Mumbai:

BNVN will be the fifth PSU company under the department of atomic energy. The four other PSUs under the department are NPCIL, Electronics Corporation of India, Indian Rare Earths and Uranium Corporation of India.

Says a senior NPCIL official: "The corporation will take 5 per cent of the equity in the new company and will provide the expertise for project management in order to enable timely construction and commissioning of the project."

NPCIL is currently operating 14 nuclear power reactors and setting up eight more at different locations in the country. The official says as per the Companies Act, 1956, BNVN will have an authorised share capital of Rs 5,000 crore. The company will be responsible for the construction and commissioning of India's 500-mw prototype fast-breeder reactor (PFBR) project at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu.

"It will be a forerunner of commercial fast breeder power reactors in India and in this regard, it marks a major step in the country's efforts to ensure energy security through the use of atomic energy," the official adds.

The PFBR is estimated to cost approximately Rs 3,492 crore and is expected to commence commercial power generation by 2010. The engineering design and technical expertise for Bhavini will be drawn from the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, which has accumulated over two decades of experience in fast-breeder reactor technology.

When completed, the PFBR will produce electricity through the recycling of plutonium and depleted uranium recovered from the spent fuel of pressurised heavy water reactors being operated by NPCIL. Fast-breeder reactor technology will thus allow the nuclear power generation capacity to grow to around 350,000-mw independent of any additional uranium availability.