Fuel loading underway at India's first 500 MW fast breeder reactor

Chennai, Dec. 11 -- Thirty-seven sub-assemblies, including 28 fuel sub-assemblies, are currently being loaded into India's first 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, the government said, marking a critical step towards achieving the reactor's first approach to criticality.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has granted permission for Initial Fuel Loading (IFL) into the reactor core, First Approach to Criticality (FAC) and Low Power Physics Experiments (LPPE) for PFBR on 16.10.2025. A total of 181 fuel assemblies have to be loaded into the PFBR's reactor. It is learnt the fuel loading will take about three or four months to be completed and in between the approach to criticality will be done.

The fuel loading b...