Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

The much delayed completion of work on India’s first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam is likely to be completed only by March 2017

What is PFBR?

• The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is a 500 MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed at the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam, India
• The Kalpakkam PFBR is using uranium-238 not thorium, to breed new fissile material, in a sodium-cooled fast reactor design
• Construction is over and the owner/operator, Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), is waiting clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)

Background

Dept of Atomic Energy(DAE) has been pursuing the following 3-stage Nuclear Power Programme :

Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs)

• The first stage comprises setting up of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and associated fuel cycle facilities.
• PHWRs use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator and coolant
• The first stage is already in commercial domain.
• The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), a public sector undertaking of DAE, is responsible for the design, construction and operation of nuclear power reactors

Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs)

• The second stage envisages setting up of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) backed by reprocessing plants and plutonium-based fuel fabrication plants.
• A breeder reactor is one that breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes.
• Plutonium is produced by irradiation of uranium-238
• The prototype FBR is fuelled by a blend of plutonium and uranium oxide, called MOX fuel.
• The Fast Breeder Programme is in the technology demonstration stage.
• A new public sector undertaking Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI) of DAE is implementing this project which is expected to add 500 MWe to the Southern grid by the year 2017
• The tariff of electricity produced from PFBR is comparable with that of other contemporary base-load electricity generating technologies like coal based thermal power stations in the region

Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)

• The third stage is based on the thorium-uranium-233 cycle.
• Uranium-233 is obtained by irradiation of thorium
• India has one of the largest reserves of thorium
• The ongoing development of 300 MWe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) at BARC aims at developing expertise for thorium utilization and demonstrating advanced safety concepts.
• Thorium-based systems can be set up on commercial scale only after a large capacity based on fast breeder reactors, is built up.