Chennai, Dec 16 (IANS): The Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility (FRFCF) being set up in Kalpakkam near here, is expected to be completed by December 2027, said the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh.

Singh in a written reply on Wednesday to the questions raised by DMK MPs in the Lok Sabha D.M. Kathir Anand and T. Sumathy (A) Thamizhachi Thangapandian said the financial progress of the project as on November 30, 2021 is 32 per cent and the project is expected to be completed by December 2027.

Singh also said the FRFCF project is presently being executed by the Nuclear Recycle Board, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Department of Atomic Energy.

Originally budgeted at about Rs 9,600 crore, the purpose of FRFCF is to reprocess the spent fuel of the 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) that is being built at Kalpakkam by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (Bhavini) and also for two other fast reactors expected to come up there.

A fast breeder reactor is one which breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes. It is the key to India's three-stage nuclear power programme.

The FRFCF project would employ about 1,500-2,000 people, nuclear power sector officials had told IANS earlier.