Partial thorium loading in the initial core of Kakrapar Atomic Power Reactor

Kakrapar-1 reactor of 220 MWe capacity has become critical with a part of the initial core loaded with thorium oxide fuel bundles - for the first time in the world. In the reactor core, 35 thorium bundles have been loaded in 35 different channels. No channel has more than one thorium bundle. Configuration for thorium bundle loading was arrived through a dynamic programming approach. The configuration gives a satisfactory power flattening without reducing the reactivity worth of any of the different systems of the safety mechanism. (M.G.B.)