While nuclear policy planners and parliamentarians are debating the pros and cons of the Indo- US civil nuclear cooperation agreement, scientists and engineers at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), in Tamil Nadu are leaping forward to develop fast breeder reactors in the second stage of India's nuclear power programme, directed towards the development of sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) technology, in India.
The scientists and engineers want the Centre to be a global leader in sodium cooled fast breeder reactor and associated nuclear fuel cycle based technologies by 2020. They are also in friendly competition with the well established Pressurized Heavy Water (PHWR) technology. Specialists are carrying out safety analysis of important systems by appropriate methodologies. IGCAR is taking up the procurement of long delivery items with various industries. The industrial manufacturers have delivered safety vessel, thermal baffle, thermal insulation panels and sodium tanks to the site.
Workers are busy fabricating the main reactor vessel at site, PFBR site is now a beehive of construction activities. The laboratories and workshops are busy contributing their share to prove that fast reactors will ensure energy security. For the success of fast reactors, IGCAR needs plutonium. India has readily achieved many international benchmarks. In 2002, the average capacity factor of Indian PHWRs was more than that for all reactors in USA.
Neither technology nor industrial infrastructure limits the way forward to construct and operate more PHWRs. It depends mainly on funds. Presently, the gestation period for new PHWRs is five years and NPCIL has plans to reduce it to four and a half years. This is a crucial factor, as the installation cost of nuclear power stations is relatively high. Since India has only very modest uranium resources, it has accepted a three stage nuclear power programme. India chose pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) for the first stage, as these reactors are ideal to use our limited natural uranium resources optimally, PHWRs offer higher plutonium yield.
Plutonium is needed for the second stage of the atomic power programme. PHWR fuel is easy to fabricate. Lastly, Indian industry has the capacity to make various components needed for PHWRs. IGCAR’s role starts with the second stage of India’s mid IGCAR’s role starts with the second stage of India's nuclear power programme which depends on setting up fast breeder reactors, backed by reprocessing plants and plutonium-based fuel fabrication plants. These reactors breed more fuel than what they consume.
India plans to achieve energy security on a sustainable basis by thorium utilization which is the aim of the third stage of Indian nuclear power programme. Unlike some advanced countries such as USA, India decided to reprocess spent fuel to extract plutonium, the fuel for its fast breeder reactors. USA can dispose of spent fuel as nuclear waste, as they have cheap uranium resources.
Indian reactors are operating at low capacity factors now because of mismatch between fuel supply and demand. We can then purchase nuclear fuel from anywhere in the world at competitive price and export nuclear technology and services to other countries after ensuring appropriate safeguards. Surely and steadily we will go forward.