Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor
The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a 500MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed in Kalpakkam, India.[1] The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is responsible for the design of this reactor. As of 2007 the reactor was expected to begin functioning in 2010.[2] As of April 2011, it was expected to be commissioned in 2012.[3] India has a strong interest of proving the viability of this reactor type, since it can use the thorium fuel cycle and the world's second largest proven reserves of thorium are situated in India. The Kalpakkam PFBR is using uranium-238 not thorium, to breed new fissile material, in a sodium-cooled fast reactor design. The power island of this project is being engineered by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, largest power equipment utility of India.
The surplus plutonium (or uranium-233 for thorium reactors) from each fast reactor can be used to set up more such reactors and grow the nuclear capacity in tune with India's needs for power.
Technical details
Safety considerations
The PFBR will cooled by liquid sodium, which explodes if it comes into contact with water and burns when in contact with air. In a reactor it absorbs neutrons to generate the radioactive isotope Na-24, which has a half-life of 15 hours.[4]
External links
References
- ^ Great expectations, by Baldev Raj, S.C. Chetal and P. Chellapandi, Nuclear Engineering International, January 8, 2010.
- ^ http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/27reactor.htm
- ^ Subramanian, T. S. (April 2011). "Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor ‘has independent safety mechanisms.". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article1981270.ece.
- ^ Popular Science. Popular Science magazine, Apr 1978.
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