Yes, that indeed is the beginning of our march towards reaching maturity in building breeder reactors. With the installation of its safety vessel, a critical component inside the reactor vault on Tuesday, the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) project at Kalpakkam has achieved a milestone. The entire vessel was manufactured at the site by our own engineers. Nothing more is required to prove our capacity in building fast breeder reactors.

This safety vessel was built by a private sector engineering giant, the Land T.. Most of the hi-tech components of the FBR were built by private sector companies. Now, they will get a chance to associate themselves with projects abroad so that Brand India will soon get international recognition. We want to be exporters of high quality nuclear components, according to Dr Shreyans Kumar Jain, chairman cum managing director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd

More good news is in store. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) proposes to launch three more Fast Breeder Reactors each of 500 MW capacity. The designs are ready and work would commence soon, says Dr Baldev Raj, director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). Two of the proposed Fast Breeder Reactors will come up at Kalpakkam itself making it the capital of the world�s FBR technology.

Let us applaud our Kalpakkam team for their unparalleled achievement.