Fabrication routes for Thorium and Uranium233 based AHWR fuel

India's economic growth is on a fast growth track. The growth in population and economy is creating huge demand for energy which has to be met with environmentally benign technologies. Nuclear Energy is best suited to meet this demand without causing undue environmental impact. Considering the large thorium reserves in India, the future nuclear power program will be based on Thorium- Uranium233 fuel cycle. The major characteristic of thorium as the fuel of future comes from its superior fuel utilization. 233U produced in a reactor is always contaminated with 232U. This 232U undergoes a decay to produce 228Th and it is followed by decay chain including 212Bi and 208Tl. Both 212Bi and 208Tl are hard gamma emitters ranging from 0.6 MeV-1.6 MeV and 2.6 MeV respectively, which necessitates its handling in hot cell. The average concentration of 232U is expected to exceed 1000 ppm after a burn-up of 24,000 MWD/t. Work related to developing the fuel fabrication technology including automation and remotization needed for 233U based fuels is in progress. Various process for fuel fabrication have been developed i.e. Coated Agglomerate Pelletisation (CAP), impregnation technique (Pellet/Gel), Sol Gel Micro-sphere Pelletisation (SGMP) apart from Powder to Pellet (POP) route. This paper describes each process with respect to its advantages, disadvantages and its amenability to automation and remotisation. (author)