Climate Change in Mind, India Masters Unique Breeder Nuclear Reactors

As the world tries to find solutions for curbing carbon emissions that are blamed for causing climate change, the Conference of Parties (COP-28) taking place at Dubai is debating how to control use of fossil fuels, the main culprit for causing climate change, today the deployment of atomic energy which is source of carbon free electricity is finding more acceptability.

India already has a highly advanced atomic energy programme and in an effort to control carbon emissions the plan is to triple generation of carbon free nuclear energy to 22,000 megawatts by 2032 up from the nearly 7000 megawatts at present. India's science minister, Dr Jitendra Singh told the Parliament yesterday that 'nuclear power is considered as one of the most promising clean energy options for power generation in India's clean energy transition to meet the Net Zero target'.

While the whole world is focusing only on using uranium as the nuclear fuel, India is rapidly advancing to tap almost unlimited amounts of energy from plutonium and thorium. India has well established fast breeder nuclear reactor programme that can help provide the much needed 'energy independence' to the country.

India's science minister, Dr Jitendra Singh asserts that "nearly 9 per cent share of electricity is likely to be contributed from India's nuclear sources by the year 2047. The Department of Atomic Energy aims to achieve 20 GW capacity of nuclear power generation by the year 2030 which will be a major milestone placing India as the third-largest producer of atomic energy in the world after the USA and France."

Leading the charge is a facility situated in a small town of Kalpakkam, not far from the world-famous UNESCO heritage site of Mahabalipuram, hundreds of Indian engineers are toiling hard to master the fast breeder reactor technology. NDTV's Science Editor Pallava Bagla was given rare access to visit the laboratories where Indian scientists are labouring to understand the complexities of using plutonium and thorium as fuel.

There are more than half a dozen layers of intense security that one has to pass through before entering the heart of the fast breeder reactor program. This is understandable since today only two countries Russia and India operate a functional fast breeder reactor since the technology is complex and very hard to master.

A fast breeder reactor is very unique and to a lay person it these defy basic logic, since these breeder reactors produce more fuel than they consume and that is what makes some describe these as the 'akshaya patra' or the endless sources of producing energy. The word 'fast' in these reactors comes from the use of high energy fast neutrons.

India has a functional Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) that has been functioning for the last 38 years. This tiny experimental reactor is the test bed where the Department of Atomic Energy perfected the use of advanced nuclear fuels. No country is willing to share the knowhow of this sensitive technology, and as a consequence scientists at the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam have learnt it from scratch.

According to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) is a 40MWt/ 13.6 MWe, loop type, the first of its kind sodium cooled fast reactor using a mixture of plutonium carbide and uranium carbide as the fuel.

FBTR attained first criticality on October 18, 1985 and completed 38 years of successful operation on October 18, 2023. Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) continues as the flagship of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) which is dedicated to fast reactor research in the second stage of the Indian nuclear power program.

The DAE says FBTR has crossed many milestones including operation of the plant at it design power of 40 MWt. Being a test reactor, its main objective is to operate on mission mode irradiation campaigns. FBTR has completed 32 irradiation campaigns and thirty-eight years of safe and successful operation, since its inception and is a significant milestone in the annals of fast breeder reactor and associated closed fuel cycle technologies. FBTR has been relicensed for operation up to June 28, 2028.

With the experience and expertise gained by the successful operation of FBTR, the Centre had embarked upon the design of 500 MWe, Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which is now in an advanced stage of integrated commissioning. Mr G Shanmugam, Station Director, Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam says "if all goes well the most advanced nuclear reactor of India the PFBR may commence operation in 2024."

As the next big experiment, scientists at IGCAR are exploring the feasibility of clean and green hydrogen production from FBTR since the plant already produces steam at very temperature.

The Department of Atomic Energy is now getting ready to commission its ultra-modern indigenously designed and locally mastered big fast breeder reactor. It is only in fairy tales that one hears of a stove or a chulha, which even as it burns it also continuously and automatically makes more fuel, giving almost unhindered supply of energy. Yes, these new reactors seem magical but like all fairies or genies they are also very hard to tame and take control off. But an energy hungry India is leaving no stone unturned to master this genie.