Syllabus: GS3/Energy Sector
Context
- The SHANTI Act 2025 represents a watershed moment for India’s atomic energy programme; however, resolving the challenges of thorium utilisation is urgent.
India’s Thorium Reserves
- India has one of the largest reserves of thorium in the world.
- Together, Kerala and Odisha account for over 70% of India’s thorium.
- India has been developing a three-stage nuclear program, with thorium-based reactors being a critical part of the third stage.
- Challenges: Extracting thorium from ores requires high amounts of energy and creates significant waste.
- It includes challenges such as the need for advanced reactor technology and economic viability.
Need for Thorium Utilization
- Reduce Reliance on Imports: The growth of nuclear generation capacity currently depends heavily on imported uranium.
- Domestic uranium ores are lean and costly to extract, though this does provide some insulation against supply disruptions.
- Sustainability of Uranium Production: By the time India reaches 100 GWe, global nuclear generation capacity is expected to grow from around 380 GWe today to around 1,400 GWe.
- At that scale, the world’s known uranium reserves of about 8 million tonnes would be enough to run nuclear reactors for only about 30 years if the fuel is used once and then discarded.
Significance of Thorium for India
- Resource Advantage: India has limited uranium but abundant thorium reserves, mainly in coastal and riverine sands.
- Nuclear Behaviour: Thorium is not fissile like uranium; it is fertile and converts into uranium-233 after absorbing neutrons, which can then sustain nuclear fission.
- Strategic Fit: Integral to India’s long-term three-stage nuclear power programme.
India’s Three-stage nuclear programme
- Establishment: India established the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948.
- In 1956, Asia’s first research reactor, Apsara, was commissioned at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay.
- India was the second Asian nation to build a nuclear power plant in 1969 at Tarapur, just after Japan and long before China.
- India has a three-phase programme of nuclear power visioned by Dr Homi J Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme.
- First Stage (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors – PHWRs): India’s nuclear program initially focused on establishing a fleet of PHWRs.
- These reactors use natural uranium (U-238), which contains minuscule amounts of U-235, as the fissile material.
- Heavy water (deuterium oxide) as both moderator and coolant.
- The primary purpose of this stage was to produce plutonium-239 as a byproduct from the uranium fuel.
- Plutonium-239 is a fissile material used as fuel in nuclear reactors.
- Second Stage (Fast Breeder Reactors – FBRs): The second stage of the program involves the deployment of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs).
- FBRs are designed to produce more fissile material than they consume by utilizing a fast neutron spectrum.
- In this stage, plutonium-239 produced in the first stage is used as fuel along with U-238 to produce energy, U-233, and more Pu-239.
- Uranium-233 is another fissile material that can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors.
- Third Stage (Advanced Heavy Water Reactors – AHWRs): The final stage of the program entails the deployment of Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs).
- Pu-239 will be combined with thorium-232 (Th-232) in reactors to produce energy and U-233.
- Thorium is abundantly available in India, and this stage aims to harness its potential as a nuclear fuel.
Source: IE
Previous article
Failure of Atomic Clock Cripples ISRO’s NavIC
