{"id":69116,"date":"2026-03-16T18:46:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T13:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=69116"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:47:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T13:17:58","slug":"thorium-nuclear-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-03-2026\/thorium-nuclear-india","title":{"rendered":"Thorium can Power India\u2019s 100 GWe by 2047 Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Energy Sector<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The<strong> SHANTI Act 2025<\/strong> represents a watershed moment for India\u2019s atomic energy programme; however, resolving the challenges of thorium utilisation is urgent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Thorium Reserves<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has one of the <strong>largest reserves of thorium<\/strong> in the world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"2bb499\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"585\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-87.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-69117\" style=\"--dominant-color: #2bb499; aspect-ratio:2.9547607988852764;width:523px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-87.png 585w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-87-300x102.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Together, <strong>Kerala and Odisha account for over 70% <\/strong>of India\u2019s thorium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India has been developing a <strong>three-stage nuclear program,<\/strong> with thorium-based reactors being a critical part of the third stage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Challenges: <\/strong>Extracting thorium from ores requires high amounts of energy and creates significant waste.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It includes challenges such as the need for advanced reactor technology and economic viability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Thorium Utilization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reduce Reliance on Imports:<\/strong> The growth of nuclear generation capacity currently depends heavily on imported uranium.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Domestic uranium ores are lean and costly to extract, though this does provide some insulation against supply disruptions.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sustainability of Uranium Production: <\/strong>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.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>At that scale, the world\u2019s 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of Thorium for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Resource Advantage:<\/strong> India has limited uranium but abundant thorium reserves, mainly in coastal and riverine sands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nuclear Behaviour: <\/strong>Thorium is not fissile like uranium; it is fertile and <strong>converts into uranium-233<\/strong> after absorbing neutrons, which can then sustain nuclear fission.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strategic Fit: <\/strong>Integral to India\u2019s long-term three-stage nuclear power programme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>India\u2019s Three-stage nuclear programme<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Establishment: <\/strong>India established the <strong>Atomic Energy Commission in 1948.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In 1956, <\/strong>Asia\u2019s first research reactor, <strong>Apsara<\/strong>, was commissioned at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India was the second Asian nation<\/strong> to build a nuclear power plant in <strong>1969 <\/strong>at Tarapur, just after Japan and long before China.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India has a three-phase programme of nuclear power visioned by <strong>Dr Homi J Bhabha,<\/strong> the father of India\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>First Stage (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors &#8211; PHWRs): <\/strong>India&#8217;s nuclear program initially focused on establishing a fleet of PHWRs.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These reactors use natural uranium <strong>(U-238), <\/strong>\u00a0which contains minuscule amounts of <strong>U-235,<\/strong> as the fissile material.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heavy water (deuterium oxide) <strong>as both moderator and coolant.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The primary purpose of this stage was to <strong>produce plutonium-239 as a byproduct from the uranium fuel.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plutonium-239 is a fissile material <\/strong>used as fuel in nuclear reactors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Second Stage (Fast Breeder Reactors &#8211; FBRs): <\/strong>The second stage of the program involves the <strong>deployment of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs).<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>FBRs are designed to produce <strong>more fissile material than they consume<\/strong> by utilizing a fast neutron spectrum.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In this stage, <strong>plutonium-239<\/strong> produced in the first stage is used as fuel along with<strong> U-238 <\/strong>to produce energy, <strong>U-233, and more Pu-239.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Uranium-233<\/strong> is <strong>another fissile material<\/strong> that can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Third Stage (Advanced Heavy Water Reactors &#8211; AHWRs): <\/strong>The final stage of the program entails the<strong> deployment of Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs).\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pu-239 will be combined with thorium-232 (Th-232)<\/strong> in reactors to <strong>produce energy and U-233.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thorium is abundantly available in India, and this <strong>stage aims to harness its potential as a nuclear fuel.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: IE<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The SHANTI Act 2025 represents a watershed moment for India\u2019s atomic energy programme; however, resolving the challenges of thorium utilisation is urgent. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> India\u2019s Thorium Reserves <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India has one of the largest reserves of thorium in the world. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Together, Kerala and Odisha account for over 70% of India\u2019s thorium. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India has been developing a three-stage nuclear program, with thorium-based reactors being a critical part of the third stage. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-03-2026\/thorium-nuclear-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69116"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69121,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69116\/revisions\/69121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}