CHENNAI: Baldev Raj, Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, has been elected chairman of a seven-country international project to define a future fast reactor with closed nuclear fuel cycle (FR with CNFC) that will contribute to the generation of 300 GWe to 500 GWe of nuclear power by 2050. This futuristic reactor will meet seven specific requirements: safety, economy, non-proliferation, technology, environmental concerns, waste management and infrastructure.

The seven countries are India, Russia, China, France, Japan, South Korea and Ukraine.

They represent half of the world's population. The U.S. and Canada are likely to join the project. The initiative is under the auspices of the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycle, called INPRO, of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This reactor will have a capacity of 1000 MWe. The fuel that the reactor will use will be identified soon.

Dr. Baldev Raj said: "There is already a consensus in this world body (INPRO) that this new reactor system should satisfy the requirements of sustainability. We have estimated in this body that about 300 GWe to 500 GWe of nuclear power will be generated by fast reactors with closed nuclear fuel cycle by 2050. So you can imagine the impact that this new nuclear system [reactor] will have on power generation."

He pointed out that the cost of uranium — an important fuel for nuclear power reactors — had gone up three-fold in the past 10 years. Uranium resources were also limited worldwide. "So only FRs with CNFC will provide sustainability." The project to define the characteristics of the new reactor is called Joint Assessment Study on FRs with CNFC. (Unlike Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs), FRs will not breed fuel from the fuel they use. Closed nuclear fuel cycle means mastering the technology of reprocessing the spent fuel from the reactors).

There is worldwide interest in FRs and Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) . FBRs are operational in Russia. In India, the IGCAR has designed the 13 MWe Fast Breeder Test Reactor operational at Kalpakkam, 60 km from Chennai, and the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor under construction at Kalpakkam. India plans to build four more 500 MWe FBRs before 2020. France has Phenix breeder reactor. Japan has two breeders. China is building an experimental breeder reactor. Both India and China are keen on stepping up their pace of nuclear electricity generation through breeders, according to Dr. Baldev Raj.

Representatives from the seven-member countries of the project met three times at Obninsk, Russia; Vienna, Australia; and Kalpakkam to discuss the specifications of the new reactor. The meeting at Kalpakkam was held in March 2006 and it was at this meeting that Dr. Baldev Raj was elected leader of this international project/joint study. "We have assessed the world scenario of nuclear power to come to the conclusion that FRs with CNFC are an inevitable option if a large amount of energy is to be provided at a reasonable cost and less waste," he said.

INPRO has prepared a manual listing the scientific ways of this reference reactor.

The reactor would be assessed jointly as per this manual. "We can then say whether this reactor will meet the requirements of the future," Dr. Baldev Raj said. Research and development on the reactor would be done individually by some countries and others in a collaborative mode.

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