Ambient air quality monitoring in Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad

Requirement of nuclear fuel and zircaloy components including structural materials etc. for all Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) of the country is produced by Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad. Magnesium di-uranate from UCIL and zircon sand from IRE are processed in chemical plants to produce nuclear grade uranium dioxide pellets and zirconium sponge. Large quantities of chemicals like nitric acid, ammonia, sulphuric acid and chlorine are used in the process. Regular Ambient air quality measurements are being done along the boundary of NFC. It is observed that levels of all pollutants are well within the prescribed national limits at the monitoring stations. The levels in public domain beyond the NFC boundary will be still less. (author)