India News | FBTR Attains Design Power Level at 40 MWt

New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) India's Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at Kalpakkam attained its design power level of 40 MWt on Monday evening, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) Director B Venkatraman said.

The FBTR was commissioned in 1985 with 22 Mark-1 fuel sub-assemblies rated for 10.5 MWt and uses a unique plutonium-uranium carbide fuel that was specially designed for the reactor.

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The sodium-cooled reactor constitutes the second stage of India's three-staged nuclear programme for effective utilisation of the country's limited resources of natural uranium and large reserves of thorium.

The power of the reactor was gradually raised by adding fresh fuel sub-assemblies based on the performance of the mixed carbide fuel in terms of fuel liner heat rating and burn-up, Venkatraman said.

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However, with the limitation on reactivity in the core, the maximum power was limited to 32 MWt, which was achieved in 2018.

For raising the FBTR power , the core of the reactor was converted to a new 40MWt and all reactor physics parameters were measured to ensure safety, he said.

“Reactors was re-started with new core and power was raised to 40 MWt,” Venkatraman said.

He said the FBTR attained its design power level of 40MWt on March 7, 2022 at 5:30 p.m.

The main aim of the FBTR was to provide experience in fast reactor operation, large scale sodium handling and to serve as a test bed for irradiation of fast reactor fuels and materials.

Fast reactors use high energy neutrons to sustain the fission process, in contrast to water-cooled reactors that use 'thermal' (low energy) neutrons. Fast reactors are commonly known as breeders because they breed more fuel than they consume.

Homi Bhabha, the pioneer of India's nuclear programme, had spelt out a three-stage programme, with the first stage being a fleet of pressurised heavy water reactor using natural uranium as fuel.

The second stage comprises breeder reactors that will used plutonium reprocessed from the spent fuel of PHWRs and their depleted uranium.

In the third stage, the country's vast thorium reserves and uranium-233 produced in the breeders will be used to generate electricity.

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