"We have the design and the technology to install a 300MW thorium-based reactor. It is going through the process of regulatory clearance. We will start work on it in the Eleventh Plan (2007-2012) period... and we hope to complete the work within seven years," the paper quoted Dr. Baldev Raj, director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, as saying.
He said that India is the only country in the world with adequate reserves of thorium to make building this type of reactor financially viable.
"As of today, no other country in the world is doing any research on thorium-based reactors as they do not have adequate thorium reserves," Dr. Raj said, adding that this would be a major technological achievement for the country as thorium-based reactors would see the completion of India's nuclear fuel cycle.
The first stage of India's nuclear program saw pressurized heavy water reactors which created plutonium. With its vast thorium resources along the Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts, the country does not need to worry about its future fuel needs, Dr. Raj said.
Experts point out that with thorium producing radioactive waste that has a half life 10 to 10,000 times less than that produced by uranium or plutonium reactors, the chances of any hazards are fewer in thorium reactors.
According to Dr. Raj, work on the 500MW fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam is progressing according to schedule.
"We are sure that the FBR will be commissioned by September 2010. It will start supplying power to the national grid by March 2011. We have almost finished the civil construction work. The reactor vault has been completed without any problems. The main vessel of the reactor, the safety vessel, core structure, control rod drives, fuel-handling mechanism are all in various stages of completion. From the end of September, we will start loading all components into the building," he said.
