India is on the brink of a nuclear innovation that could redefine its energy future. But there's a problem. At the tail end of 2022, the spokesman for India's Department of Atomic Energy announced that its new advanced reactor, the ambitious prototype fast breeder reactor, faced additional delays and was extending its completion to late 2024. So what's happening on the Kodankulam reactor? Your predecessor said that the delays will damage the reactor.
Now the delays are happening. because you're not able to commission the reactor. Is the reactor damaged? What is wrong? It has been 38 years running and you still don't have the prototype fast breeder reactor, which is 20 years in the making.
While setbacks on nuclear projects aren't new, the prototype fast breeder reactor has the rather uncomfortable distinction of being in the running for the most delayed nuclear project in history, having been initially designed in 1983 and supposed to be up and running before 2000. Even by nuclear industry standards, things are extremely late. But this isn't just about missed deadlines, because this reactor is key to a much larger plan. Unlike most other countries, which focus on only a single technology, like water-cooled reactors, decades ago, India mapped out a distinct three-stage strategy for its nuclear program that is as ambitious as it is complicated. But it's one that could unlock centuries of cheap, sustainable energy. So to find out how India, a country eager for progress, can get its nuclear energy program moving again, we need to answer a few basic questions.
First, what exactly sets India's nuclear energy ambitions apart from the rest of the world? Why, despite its potential, is India's nuclear development stuck in perpetual delays? And, perhaps most critically, is there a solution? Once we do that, we can put India, now the most populated country on earth, on the Atomic Blender Nuclear Energy Leaderboard.
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What the country does have, though, is a whole lot of a related element, thorium. Thorium is an alternative fuel for nuclear power that was first explored in the 1950s and 60s, but was generally abandoned in favor of uranium, partly because of economics, and partly because uranium was just seen as an easier route. Thorium does have the potential as a fuel source, especially for a country like India that holds as much as 25% of the world's supply, a lot of it literally sitting on the sands of its beaches.
But there's just one small problem. Natural thorium can't be used in nuclear reactors directly. It has to first be converted into uranium.
The trick is to be able to convert enough of the thorium to run a power plant. This gave Indian scientists an idea, and in 1954 they sketched out a master plan, aiming to make the most of their scarce uranium resources. The goal was clear. Use what's available smartly and prepare the groundwork for something bigger. If they could figure out a way to convert the vast amounts of thorium into uranium, they'd have access to centuries of energy.
But it wasn't going to be a direct route. To get to thorium, they'd have to do it piece by piece. through a three-stage plan. The first step had to be very efficient and use what little uranium the country had carefully. So physicists turned to the most efficient design available, heavy water reactors.
Why? Because these plants could run on natural uranium. There was no need to develop and build the expensive facilities to enrich uranium like the reactors used in the US.
It was a strategic move to avoid the large investments while getting started sooner. By the 1960s, this plan wasn't just on paper anymore. India bought its first nuclear plants, two relatively modest 200-megawatt heavy water reactors from Canada, and thus the first stage was set in motion. But these weren't just for lighting up homes and powering new industries. There was a dual purpose.
Generate electricity, sure, but also produce plutonium. When natural uranium is struck by a neutron, it doesn't always fission. Some of it absorbs the extra neutron and converts itself into plutonium through a process called transmutation. Once it's converted, the plutonium can be extracted and used later.
So besides being very efficient with uranium, heavy water reactors excel at producing plutonium. And for this plan to work, India was going to need a lot of plutonium. But then in 1974, India's nuclear journey hit a very large speed bump. Just two years after their first Canadian-supplied reactor went online, the Indian Army tested an atomic bomb.
The reaction from the international community was swift. Canada cut off all of its nuclear dealings with India, completely isolating them. But despite this, with the technology transfer from Canada already completed, the heavy water design would lay the groundwork for nearly all of India's future plants. And they didn't just stick with what they got from Canada.
They scaled up, domestically designing and building reactors as large as 700 megawatts. Today, India operates 17 heavy water reactors capable of producing nearly 5 gigawatts of electricity. That's an impressive fleet, but there's a catch. Because India's uranium reserves are limited, there was always a cap.
The plan called for no more than 10 gigawatts using heavy water reactors. The plan was always to use the plutonium produced in these reactors as a stepping stone for the next stage in the grand plan. While heavy water reactors are great at making plutonium, they still end up consuming more uranium than the amount of plutonium they produce, which isn't great if you're trying to save a limited resource. But that's where a special type of reactor comes in called a breeder reactor. By arranging the plutonium in the center, it can operate like just any other nuclear plant.
And instead of using water to cool it, this design uses liquid sodium. It turns out this arrangement efficiently produces a lot of neutrons, many more than the heavy water reactor. So many that if we surround the plutonium with natural uranium, it becomes remarkably good at converting that uranium into plutonium as well. By using this arrangement, there are so many neutrons flying around that the amount of uranium converted into plutonium in the blanket is actually higher than the amount of plutonium fuel it consumes in the middle. It's called a breeder reactor for a reason.
It produces more fuel than it consumes. And this isn't some theoretical dream either. Countries like the US have demonstrated this design works in the past, operating the experimental breeder reactor too until 1994. France operated its massive SuperPhoenix breeder reactor, and Russia continues to operate two breeder reactors, having started up the latest in 2020. This design is at the center of stage two.
By feeding plutonium from the heavy water reactors and surrounding it with natural uranium, the breeder reactor creates an increasing feedback loop of plutonium while still efficiently producing electricity. India aims to join this exclusive club with its own design, the prototype fast breeder reactor. But as with any ambitious plan, challenges are waiting.
and this new reactor is a lesson in ambition meeting reality. The prototype fast breeder reactor was supposed to be a scaled up version of its predecessor, the fast breeder test reactor. I know, very creative names.
But as often happens, the devil was in the details. Scaling up meant dealing with a lot more of the sodium coolant, not to mention the specialized fuel and ensuring the integrity of all the components involved. Sodium, while excellent for cooling and efficiently making more fuel, comes with its own set of challenges. Unlike water, which is used in reactors around the world and is well understood by pretty much everyone, sodium is much more difficult.
Sodium reacts violently when it contacts water, so even small leaks due to simple things like corrosion can cause devastating problems. In order to prove that this new design could operate safely, India had to put enormous efforts into research and development. Test loops and rigs were built to demonstrate components would work as intended.
Experience from other operating breeder reactors in the US, France, and Russia also led to significant design changes over time, further delaying the project. There was also pressure to simplify the design and ensure economic viability. After all, the goal wasn't just to build a single reactor, but to build a whole fleet of them. This meant that the design needed to be both simpler to construct and cheaper to run.
India's commitment to self-reliance added another layer of complexity. Opting for domestic design and fabrication meant the country was largely on its own to develop the technology required. All of these factors led to the project's spiraling costs, a nearly quarter-century delay.
Despite these challenges, the Indian government's support hasn't wavered, with budgets continuing to fund the first startup expected in 2024. While skeptics might point to the continual, it'll happen next year, there's no denying the importance of the prototype fast breeder reactor, because its success leads to the third and final stage of India's grand plan, thorium. While thorium has had a bit of a resurgence in popularity elsewhere in recent years, it's always been part of India's original plan since the 1950s. I've already made two videos on thorium, so I don't want to repeat too much here.
But essentially, thorium can act as an efficient alternative fuel to uranium. And just like natural uranium can be converted into plutonium in breeder reactors, thorium can be converted into something just as valuable, uranium-233. Since India has massive reserves of thorium, you can start to see where this is going.
By replacing the natural uranium and instead introducing thorium into the blanket in the breeder reactors, India plans to convert it into usable uranium-233. The final stage is to then take this newly created uranium-233 and put it in the center of its own breeder reactor and, as you probably guessed, surround it with more thorium. Once this final cycle is self-sufficient, there's no need for the first two stages anymore and the process can go on literally for centuries.
This makes India unique. in that it's the only country with a national long-term plan of operating a fleet of nuclear reactors powered by thorium. So why has India's journey towards this sustainable future been more of a slow marathon rather than a sprint?
Well, from the beginning, India decided to take the road less traveled. After first importing reactor technology from Canada, India set its sights on achieving self-reliance. Developing, designing, and deploying its own nuclear technology is a bold move given the complexity of atomic power. India is full of brilliant minds and some of the best scientists globally, but even the most ambitious projects still need a helping hand sometimes. The only other country operating a large breeder reactor today is Russia, which could at least, in theory, provide valuable insights and cooperation.
However, that's likely dependent on diplomatic relations between the two, which as we've seen, can change rapidly. Still, India's commitment to internal development means they're reluctant to seek potential collaborations. But India isn't alone in its nuclear ambitions. Around the world, Private companies are pushing the boundaries of nuclear technology.
Take Oklo in the United States. The California-based startup is building on the legacy of breeder reactors, aiming to bring efficient, small-scale plants to life. Then there's Copenhagen Atomics, which is working on plutonium-fueled thorium breeder reactors, just like India, only on a smaller scale.
The question then is, can India navigate through the technical mazes and bureaucratic hurdles that lie ahead? After all, India's ambition isn't just to be a member of the nuclear club, it's to lead it. Now let's see how India, a country forging its own path, does on the Atomic Blender nuclear energy leaderboard. Starting with size. India currently produces just over 40 terawatt hours of electricity annually from its nuclear stations, which is just above average for countries with nuclear energy.
So on a scale of 1 to 10, it gets a 6 out of 10. The country is still heavily dependent on coal, which makes up the vast majority of its electricity production. The remaining moderate amount of nuclear energy is spread thinly over India's massive population. accounting for just 3% of the total electrical output, which is well below that of other nuclear countries.
So, it gets a 2 out of 10. India has a decently long history of operating nuclear power, starting with its first reactor from Canada in the 1970s. However, performance hasn't been very good, with extended downtimes for maintenance and refurbishments, resulting in capacity factors that leave a lot to be desired. So for operating experience, it gets a 5 out of 10. Infrastructure Because of its domestic ambitions, India has developed an extensive supply chain, research labs, skilled personnel, and fabrication facilities.
While it has limited domestic uranium supplies, its plan to transition to what is essentially an unlimited supply of thorium means if it ever manages to get there, it'll be set for centuries. So it gets an easy 9 out of 10. Finally, growth. Very few countries have experienced as much nuclear expansion in the last decade as India, and more is expected in the future. with eight reactors currently under construction and many more planned. However, like China, that growth has been more or less only keeping up with increased demand, rather than expanding nuclear's share of the total.
Still, government support is exceptionally strong, with long-term policies that aim to continue that expansion for years to come. So, it gets an 8 out of 10. Overall, that gives India a final score of 6, tying it with the United Kingdom, a score that could be improved if its ambitious plans for breeder reactors and thorium ever take off. And remember to check out Brilliant to see everything they have to offer for free for a full 30 days at brilliant.org slash atomicblender, or click the link in the description.
You'll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. And if you'd like to see how the UK, another country struggling with nuclear delays, did, you should check out this video. And thanks for watching, I'll see you in the next one.