Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad is an industrial unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. NFC is the only organization in India which caters to the fuel requirements of nuclear power reactors.
Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad was conceived in late 60's as a pivotal industrial arm of the Department of Atomic Energy with the mandate to fuel the nuclear power program of Govt. of India. An ISO certified organization, NFC is the only organization in the world today to have a comprehensive manufacturing cycle from ore to core, involving processing of both Uranium & Zirconium streams under the same roof.
NFC’s specialty lies in the manufacturing of nuclear fuel bundles for Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR), Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and Fast breeder reactors; many reactor core components, various tubes, high purity special materials; etc.
It has developed state-of-art facilities and process technologies with several innovations in the field of nuclear fuel production and fabrication. The organization is thus playing a catalyst’s role in nation building. The complex also symbolizes the strong emphasis on self-reliance in the Indian Nuclear Power Program.
NFC has different types of production facilities which include Zirconium Oxide Plant for processing of Zircon to nuclear grade Zirconium oxide; Zirconium Sponge Plant for conversion of Zirconium oxide to nuclear grade sponge metal; Melt Shop Plant for production of zirconium alloys; Extrusion and Piercing Plant for hot extrusion and expansion of different alloys and special materials into various shapes and sizes; Zircaloy Fabrication Plant for producing various zirconium alloy tubes, sheet, rod and wire products; Uranium Oxide Plant for processing crude uranium concentrates to pure uranium di-oxide powder; Ceramic Fuel Fabrication Plant for producing Uranium oxide pellets and assembling of the fuel bundles for the PHWRs; BWR Fuel Fabrication Plant; Fast Reactor Facility Plant for fabrication of components and sub assemblies for Fast Breeder Reactors; Special Materials Plant for producing a number of high purity materials; Stainless Steel Tube plant for producing seamless tubes of stainless steel and other alloys.
An independent Quality Assurance department ensures the quality at many intermediate stages and at the final stage to ensure the compliance to the requirements of the customer.
To support all the production activities many service sections like Tool room, Civil Engineering Department, Utilities, Maintenance, General Service, Computer Division, Telephone section, Work shop, Administration & Accounts, Purchase, Stores, Marketing, HRD, etc. are establish.
Safety and Environment Protection is given special importance by having special section for the purpose.
While the initial plant capacities were designed to match the requirements of the Indian Nuclear Power Programme as projected in the early '70s, the capacities have undergone many changes and upgradation. The continual improvement and capacity expansion is the routine in NFC.
The production of Zirconium sponge got a vital boost with the setting up of the Zirconium complex in year 2009, at Pazhayakayal, Tamilnadu.
To cater to the increasing demand, NFC is setting up Fuel production facility at Kota, Rajasthan.
Welfare of the staff is well taken care by providing various facilities and activities like canteen, crèche, housing colony, medical facilities, schools, sports and cultural competitions, etc.