Alternative to FBRs - HALEU Fuel Cycle

General Science (CDS) Science & Technology

08-Apr-25

India’s 3-stage nuclear power programme is facing delays in deploying Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs). Amid these challenges, the former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) chief has suggested using HALEU and thorium as fuel to effectively utilize existing PHWRs.

How Can Thorium-HALEU Fuel Be Integrated into India’s Nuclear Programme?

Using PHWRs with HALEU: India can enhance its nuclear energy programme by using a mix of High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) and thorium in existing 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).
- HALEU is uranium enriched between 5% and 20% U-235. This approach enables India to start utilizing thorium sooner, making its nuclear power generation more sustainable.
Recycling Spent Fuel: The spent fuel from PHWRs using HALEU-thorium can be reprocessed to extract valuable fissile material (substance whose nucleus can undergo fission when struck by a neutron).
- This reprocessed material can then be utilized in advanced reactors such as Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs), which form part of India’s 3rd stage of its nuclear programme.
- It ensures optimal use of nuclear fuel, contributing to the long-term sustainability of India’s nuclear energy sector by minimizing waste and maximizing fuel efficiency.

What is India's 3-Stage Nuclear Power Programme?

About: India’s 3-Stage Nuclear Power Programme, formulated by Dr. Homi Bhabha, aims to achieve long-term energy security by efficiently utilising India’s limited uranium and abundant thorium reserves.
- It is a phased plan to develop nuclear energy in a sustainable and self-reliant manner.
3 Stages:

Stage	Aim	Fuel/Coolant/ Moderator	Nuclear Reactor	Current Status
Stage-1	It aims to generate electricity while producing plutonium-239 (Pu-239) as a byproduct. Plutonium is key for the next stages of the programme.	Uranium (U-238) Moderator: Heavy water (deuterium oxide)	Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs)	India has already constructed 18 PHWRs, as the foundation of India's nuclear power infrastructure.
Stage-2	It focuses on Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs), which utilize Pu-239 from the first stage to generate more fissile material than they consume. These reactors convert fertile uranium-238 into Pu-239, enhancing the nuclear fuel cycle efficiency.	Mixed Oxide of Plutonium-239 and Uranium-238	Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs)	The Prototype FBR at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, is a key development in this stage.
Stage-3	It focuses on Thorium Reactors, which use Thorium-232 to produce uranium-233, a fissile material.	Thorium-232 (converted into Uranium-233)	Thorium-Based Reactors (Thorium Cycle)	Research into thorium-based reactors is ongoing, with the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) & Molten Salt Reactors being developed as part of this stage.

India’s Nuclear Weapon Programme

Smiling Buddha (1974): India’s first successful nuclear test conducted at Pokhran, Rajasthan, making it the 6th country (after the US, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, and China) to possess nuclear capability.
Operation Shakti (1998): A series of 5 nuclear tests (Pokhran-II), including a thermonuclear device, which demonstrated India’s advanced nuclear weapons capability.

Additional Information:

Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor

PHWR is a nuclear power reactor, commonly using unenriched natural uranium as its fuel. It uses heavy water (Deuterium oxide D₂O) as its coolant and moderator.
The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure, allowing it to be heated to higher temperatures without boiling, much as in a typical pressurized water reactor.
While heavy water is significantly more expensive than ordinary light water, it yields greatly enhanced neutron economy, allowing the reactor to operate without fuel enrichment facilities.

Light Water Reactor

The light water reactor is a type of thermal- neutron reactor that utilizes normal water as opposed to heavy water.
It is fuelled by Low Enriched Uranium.
It uses water as both a coolant method and a neutron moderator.
It produces heat by controlled nuclear fission.

Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. These are designed to extend the nuclear fuel supply for electric power generation.
Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile material, such as Uranium-238 or Thorium-232 that is loaded into the reactor along with fissile fuel.
PFBR is a 500 MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed at the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu).
It is fuelled by Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel.

Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel

MOX fuel is manufactured from plutonium recovered from used reactor fuel, mixed with depleted uranium.
Mixed oxide (MOX) fuel provides almost 5% of the new nuclear fuel used today.
MOX fuel also provides a means of burning weapons-grade plutonium (from military sources) to produce electricity.

Depleted Uranium

In order to produce fuel for certain types of nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons, uranium has to be "enriched" in the U-235 isotope, which is responsible for nuclear fission.
During the enrichment process the fraction of U-235 is increased from its natural level (0.72% by mass) to between 2% and 94% by mass.
The by-product uranium mixture (after the enriched uranium is removed) has reduced concentrations of U-235 and U-234. This by-product of the enrichment process is known as depleted uranium (DU).

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