In a historic milestone marking entry into the vital second stage of India’s three stage nuclear program, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi witnessed the commencement of “Core Loading” at India’s first indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor (500 MWe) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu earlier this month.
Let us understand the significance of this historic moment, once commissioned, India will only be the second country after Russia to have commercial operating Fast Breeder Reactor.
We can say that it’s the most defining moment for our country with the commencement of “Core Loading” at India’s first indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor. This is the moment whereby we can meet the power requirements for more than 250 years for our country which is so power deficient otherwise.
As the question will be in your mind that India already has 20+ nuclear reactors and more are coming up, and all of them together don’t still account for more than 4-5% of India’s power generation. So why is the switching on of one more nuclear reactor so significant?
So, here’s the thing in a nutshell: India has huge energy needs to meet its industrialisation and developmental goals, but it is not endowed with massive hydrocarbon (oil and gas) resources. Nuclear energy is the only source that can meet India’s energy and power needs while at the same time helping to de-carbonise the economy. But to harness this technology, we need the right fuel. We do not have enough uranium reserves, but we have abundant thorium (which can be converted into uranium), to power India for more than 250 years. To be able to use thorium optimally, we have to graduate through a 3-stage nuclear programme. That is what Homi Bhabha designed in the 1950s, and we have been following since. The existing nuclear reactors are all of the first stage – burning uranium to produce power, and plutonium for the second stage reactors.
With the PFBR, we have reached that second stage on a commercial scale. This reactor will breed plutonium as it consumes it. It will also help convert thorium to U-233 on the side. The dream of reaching the thorium stage is thus closer.
To understand the importance of this we have to go into bit of history.
In the 1950s, the US and Britain, too, wanted to build thorium-based reactors. In 1951, when Nehru appealed to the US for food aid as India reeled under near-famine conditions, the US Congress made it conditional on India lifting its ban on export of Kerala’s thorium-rich monazite sands, and exporting them to the US. Nehru refused to give in. The US Congress held off the food aid for weeks, but finally gave in. That export ban stands even today. We need the thorium ourselves to meet our own energy requirements.
Now let us come to the recent development The Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) will initially use the Uranium-Plutonium Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel. The Uranium-238 “blanket” surrounding the fuel core will undergo nuclear transmutation to produce more fuel, thus earning the name ‘Breeder’. The use of Throium-232, which in itself is not a fissile material, as a blanket is also envisaged in this stage. By transmutation, Thorium will create fissile Uranium-233 which will be used as fuel in the third stage. FBR is thus a stepping stone for the third stage of the program paving the way for the eventual full utilization of India’s abundant thorium reserves.
In terms of safety, the PFBR is an advanced third generation reactor with inherent passive safety features ensuring a prompt and safe shut down of the plant in the event of an emergency. Since it uses the spent fuel from the first stage, FBR also offers great advantage in terms of significant reduction in nuclear waste generated, thereby avoiding the need for large geological disposal facilities.
To summarize India has developed comprehensive capabilities spanning the entire spectrum of the nuclear fuel cycle and will meet its energy requirement for next 250 years.