertailings at Musabani in Jharkhand for recovery ofuranium bearing minerals under the project MusabaniUranium recovery Plant. Pre project activities have beeninitiated and baseline environmental studies have beencompleted.Geochemical surveys (3,840 sq km) have beencarried out in different parts of the country fordelineating the target for detailed investigations.Ground geophysical surveys (719.35 sq km) havedelineated conducting zones in Rajasthan and highchargeability zones in Jharkhand Karnataka and MadhyaPradesh. Airborne survey and remote sensing surveyhas also been carried out over 28,740 line km in parts ofRajasthan and Chhattisgarh.UCIL have proposed to carry out a few debottlenecking activities in Singhbhum andTummalapalle units. Tendering and work order are inprogress for Debottlenecking of Singhbhum andTummalapalle operations project in different units.R a re M eta l a n d R a re Ea r t h ( R M R E )investigations have successfully located significantconcentrations of RMRE along Chhattisgarh and Odisha.UCIL has outlined a plan for massive expansionof production potential in line with DAE's vision for selfsufficiency in production of Uranium in the next 15years. This includes plan to maintain sustained supplyfrom existing facilities, capacity expansion of someexisting units and construction of new productioncenters in different parts of the country. Work has beeninitiated for exploratory mining project to beundertaken by UCIL on behalf of AMD at Rohil inRajasthan, Gogi in Karnataka and SingridungriBanadungri in Jharkhand.Beach Sand and Offshore Investigations (BSOI)resulted in establishing potential heavy mineral zonesmainly along the east coast. Significant zones of TotalHeavy Mineral (THM) concentration have been locatedat Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.The performance of all major units of thecompany during the year 2016-17 remained quitesatisfactory. The Tummalapalle Uranium Project atAndhra Pradesh is nearing completion and sufficient orehas been stockpiled. The underground mine hasachieved full production capacity. Re-dissolutionSystem facility in the Plant has been successfullycompleted and implemented. Second stream of theProcessing Plant has been made operational.Exploratory mining activities by UCIL on behalfThe major achievements of IREL included theSale Purchase Agreement with M/s Toyota TsushoCorporation, Japan: Culminating from the InterGovernment Agreement signed by the Government ofIndia and Japan for co-operation in the field of rareearths. During the year 2016, IREL has supplied over1,200 tons of RECL on dry metric ton basis to TREI. IRELVIII

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17EXECUTIVE SUMMARYexpects to supply substantially higher tonnage to TREIduring the 2nd contract year.Fuel FabricationNuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) manufactures andsupplies fuel bundles for Pressurised Heavy WaterReactors (PHWRs) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) ofNPCIL. Highest ever production of PHWR fuel bundles,Zirconium Oxide, Zirconium sponge and Niobium metalwas achieved during the period.To produce Samarium-Cobalt (Sm-Co) magnetfor meeting national objectives, a Special PurposeVehicle (SPV) has been developed. Production of Sm-Cometal & Magnet is based on technologies developed byBARC, Mumbai & DMRL, Hyderabad. Activities forfirming up the investment, plant location etc. are underprogress.All the tubes, components of Fuel Pins andhardware for subassemblies, DDUO2 Blanket Pins,A MoU has been signed with BARC, Mumbai forsetting up of a 5 Million Liters per Day (MLD)desalination plant at OSCOM, Odisha as a part of fieldapplications of indigenous desalination technology invarious DAE units.Enriched B4C Absorber Pins, Sb2O3 Neutron Source Pins,various fabrication processes and equipmentdevelopments, etc., required for fabrication of 10 typesof sub-assemblies, including their final assemblyfabrication work (at IFSB, IGCAR) was completed for theFirst time in the Country and all these Subassemblies arestored in IFSB for further deliverying to BHAVINI. Threenos. of source sub-assemblies are awaiting AERBclearance for final assembly work to meet thecommissioning schedule of 500 MWe PFBR.Supply of Nuclear Grade Ammonium diUranate (NGADU) from new source i.e. the newlycommissioned monazite processing plant at OSCOM,Odisha has been commenced.Approval has been received for entering intoproduction sharing contract viz. concession & profitsharing options with land owners having surface rightswithin IREL mining lease area with a view to mitigate thedifficulties in sourcing land for raw material of theSouthern operating units of IREL.Two new projects were proposed during MTA inaddition to the 13 projects sanctioned during XII plan.Sanction was obtained for pre-project activities of NFC7 proposed during MTA. Financial sanction is awaitedfor one project and revised sanction is awaited for twoprojects. These projects were launched to meet the fueland zircaloy requirements of forthcoming 700 MWePHWRs and 300 MWe AHWR, in addition toaugmentation and modernisation of the presentproduction facilities, in line with the demand from M/sNPCIL. In addition preliminary project report is underpreparation for setting-up a project at proposed site ofKurnool to meet the requirements of 12 x 1000 MWeVVERs and 2 nos. of 500 MWe FBRs.Patent application on 'Solvent extractionprocess for Rare Earths (RE) separation through partialreflux of RE in solvent' has been filed.Large-scale leach circuit for H2SO4 processingof U ores was installed at TDPP, Jaduguda alongwithinterconnecting piping lines. Studies on leaching of Ufrom the Rohil-Ghateswar U ore were carried out. Ahollow fibre liquid membrane technique was developedto separate rare earths from rare earth magnetic scrap(Nd:17%, Pr:5%, Dy:2.5%, Fe:75% and B:1%) in HNO3using organophosphorus extractants D2EHPA andDNPPA.BACK END FUEL CYCLEFuel Reprocessing and Waste ManagementAll the fuel reprocessing plants performed attheir designed capacities. Power Reactor FuelIX

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17EXECUTIVE SUMMARYReprocessing Plant-2 (PREFRE-2), Tarapur achieveddesigned throughput. Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant(KARP) performed well. Advance Fuel FabricationFacility (AFFF), Tarapur supplied MOX fuel to PFBR.Spent Fuel Storage Facility (SFSF), Tarapur andKalpakkam were in operation. A solvent for selectiverecovery of Pu (IV) from lean sources (HLLW after Purexand different metallurgical waste) was synthesised.oxide nodules in pressure tubes of PHWR during inservice inspection. The structural integrity assessmentof Reactor Pressure Vessel in presence of flawsdiscovered during in-service inspection of welds duringthe 24th Re-Fuelling Outage was performed for grantinglicense to TAPS-2 power plant for further operation. Amethodology was evolved for assessment ofuncertainty in the sizing of flaws and their location withrespect to the weld-centre line and the scanningsurface. Required number of Control Blade assembliesfor TAPS-1&2 were fabricated & supplied. A hightemperature pyrohydrolysis (PH) system operating upto 1500 C for extracting halides and boron from severalrefractive materials, which cannot be pyrohydrolysedwith the normal PH apparatus, has been indigenouslydesigned and developed. A plant wide networkedRadiation and Gas Monitoring System was designed,developed and delivered for Compact Light WaterReactor Project.The treatment of intermediate level liquidwaste for isolation of radionuclides in the WasteImmobilization Plants (WIP), Tarapur and Kalpakkamcreated record by uninterrupted processing at thehighest throughput. The Solid Waste ManagementFacility (SWMF) and low level liquid waste treatmentplants in Tarapur and Kalpakkam performedsatisfactorily to meet the DAE requirements. Spent resincementation system for MAPS was commissioned inWIP, Kalpakkam. Entire legacy resin stored in MAPS wasreceived and removed by fluidisation and successfullyfixed in cement matrix. A 2000 Te Supercompactor forcompaction of hull waste was designed, manufacturedand tested.HEALTH SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTA virtual environment model of LOCAEquipment Qualification Facility was developed in3DVIA Studio Pro software tool for generating thehuman factor data for a typical postulated accidentscenario. A solar powered geo-station comprising anindigenous radon monitor, soil probe and anaccumulation chamber for prediction of earthquakes bydetecting stress release from earth's crust prior to itsoccurrence through sub-soil radon perturbation weredeveloped. Two units were installed in NIT, Rourkela andSGRC, Shillong. Global fingerprint comparison softwarewas introduced to the National Occupational DoseRegistry System of BARC for effective dose control andfor tracking the movement of radiation worker withinDAE units. 41 Environmental Radiation Monitors (ERMs)were installed taking the ERMs deployed to 462 underthe Indian Environmental Radiation MonitoringNetwork (IERMON) programme. A two member teamfrom BARC carried out radiation measurements around'Bharati' station during the 35th Indian ScientificR&D SUPPORT TO POWER SECTORThe Research and development support to theNuclear Power Programme is provided by the researchcentres of DAE.An In-Service Inspection system 'PRESAM 220'was developed for sag measurement of pressure tubesin 220 MWe PHWRs. Remotely operated AdvancedDrive Machine is designed, commissioned anddemonstrated in simulated reactor conditions forinspection of coolant channels of 540 MWe reactors.Detailed finite element analysis was carried out foraccounting elastic-plastic and creep deformation forsevere accident scenario of a large loss of coolantaccident, loss of emergency core cooling system,moderator heat sink to ensure in vessel coriumretention. An ultrasonic technique using an angle beamwas developed to detect the presence of zirconiumX

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17EXECUTIVE SUMMARYExpedition to Antarctica. Environmental surveillancearound nuclear facilities clearly indicated that themembers of public at fence post received a dose of asmall fraction of regulatory limit of 1000 µSv/y andnegligible compared to the dose received by the publicfrom natural sources (2400 µSv/y).For the second stage of the Nuclear PowerGeneration Programme, the Indira Gandhi Centre forAtomic Research (IGCAR) is pursuing development ofsodium cooled fast breeder reactors and associated fuelcycle technologies. Breeder reactors produce more fuelthan they consume.NPCIL has recorded about 451 reactor years ofsafe operation of reactors by the end of December2016. Review of safety of operating stations was carriedout on a regular basis. All safety significant proposalsand documents were reviewed by a multidisciplinarySafety Review Committee (SRC) to meet the regulatorycompliance. The individual and collective doses ofradiation workers at various NPPs were maintainedwithin the budget approved by AERB by following theprinciples of As Low as Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)and maintaining the highest standards of safety withinthe Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). The radioactiveeffluents discharged from NPPs to the environmentwere maintained well below the authorized limitsspecified by AERB.The Fast Reactor Programme of IGCAR issupported by its research and development endeavourin a range of disciplines such as reactor engineering,metallurgy, materials science, instrumentation, safety,and others. The Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR),operating at Kalpakkam for over 25 years, also caters totechnology development related to fast reactor TheFast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), operating atKalpakkam for over 25 years, also caters to technologydevelopment related to fast reactors.Based on the fast breeder reactor technologydeveloped by IGCAR, a 500 MWe Prototype FastBreeder Reactor (PFBR) is coming up at Kalpakkam. Theproject is being executed by the Bha

moderator and coolant in pressurized heavy water As per the Annual Action Plan for the year 2016-17, reactors, also constitute a major programme segment major Turnaround of Exchange Unit-II of HWP, of the Nuclear Power Programme. Manuguru was completed during the period including commissioning of the new DCS system. HWP, Thal has