K.S.Parthasarathy
June 7, 2008
(A PTI feature)
India’s Programme to Develop Fast Breeder Reactor
By Dr K S Parthasarathy
While nuclear policy planners and parliamentarians are debating the pros and cons of the Indo- US civil nuclear cooperation agreement, scientists and engineers at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu are leaping forward to develop fast breeder reactors in the second stage of India’s nuclear power programme.
DAE set up the Centre in 1971 for "...conducting broad based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering, directed towards the development of sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactor [FBR] technology, in India".
For scientists at IGCAR, "Fast reactors for energy security" is the most important slogan.
The just released,140 page, Annual report of DAE for 2007-08 gives glimpses of several research and development programmes; the final impact of some of which will be felt only in the coming few decades.
A compendium titled " IGCAR, Excellence with Relevance, High Impact Breakthroughs: Significant Achievements during 2004-07 records 54 articles as benchmarks in Science, 28 in Engineering and 27 in Technology. In 2004-07, IGCAR scientists published 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals and secured 7 patents. Several of these have formed the basis of design and project decisions.
IGCAR is constructing the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) of 500 MWe capacity at Kalpakkam. Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), a public sector undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy is implementing the project.
The progress card of IGCAR for 2007-08 is impressive; The Centre completed the detailed design and technology development of PFBR.
The scientists and engineers want the Centre to be a global leader in sodium cooled fast breeder reactor and associated nuclear fuel cycle based technologies by 2020. Their mission is well defined; their stakes are high; they are also in friendly competition with the well established Pressurized Heavy Water (PHWR) technology!
The civil construction of the "Nuclear Island", which will house 17 buildings, is on course. The civil engineers have completed a few of the peripheral buildings such as service water pump house.
Specialists are carrying out safety analysis of important systems by appropriate methodologies.
IGCAR placed purchase orders worth Rs 10,500 million for several major items. The organisation is taking up the procurement of long delivery items with various industries. The industrial manufacturers have delivered safety vessel, thermal baffle, thermal insulation panels and sodium tanks to the site.
Workers are busy fabricating the main reactor vessel at site. PFBR site is now a beehive of construction activities. The laboratories and workshops at Kalpakkam are busy contributing their share to prove that fast reactors will ensure energy security.
For the success of fast reactors, IGCAR needs plutonium.
The source of plutonium will be the 14 PHWRs being operated at Kota, Kalpakkam. Narora, Kakrapara, Kaiga and Tarapur by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), a public sector undertaking under the DAE
Of these, two 540 MWe reactors at Tarapur (TAPP-3 & 4), represent the largest capacity single electricity generating units in the country.
The average capacity factor (The capacity factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its output if it had operated at full power for the entire time) of Indian PHWRs stabilized to about 60 % in mid 90s and steadily increased to nearly 90% during 2003.
India has readily achieved many international benchmarks. In 2002, the average capacity factor of Indian PHWRs was more than that for all reactors in USA. At the end of September 2002, KAPS- which recorded a capacity factor of 98.4% during the preceding 12 months became the best performing PHWR among 32 such reactors worldwide.
Unit 1 of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS-1) and unit-4 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP-4) and unit-2 of the Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-2) operated non-stop for 372, 373and 529 days respectively. KGS - 1 & 2 won the gold shield instituted by the Ministry of Power for meritorious performance for the year 2005-06.
Neither technology nor industrial infrastructure limits the way forward to construct and operate more PHWRs. It depends mainly on funds.
Presently, the gestation period for new PHWRs is five years and NPCIL has plans to reduce it to four and a half years. This is a crucial factor, as the installation cost of nuclear power stations is relatively high
Since India has only very modest uranium resources, it has accepted a three stage nuclear power programme.
India chose pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) for the first stage, as these reactors are ideal to use our limited natural uranium resources optimally.
PHWRs offer higher plutonium yield. Plutonium is needed for the second stage of the atomic power programme. PHWR fuel is easy to fabricate. Lastly, Indian industry has the capacity to make various components needed for PHWRs.
IGCAR’s role starts with the second stage of India’s nuclear power programme which depends on setting up fast breeder reactors, backed by reprocessing plants and plutonium-based fuel fabrication plants. These reactors "breed" more fuel than what they consume.
India plans to achieve energy security on a sustainable basis by thorium utilization which is the aim of the third stage of Indian nuclear power programme.
Unlike some advanced countries such as USA, India decided to reprocess spent fuel to extract plutonium, the fuel for its fast breeder reactors. USA can dispose of spent fuel as "nuclear waste", as they have cheap uranium resources.
Indian reactors are operating at low capacity factors now because of mismatch between fuel supply and demand.
This status may be temporary. Operationalisation of Indo US civil nuclear cooperation agreement should have helped.
We can then purchase nuclear fuel from anywhere in the world at competitive price and export nuclear technology and services to other countries after ensuring appropriate safeguards.
Some constraints may slow down the Indian nuclear power programme.
But they will not stop it. Surely and steadily we will go forward. - PTI
No comments:
Post a Comment