Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

Last updated

PFBR
Generation Prototype
Reactor concept Sodium-cooled fast reactor
Reactor line IFBR (Indian fast-breeder Reactor)
Designed by IGCAR
Manufactured by BHAVINI
StatusCompleted [1]
Main parameters of the reactor core
Fuel (fissile material) 232Th/235U [2] [3]
Fuel stateSolid
Neutron energy spectrum Fast
Primary control methodControl rods
Primary coolantLiquid sodium
Reactor usage
Primary useBreeding of 233U for AHWR-300 and generation of electricity
Power (thermal)1253
Power (electric)500
Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor
Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor
CountryIndia
LocationMadras
Coordinates 12°33′11″N80°10′24″E / 12.55306°N 80.17333°E / 12.55306; 80.17333
StatusUnder construction
Construction began2004
Commission date October 2022 (planned) [4]
Construction cost₹5,850 crore (equivalent to ₹220 billionorUS$2.69 billion in 2023) [4]
Owner(s) BHAVINI
Operator(s) BHAVINI
Nuclear power station
Reactor type Fast breeder
Cooling source
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 500 MW
[ edit on Wikidata]

The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a 500 MWe sodium-cooled, fast breeder reactor that is being constructed at Kokkilamedu, near Kalpakkam, in Tamil Nadu state, India. [5] The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is responsible for the design of this reactor and BHEL is providing technology and equipment for construction of the reactor. [6] The facility builds on the decades of experience gained from operating the lower power Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR). At first, the reactor's construction was supposed to be completed in September 2010, but there were several delays. The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is scheduled to be put into service in December 2024, which is more than 20 years after construction began and 14 years after the original commissioning date, as of December 2023. The project's cost has doubled from ₹3,500 crore to ₹7,700 crore due to the multiple delays. The construction was completed on 4th March 2024 with commencement of core loading of the reactor hence paving the way for the eventual full utilization of India’s abundant thorium reserves. [7] [8]

Contents

Background

The Kalpakkam PFBR is designed to use uranium-238 to breed plutonium in a sodium-cooled fast reactor design. The use of thorium-232, which in itself is not a fissile material, as a blanket is also envisaged in this stage. By transmutation, thorium will create fissile uranium-233 which will be used as fuel in the third stage. FBR is thus a stepping stone for the third stage of the program paving the way for the eventual full utilization of India's abundant thorium reserves. [7] [9] 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. The PFBR is a part of the three-stage nuclear power program.

PFBR, with closed fuel cycle as the energy resource, is capable of generating a large amount of U-233 (a fissile isotope) from the abundant available thorium-232 within the country, to launch the third stage nuclear energy programme based on U-233 fuel cycle. [10]

India has the capability to use thorium cycle based processes to extract nuclear fuel. This is of special significance to the Indian nuclear power generation strategy as India has one of the world's largest reserves of thorium, which could provide power for perhaps as long as 60,000 years. [11] [12]

History

The design of this reactor was started in the 1980s, as a prototype for a 600 MW FBR. Construction of the first two FBR are planned at Kalpakkam, after a year of successful operation of the PFBR. Other four FBR are planned to follow beyond 2030, at sites to be defined. [13]

In 2007, the reactor was planned to begin its operation in 2010, but as of 2019, it was expected to reach first criticality in 2020. [14]

In July 2017, it was reported that the reactor is in final preparation to go critical. [15] However in August 2020, it was reported that the reactor might go critical only in December 2021. [16]

As of February 2021, around ₹6,840 crore (equivalent to ₹77 billionorUS$961.21 million in 2023) have been spent in the construction and commissioning of the reactor. The reactor is now expected to be operational by October 2022. [4] [17]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Kalpakkam on 4 March 2024 to witness the initiation of its first core loading. A press release described the PFBR as marking the second stage of India's three-stage nuclear power program. [18]

Technical details

Schematic diagram showing the difference between the loop and pool designs of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor. The pool-type has greater thermal inertia to changes in temperature, which therefore gives more time to shut down/SCRAM during a loss of coolant accident situation. LMFBR schematics2.svg
Schematic diagram showing the difference between the loop and pool designs of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor. The pool-type has greater thermal inertia to changes in temperature, which therefore gives more time to shut down/SCRAM during a loss of coolant accident situation.

The reactor is a pool type LMFBR with 1,750 tonnes of sodium as coolant. Designed to generate 500  MWe of electrical power, with an operational life of 40 years, it will burn a mixed uranium-plutonium MOX fuel, a mixture of PuO
2 and UO
2. A fuel burnup of 100 GWd/t is expected. The Fuel Fabrication Facility (FFF), under the direction of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Tarapur is responsible for the fuel rods manufacturing. FFF comes under "Nuclear Recycle Board" of Bhabha Atomic Research Center and has been responsible for fuel rod manufacturing of various types in the past.[ citation needed ] FFF Tarapur in early 2023 had successfully completed fabrication of 100,000 PFBR fuel elements.[ clarification needed ] [19]

Safety considerations

The prototype fast breeder reactor has a negative void coefficient, thus ensuring a high level of passive nuclear safety. This means that when the reactor overheats (below the boiling point of sodium) the speed of the fission chain reaction decreases, lowering the power level and the temperature. [20] Similarly, before such a potential positive void condition may form from a complete loss of coolant accident, sufficient coolant flow rates are made possible by the use of conventional pump inertia, alongside multiple inlet-perforations, to prevent the possible accident scenario of a single blockage halting coolant flow. [20]

The active-safety reactor decay heat removal system consists of four independent coolant circuits of 8MWt capacity each. [21] Further active defenses against the positive feedback possibility include two independent SCRAM shutdown systems, designed to shut the fission reactions down effectively within a second, with the remaining decay heat then needing to be cooled for a number of hours by the four independent circuits.

The fact that the PFBR is cooled by liquid sodium creates additional safety requirements to isolate the coolant from the environment, especially in a loss of coolant accident scenario, since sodium explodes if it comes into contact with water and burns when in contact with air. This latter event occurred in the Monju reactor in Japan in 1995. Another consideration with the use of sodium as a coolant is the absorption of neutrons to generate the radioactive isotope 24
Na, which has a 15-hour half life. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear reactor</span> Device used to initiate and control a nuclear chain reaction

A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid, which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of weapons-grade plutonium. As of 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency reports there are 422 nuclear power reactors and 223 nuclear research reactors in operation around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breeder reactor</span> Nuclear reactor generating more fissile material than it consumes

A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. These reactors can be fueled with more-commonly available isotopes of uranium and thorium, such as uranium-238 and thorium-232, as opposed to the rare uranium-235 which is used in conventional reactors. These materials are called fertile materials since they can be bred into fuel by these breeder reactors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phénix</span>

Phénix was a small-scale prototype fast breeder reactor, located at the Marcoule nuclear site, near Orange, France. It was a pool-type liquid-metal fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid sodium. It generated 590 MW of thermal power, and had a breeding ratio of 1.16, but normally had to be stopped for refueling operations every two months. Phénix continued operating after the closure of the subsequent full-scale prototype Superphénix in 1997. After 2004, its main use was investigation of transmutation of nuclear waste while also generating some electricity. Phénix was shut down in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast-neutron reactor</span> Nuclear reactor where fast neutrons maintain a fission chain reaction

A fast-neutron reactor (FNR) or fast-spectrum reactor or simply a fast reactor is a category of nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons, as opposed to slow thermal neutrons used in thermal-neutron reactors. Such a fast reactor needs no neutron moderator, but requires fuel that is relatively rich in fissile material when compared to that required for a thermal-neutron reactor. Around 20 land based fast reactors have been built, accumulating over 400 reactor years of operation globally. The largest of this was the Superphénix Sodium cooled fast reactor in France that was designed to deliver 1,242 MWe. Fast reactors have been intensely studied since the 1950s, as they provide certain advantages over the existing fleet of water cooled and water moderated reactors. These are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integral fast reactor</span> Nuclear reactor design

The integral fast reactor is a design for a nuclear reactor using fast neutrons and no neutron moderator. IFR would breed more fuel and is distinguished by a nuclear fuel cycle that uses reprocessing via electrorefining at the reactor site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhabha Atomic Research Centre</span> Nuclear research facility in Mumbai, India

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 1954 as a multidisciplinary research program essential for India's nuclear program. It operates under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research</span> Indias premier nuclear research centre

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is one of India's premier nuclear research centres. It is the second largest establishment of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), next to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), located at Kalpakkam, 80 km south of Chennai, India. It was established in 1971 as an exclusive centre dedicated to the pursuit of fast reactor science and technology, due to the vision of Vikram Sarabhai. Originally, it was called Reactor Research Centre (RRC). It was renamed to Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) by the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in December 1985. The centre is engaged in broad-based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering directed towards the development of fast breeder reactor technology in India.

Generation IVreactors are nuclear reactor design technologies that are envisioned as successors of generation III reactors. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) – an international organization that coordinates the development of generation IV reactors – specifically selected six reactor technologies as candidates for generation IV reactors. The designs target improved safety, sustainability, efficiency, and cost. The World Nuclear Association in 2015 suggested that some might enter commercial operation before 2030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium-cooled fast reactor</span> Type of nuclear reactor cooled by molten sodium

A sodium-cooled fast reactor is a fast neutron reactor cooled by liquid sodium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras Atomic Power Station</span> Nuclear power plant south of Chennai, India

Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) located at Kalpakkam about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Chennai, India, is a comprehensive nuclear power production, fuel reprocessing, and waste treatment facility that includes plutonium fuel fabrication for fast breeder reactors (FBRs). It is also India's first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station, with two units each generating 220 MW of electricity. The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985, respectively. The station has reactors housed in a reactor building with double shell containment improving protection also in the case of a loss-of-coolant accident. An Interim Storage Facility (ISF) is also located in Kalpakkam.

The advanced heavy-water reactor (AHWR) or AHWR-300 is the latest Indian design for a next-generation nuclear reactor that burns thorium in its fuel core. It is slated to form the third stage in India's three-stage fuel-cycle plan. This phase of the fuel cycle plan was supposed to be built starting with a 300 MWe prototype in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast Breeder Test Reactor</span> Breeder reactor in Tamil Nadu, India

The Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) is a breeder reactor located at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India. The Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) jointly designed, constructed, and operate the reactor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquid fluoride thorium reactor</span> Type of nuclear reactor that uses molten material as fuel

The liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a type of molten salt reactor. LFTRs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoride-based molten (liquid) salt for fuel. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary salt. The secondary salt then transfers its heat to a steam turbine or closed-cycle gas turbine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India's three-stage nuclear power programme</span> Indias nuclear energy progamme envisioned by Homi J. Bhabha

India's three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha, the well-known physicist, in the 1950s to secure the country's long term energy independence, through the use of uranium and thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. The ultimate focus of the programme is on enabling the thorium reserves of India to be utilised in meeting the country's energy requirements. Thorium is particularly attractive for India, as India has only around 1–2% of the global uranium reserves, but one of the largest shares of global thorium reserves at about 25% of the world's known thorium reserves. However, thorium is more difficult to use than uranium as a fuel because it requires breeding, and global uranium prices remain low enough that breeding is not cost effective.

Shivram Baburao Bhoje is a distinguished Indian nuclear scientist who worked in the field of fast-breeder nuclear reactor technology for forty years in the design, construction, operation, and research and development. Indian government has honoured him with Padma Shri in 2003, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for his distinguished service to science and engineering fields.

The BN-800 reactor is a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor, built at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station, in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. The reactor is designed to generate 880 MW of electrical power. The plant was considered part of the weapons-grade Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement signed between the United States and Russia. The reactor is part of the final step for a plutonium-burner core The plant reached its full power production in August 2016. According to Russian business journal Kommersant, the BN-800 project cost 140.6 billion rubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BN-1200 reactor</span> Fast breeder nuclear reactor under development in Russia

The BN-1200 reactor is a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor project, under development by OKBM Afrikantov in Zarechny, Russia. The BN-1200 is based on the earlier BN-600 and especially BN-800, with which it shares a number of features. The reactor's name comes from its electrical output, nominally 1220 MWe.

The Fast Breeder Reactor-600 (FBR-600) or Indian Fast Breeder Reactor (IFBR) or Commercial Fast Breeder Reactor (CFBR) is a 600-MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor design presently being designed as part of India's three-stage nuclear power programme to commercialise the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor built at Kalpakkam. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is responsible for the design of this reactor as a successor for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). The 1st twin unit would come up within the BHAVINI premises at Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam, close to the PFBR site itself.

The BREST reactor is a Russian conceptual design for a lead-cooled fast reactor based on a generation IV reactor. Two designs are planned, the BREST-300 and the BREST-1200. The main characteristics of the BREST reactor are passive safety and a closed fuel cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IPHWR</span> Indian nuclear reactor design

The IPHWR is a class of Indian pressurized heavy-water reactors designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The baseline 220 MWe design was developed from the CANDU based RAPS-1 and RAPS-2 reactors built at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan. Later the design was based on VVER technology which was scaled to 540 MW and 700 MW designs. Currently there are 17 units of various types operational at various locations in India.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/why-is-indias-first-indigenous-fast-breeder-reactor-significant-13745361.html
  2. ↑ https://www.barc.gov.in/barc_nl/2022/2022030409.pdf
  3. ↑ https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/india-first-indigenous-fast-breeder-reactor-kalpakkam-nuclear-9212492/
  4. 1 2 3 "Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 330, Budget Session 2021" (PDF). Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  5. ↑ Baldev Raj, S.C. Chetal and P. Chellapandi (8 January 2010). "Great expectations". Nuclear Engineering International.
  6. ↑ "BHEL achieves breakthrough in the Nuclear Power segment; Wins order for new rating, indigenously-developed 700 MWe Nuclear Sets based on Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors | Official Website of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, New Delhi, India". www.bhel.com. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  7. 1 2 "PM witnesses the historic "Commencement of Core Loading" at India's first indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor (500 MWe) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "How India's beaches can unlock a nuclear-powered future". www.downtoearth.org.in. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "PM watches core loading of first indigenous fast breeder reactor". The Times of India. 5 March 2024. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  10. ↑ "Explained | Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)". Onmanorama. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  11. ↑ MacKay, David J. C. (20 February 2009). Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air. UIT Cambridge Ltd. p. 166. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  12. ↑ Rodricks, Dan (9 May 2011). "Thor's nuclear-powered hammer". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "India plans to construct six more fast breeder reactors". The Economic Times. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam in integrated commissioning stage". THEWEEK. 15 December 2021.
  15. ↑ "Nuclear reactor at Kalpakkam: World's envy, India's pride". The Times of India. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  16. ↑ "India's First Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor Has a New Deadline. Should We Trust It?".
  17. ↑ "Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam in integrated commissioning stage". The Week .
  18. ↑ "Core loading of India's 1st indigenous nuclear reactor in Kalpakkam on Monday". The New Indian Express. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  19. ↑ Republic Day Address, BARC Director.
  20. 1 2 Raj, Baldev (30 October 2009). "Design Robustness and Safety Adequacy of India's Fast Breeder Reactor". Science & Global Security. 17 (2–3): 194–196. Bibcode:2009S&GS...17..194R. doi:10.1080/08929880903451397. S2CID   119918317.
  21. ↑ "Design of 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.