Heavy Water Board: Difference between revisions

'''Heavy Water Board''' ('''HWB''') is a constituent unit under the [[Department of Atomic Energy]] in the [[Government of India]]. The organisation is primarily responsible for production of [[heavy water]] (D₂O)  which is used as a [[neutron moderator| moderator]] and coolant in nuclear power as well as research reactors. Other than heavy water, the HWB is also engaged with production of nuclear grade solvents and extraction of rare materials.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://heavywaterboard.org/htmldocs/general/about.asp |title=A unit under Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India |publisher=Heavy Water Board |accessdate=2012-01-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225112021/http://heavywaterboard.org/htmldocs/general/about.asp |archivedate=2012-02-25 }}</ref>  India is one of the largest manufacturers of heavy water in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hwb.gov.in/htmldocs/general/about.asp |title=:: Heavy Water Board - A unit under Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India |publisher=Hwb.gov.in |date= |accessdate=2012-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303181751/http://www.hwb.gov.in/htmldocs/general/about.asp |archive-date=3 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Similarly, India has one of the world's largest fleets of [[pressurized heavy water reactor]]s producing most of India's [[nuclear power in India|nuclear power supply]].

HWP ([[Hazira]]) is the second heavy water plant in the country based on the ammonia-hydrogen exchange process which has been set up without foreign collaboration. It employs the ammonia-hydrogen exchange monothermal process. The plant is located at a distance of about 16&nbsp;km from [[Surat]] city. Work on this plant commenced in August 1986 and the plant was commissioned in February 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hwb.gov.in/htmldocs/plants/Hazira.asp|title = Heavy Water Board, Government of India &#124; A unit under Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. Of India}}</ref>

The Heavy Water Plant at [[Manuguru]], [[Telangana]] is based on the bithermal [[girdler sulfide process|hydrogen sulphide-water]] (H2S-H2O) exchange process. This plant with a capacity of 185 [[tonne]]s per year is the second plant based on this process, the earlier one being at [[Kota, Rajasthan|Kota]], Rajasthan for which the complete technology has been developed indigenously by BARC and HWB. The Manuguru site was chosen because of its proximity to [[Singareni Collieries Company|Singareni coal fields]] and [[Godavari]] river which provide respectively large quantities of coal and water required by the plant. It was commissioned in December 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heavywaterboard.org/htmldocs/plants/Manuguru.asp|title=A unit under Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India|publisher=Heavy Water Board. The one of the largest HWP in India.|accessdate=2012-01-14|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225112137/http://heavywaterboard.org/htmldocs/plants/Manuguru.asp|archivedate=2012-02-25}}</ref> It is the flagship plant of Heavy Water Board.

It also has a captive power plant having 3 × 30&nbsp;MWe generating capacity along with providing process steam to Heavy Water Plant production.<!--which power source is used?-->

Subsequent to closure of the Heavy Water Plant in Talcher, the plant operation was resumed later and an R&D pilot plant has been commissioned for the production of [[Di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid|di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid]] (D2EHPA), an effective metal extractant, used for hydro-metallurgical recovery and the separation of various metals. The [[solvent]] is useful for concentrating and purifying the valuable metal solutions of low-grade complex ores and is already being used by India's nuclear industry at various commercial operations for the separation and recovery of [[zinc]], [[cobalt]], [[nickel]] and [[lanthanide|lanthanides]]. In addition TBP is used in the [[PUREX]] process of [[nuclear reprocessing]] allowing the recovery of plutonium and [[reprocessed uranium]] from [[spent nuclear fuel]]. As the technology can be used both for high [[burnup]] fuel yielding [[reactor grade plutonium]] for use in [[MOX fuel]] and for extracting weapons grade plutonium from low irradiated fuel, the technology is inherently [[dual use technology| dual use]]. Presently HWP Talcher houses three chemical plants:

#[[Tri-Butyl Phosphate]] (TBP)

==See also==

*[[Nuclear power in India]]

*[[Atomic Energy Commission of India]]

*[[India and weapons of mass destruction]]

[[Category:Nuclear power in India]]