Developments in Back End of the Fuel Cycle of Indian Thermal Reactors

Abstract

Abstract Substantial progresses made in last five decades in the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle in India has been supported adequately with advances and innovations in the field of back end technology and methodology developments for power reactors in general and thermal reactors in particular. The activities in the back end are characterized by spent fuel transport and storage, reprocessing, waste management and large scale support technology developments. The specifically designed spent fuel transport casks are in operation for shipment of the spent fuel to pre-reprocessing underwater storage facilities operating at Tarapur and Kalpakkam. Three reprocessing plants based on PUREX process located at Trombay, Tarapur and Kalpakkam have been set up to undertake reprocessing of the spent fuel from Trombay based research reactors, power reactors of western sector and southern sector respectively. The complete waste treatment, immobilization and disposal cycle for Low and Intermediate Level waste is in place to manage such waste from power as well as research reactors with a number of chemical treatment plants and near surface disposal facilities operational in various power plant sites. As regards to management of high level liquid wastes mainly arising from the reprocessing stream, two vitrification plants are currently operational whereas third one in under commissioning. One pre-disposal storage facility for vitrified high level waste products is operational at Tarapur while another new storage facility is under construction at Kapakkam. Research and development activities in the field of permanent geological disposal of such vitrified high level waste are in progress. These activities in the back end have been amply supported by development of large technological innovations and design of remote handling systems, robotics, radiation shielding etc. Development of advanced matrices, innovations in processes related to actinide separations and partitioning, recovery of other valuable isotopes are among the areas of future research and developments in fuel cycle of thermal reactors in India.