Address: Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR)
Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu-603 102
Telephone: 91-04114-280099
Fax: 91-04114-280060
Email: mvr@igcar.ernet.in
Director, Reprocessing Plant Operations Division: M. Venkataraman
Subordinate to: Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
Size: Large-scale, 100-125 tons per year capacity
Primary Function: Reprocess plutonium from spent irradiated fuel

Description and Activities:
The Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant (KARP) is one of three major fuel reprocessing facilities in India. This indigenously built plant began cold commissioning (operating without spent fuel) in March 1996 and later initiated spent fuel reprocessing by the end of the year. KARP currently reprocesses spent fuel from two pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) at the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) in Kalpakkam and the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). While the reprocessing plant utilizes the plutonium-uranium extraction (PUREX) process, it also employs laboratory-scale facilities to process plutonium-uranium carbide fuel from the FBTR. During the late 1990s, KARP was earmarked to meet plutonium requirements for the new Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) being developed at IGCAR.

It is unclear whether KARP provides plutonium for India's nuclear weapons program. The facility is not under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

Key Sources: Columbia International Affairs Online, <http://www.ciaonet.org>, DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 1998-1999"; DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 1999-2000"; DAE (Government of India), "Annual Report 2001-2002"; Frans Berkhout and Surendra Gadekar, "Reprocessing in India," <http://www.ieer.org/ensec/no-2/india-b.html>, October 1997; "India-Plutonium Investigation n°10: The Industry," Wise-Paris, <http://www.wise-paris.org/english/ournewsletter/10/page3.html>; John Pike, "Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research [IGCAR], Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant [KARP]," Globalsecurity.org, <http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/india/kalpakkam.htm>, 12 August 2002.

	Updated September 2003