The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) was established in 1971 as a major industrial unit of Department of Atomic Energy

Department of Atomic Energy (India)

The Department of Atomic Energy is a department directly under the Prime Minister of India with headquartered in Mumbai. The department is responsible for nuclear technology, including nuclear power and research....

, for the supply of nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...

 bundles and reactor

Reactor

Reactor can mean:* Bioreactor, any device or system that supports a biologically active environment.* Chemical reactor, a device for containing and controlling a chemical reaction* Nuclear reactor, a device for containing and controlling a nuclear reaction...

 core components. It is a unique facility where natural and enriched uranium

Enriched uranium

Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...

 fuel, zirconium

Zirconium

Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...

 alloy cladding and reactor core components are manufactured under one roof. NFC symbolizes the strong emphasis on self-reliance in the Indian Nuclear Power Programme.

Natural uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

, mined around Jadugora

Jadugora

Jadugora is a census town in Purbi Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is a small township of Uranium Corporation of India in the Singhbhum district of Jharkhand state in Eastern India. It is 35 km by road and 20 km by train from the Steel city of Jamshedpur...

 in the Singhbhum

Singhbhum

Singhbhum was sometime a large district in the present-day Indian state of Bihar. Chaibasa was the district headquarters of the erstwhile Singhbhum district. Earlier this area was a part of Orissa's Gajapati Empire...

 area of Jharkhand

Jharkhand

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...

 state, is converted into nuclear fuel assemblies. A 220 MW PHWR fuel bundle contains 15.2 kg of natural uranium dioxide. Uranium dioxide pellets, which generate heat while undergoing fission

Nuclear fission

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...

, also generate fission products. The fission products, which are radioactive should be contained and not allowed to mix with coolant water. Hence the UO2, pellets are contained in zirconium alloy tubes with both ends hermetically sealed.

Located near the famous shrine of Moulali at Hyderabad, NFC is spread over 150 acre (0.607029 km²). Production in its various plants started in the early seventies. Presently NFC has around 3700 personnel.