NUCLEAR POWER SCENARIO IN INDIA : REALITY

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Indian Nuclear Power

Programme

It’s Three stage nuclear power programme.

Stage 1 - PHWR(Pressure Heavy Water Reactor)

Stage 2 - FBTR (Fast Breeder Test Reactor)Stage 3 - AHWR thorium

(Advanced Heavy Water Reactor)

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Stage – I PHWRs

• 14 - Operating

• 4 - Under construction

• Several others planned

• Scaling to 700 MWe

• Gestation period has

been reduced• POWER POTENTIAL

10,000 MWe

LWRs

• 2 BWRs Operating

• 2 VVERs under

construction

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Avail

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Three Stage Nuclear Power Programme

Stage - II

Fast Breeder Reactors

• 40 MWth FBTR -

Operating since 1985

Technology Objectives

realised

• 500 MWe PFBR-

Under Construction

• POWER POTENTIAL

530,000 MWe

Stage - III

Thorium Based Reactors

• 30 kWth KAMINI- Operating

• 300 MWe AHWR-

Under Development

POWER POTENTIAL IS

VERY LARGE

Availability of ADS can enable

early introduction of

Thorium on a large

scale

World class

performance

Globally Advanced

TechnologyGlobally Unique

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India’s Nuclear Resource Base

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Aim of programme

A closed fuel cycle approach involving

reprocessing of spent fuel to separate the useful

fissile and fertile isotopes from spent fuel and

reusing them in nuclear reactors has been adopted

as a guiding principle for our nuclear energy

programme to ensure long term energy security for

the country

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India’s Nuclear Power Programme

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NUCLEAR POWERINDIAN stand

Clean source of energy along with otherrenewable sources

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ADVANTAGES

ECO FRIENDLY

ENORMOUS ENERGY

AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY

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FISSION- NEUTRONS rule the

nuclear reactor

The opposite of fission is fusion. Sun is a natural fusion reactor constantly producing energy that sustains life on earth. 11

NUCLEAR POWER : A DANGEROUS

TECHNOLOGY

HAZARDS OF RADIOACTIVITY

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REACTOR SAFETY

HEADACHE OF NUCLEAR WASTE

NOT SUSTAINABLE

POTENTIAL TERRORISTS TARGET

“ The more nuclear power plants, higher is the probability of nuclear disaster ”

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Nuclear accidents & protests in INDIA November 2009 Fifty-five employees consume

radioactive material after tritiated water finds its way into the drinking water cooler in Kaiga Generating Station.

January 2003 Failure of a valve in the Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant in Tamil Nadu results in the release of high-level waste, exposing six workers to high doses of radiation. The leaking area of the plant had no radiation monitors or mechanisms to detect valve failure.

December 1991 A leak from pipelines at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Maharashtra, results in severe Cs-137 soil contamination. Local vegetation was also found to be contaminated. 14

“ If Japan isn’t capable of protecting its nuclear power plants from earthquakes/tsunamis, is India smarter ? ”

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FBR Design

1) Highly enriched uranium

or plutonium

2) Control rods (same

material as core)

3) Depleted uranium

4) Heat is transferred from

primary to secondary

sodium

5) Heat is transferred from

secondary sodium to

water

Figure: Baksiden, modified by Martin Metzner17

Nuclear Fuel

Initially FBRs were designed to use pure uranium oxide fuel

Eventually switched to MOX◦ Mixed oxide fuel (MOX):

Mixture of UO2 and PuO2

Already an existing source of fissile plutonium◦ Nuclear warheads

Highly enriched, former USSR and USA currently dismantling arsenals

◦ Depleted PWR fuel Low enrichment caused by the fusion of U-238 and a

neutron

Must be processed before it can be used

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Fast Breeder Reactors vs. Pressurized Water

Reactors

FBR

◦ Fuel is enriched to

15-20%

◦ Moderator: none

◦ Heat transfer by

liquid metal or metal

alloys

Typically sodium

◦ Reactor under low

pressure

◦ ~1.2 fissile atoms

produced per fission

PWR

◦ Fuel is enriched to

3-5%

◦ Moderator: water

◦ Heat transfer by

water

◦ Reactor under high

pressure

◦ Fissile material is

only consumed

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ADVANCED HEAVY WATER REACTOR

4

15

5

6

10

911

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1214

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8

3

2

7

1

2 Primary Containment

1 Secondary Containment

3 Gravity Driven Water Pool

4 Isolation Condenser

5 Passive Containment Isolation Duct

6 Vent Pipe

7 Tail Pipe Tower

8 Steam Drum

9 100 M Floor

10 Fuelling Machine

11 Deck Plate

13 Header

14 Pile Supports

15 Advanced Accumulator

17 Passive Containment Cooler

16 Pre - Stressing Gallery

12 Calandria with End Shield

• Structured peer

review

completed

• Pre-licensing

design safety

appraisal by

AERB in

progress

• BASIC DATA

FUEL : U-233/THORIUM MOX

+ Pu-239/THORIUM MOX

COOLANT : BOILING LIGHT

WATER

MODERATOR : HEAVY WATER

POWER : 300 MW(e)

920 MW(t)

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Written

Editing

Formatting

by

Madhumitha (EE12B1005)

Mohamed Sha(EE12B1006)

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