Kallol Roy, an expert in nuclear reactor, appointed as the new chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI), which is building 500 Mw prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam near Chennai.

• Roy assumed the position on March 31 on the superannuation of P Chellapandi.
• According to BHAVINI’s statement Roy specialises in the field of total maintenance management of reactors.
• Prior to his current posting, Roy was heading the research reactor maintenance division, reactor group at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai.
• A breeder reactor is one that breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes. The PFBR will be fuelled by a blend of plutonium and uranium oxide, called MOX fuel.
• The Rs 5,400 crore PFBR is presently under advanced stage of commissioning achieving a physical progress of around 98 percent.

Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd

• The Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (BHAVINI) is a government-owned corporation of India established in 2004 in Chennai.
• One of the public sector undertakings, it is wholly owned by the Union Government and is responsible for the construction, commissioning and operation of all Stage II fast breeder reactors envisaged as part of the country’s three stage nuclear power programme.
• BHAVINI is administered by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
• Once the first fast breeder reactor, called Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) goes into commercial power production, BHAVINI will be the second power utility in India after Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), to use nuclear fuel sources to generate power.