India needs to go nuclear

Subject: Science and Tech

Section: Nuclear technology

Energy requirement for India:

India’s economy is growing rapidly and is expected to surpass Germany and Japan and move up from number five to number three position before the end of this decade.
India’s primary energy consumption is the third-highest globally. Most of this is based on fossil energy.
To reach a Human Development Index (HDI) comparable to advanced countries we need a minimum of 2,400 kilogram oil equivalent (kgoe) energy consumption per capita per year.
The total clean energy requirement to support a developed India would work out to around 25,000 – 30,000 TWhr/yr. This is more than four times our present energy consumption and corresponds to a CAGR of around 4.8 per cent.

Six-pronged national strategy for a rapid scale up of nuclear energy:

Indigenous 700 MWe
- Recently, the third unit of the indigenously developed 700-megawatt electric (MWe) nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP3) in Gujarat has commenced operations at full capacity.
- PHWR Fifteen more such units are already under construction in fleet mode.
Secondly, build indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
Thirdly, well-proven 220 MWe PHWR units
- AHWR300-LEU developed by BARC can also be offered for this role after demonstrating a prototype.
Fourthly, develop a high temperature reactor for direct hydrogen production without resorting to electrolysis to enable cheaper green hydrogen production.
Speed up second and third stage nuclear-power programme development to unleash thorium energy potential in accordance with the pre-existing plans for long-term sustainable energy supply.
Finally, emerging-economy countries, where one expects maximum net growth in energy consumption, should see rapid deployment of new nuclear-energy capacity to credibly address the climate-change challenge at the global level.

Small modular reactors (SMRs):

These are advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit, which is about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors. SMRs, which can produce a large amount of low-carbon electricity, are:
- Small – physically a fraction of the size of a conventional nuclear power reactor.
- Modular – making it possible for systems and components to be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation.
- Reactors – harnessing nuclear fission to generate heat to produce energy.

CANDU Reactors:

The CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power.
The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) moderator and its use of (originally, natural) uranium fuel. CANDU reactors were first developed in the late 1950s and 1960s by a partnership between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Canadian General Electric, and other companies.
By 2010, CANDU-based reactors were operational at the following sites of India: Kaiga (3), Kakrapar (2), Madras (2), Narora (2), Rajasthan (6), and Tarapur (2).

Pressurized heavy Water Reactor (PHWR):

A pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) is a nuclear reactor that uses heavy water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and neutron moderator.
PHWRs frequently use natural uranium as fuel, but sometimes also use very low enriched uranium.
The high cost of the heavy water is offset by the lowered cost of using natural uranium and/or alternative fuel cycles.
As of the beginning of 2001, 31 PHWRs were in operation, having a total capacity of 16.5 GW(e), representing roughly 7.76% by number and 4.7% by generating capacity of all current operating reactors.

Thorium- HALEU fuel:

The National laboratory is testing thorium and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) developed by Clean Core Thorium Energy for use in pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs).

Clean Core Thorium Energy:

A Chicago-based company, Clean Core was founded in 2017.
Investing nearly a decade exploring thorium driven power, our founders envisioned a revolutionary solution to nuclear’s safety, waste, and proliferation concerns.
Developed by Clean Core:
- Thorium- HALEU fuel
- ANEEL Fuel: Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life- developed for use in pressurized heavy water and Candu reactors.
Benefits of ANEEL fuel:
- Cost: By achieving greater output within existing safety margins, ANEEL Fuel substantially reduces operating costs of existing reactors
- Size: Through optimization for use in existing small modular reactors, ANEEL Fuel offers an ideal fit for emerging nations equipped with small grid sizes
- Waste: Through high burnup fuel performance, ANEEL Fuel reduces nuclear waste generation by 87.5% and reduces waste storage volume
- Proliferation: By ensuring proliferation resistance using thorium in ANEEL Fuel, nuclear capacity can be deployed to nations that were previously unaddressable