The Hindu : Work on new Fast Breeder Reactor to start soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 12, 2002

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Work on new Fast Breeder Reactor to start soon

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 11. A breakthrough in the Indian atomic energy programme is on the anvil, with scientists at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam near Chennai almost ready to begin construction work on the first unit of the next generation fast breeder reactor (FBR).

The Principal Scientific Adviser to Government, R. Chidambaram, said here today that the technology development for the FBR was almost over and the construction work on the first prototype of the reactor would begin soon.

In an informal chat with a group of reporters, Dr. Chidambaram said the first prototype reactor with a capacity of 500 MW would come up at the IGCAR. The site has been cleared by the Atomic Energy Regulation Board. Already, a test fast breeder reactor has been functioning at the centre since 1985 and it has been functioning well. The atomic energy establishment had been keenly awaiting the setting up of the first prototype FBR as it would mark the beginning of the second stage of the country's atomic energy programme and would enable a more effective utilisation of uranium. Besides, it would also lead to the unfolding of the third stage of the programme, which envisages the exploitation of thorium.

Utilisation of thorium has been one of the dreams of Indian atomic energy scientists as in addition to it having larger energy potential, the reserves of the material in the country was estimated to be five to six times that of the conventional uranium.

Dr. Chidambaram asserted that India would be able to achieve the target of 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020. Already, the country had an installed capacity of 2,720 MW and eight more reactors with a total capacity of 3,880 MW were currently under different stages of construction. They would all be commissioned over the next six to seven years.

The authorities involved in the construction of the third and fourth units at Tarapur have recently achieved a reduction of one year in their gestation periods.

Normally, the gestation period for a nuclear plant is seven years. Now these two units would be ready in six years.

This had been an achievement through improvements in project management and better support from the industry, which had been supplying various inputs, he added.

Dr. Chidambaram was speaking to reporters at a function where the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council, of which he is the Chairman, signed a memorandum of understanding with an NGO, Akhil Bhartiya Gramodyog Mahasang, for undertaking technology initiatives relevant to rural development.

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