Address: Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC)
Post Office ECIL, Moula Ali
Hyderabad 500062
Telephone: 91-40-7120151
Fax: 91-40-7121305
Email: webmaster@dae.gov.in
Chief Executive: Dr. Chaitanyamoy Ganguly
Subordinate to: Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
Primary Function: Assemble uranium fuel bundles for Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR)

Description and Activities:
The New Uranium Fuel Assembly Plant is part of the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) in Hyderabad. The plant, which was originally named the New Uranium Fuel Assembly Project, was completed in 1996-1997 at a cost of $11.25 million. Most of the facility's production and quality control equipment was reportedly developed by Indian companies. The New Uranium Fuel Assembly Plant was certified by the Atomic Energy Regulation Board in January 1997. It could not begin fuel bundle assembly immediately, however, due to construction delays with the NFC's New Uranium Oxide Fuel Plant that was supposed to supply it with uranium oxide pellets. Although the NFC's Ceramic Fuels Fabrication Plant (CFFP) also produces uranium pellets, it was working well below its operational capacity during this time and the quality of its fuel pellets was relatively poor. This resulted in the New Uranium Fuel Assembly Plant being idle after its certification.

The New Uranium Fuel Assembly Plant was officially commissioned during FY 1997-1998 and it began trial production during that time period. In order to assemble fuel rods for BWRs and PHWRs, the plant utilizes pellets from the New Uranium Oxide Fuel Plant and fuel tubes from the NFC's New Zirconium Fabrication Plant (New ZFP).

Key Sources: DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 1996-1997," p. 2.3; DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 1997-1998," p. 2.2; The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, "Chapter 3: Department of Atomic Energy," <http://www.cagindia.org/>; Dr. C. Ganguly, "Manufacturing of Fuels for Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Reactors at NFC," Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), 2001, <http://www.npcil.org/docs/acrobat/np144_2.pdf>; DAE (Government of India), "Nuclear Fuel Complex," <http://www.dae.gov.in/nfc.htm>; The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, "Overview," <http://www.cagindia.org/>.

	Updated September 2003