A Perspective on the Indian Programme on Fast Reactors and Associated Fuel Cycles

Fast reactors are expected to make a significant contribution to nuclear energy production in India in the coming decades. In line with this approach, India is pursuing an intense and comprehensive programme of development of fast reactors and associated fuel cycles. The Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) has been successful as a tool for irradiation experiments on fuels and advanced materials, qualification of instrumentation and equipment and as a resource for training of personnel for operation and maintenance. These apart, it has provided a vast operating experience of sodium systems, key components and sodium technology. Construction of the 500 MW(e) Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is nearing completion. R&D and qualification of reactor components has been almost completed and the commissioning activities have started. A test subassembly of 37 pins of PFBR fuel (MOX) has been irradiated in FBTR to a peak burnup of 112 GW·d/t. Manufacturing of the fuel and the subassemblies for the reactor is in progress. Towards establishing the next fast reactors in the series, several advanced design features to achieve improved economy and enhanced safety are under consideration. These design features, for example, would result in extended plant life (60 years), reduction in specific steel requirements (up to 25%), increased burnup, enhanced diversity in shutdown system, decay heat removal systems enhanced in-service inspection capabilities, etc. The long term approach is to exploit the high breeding potential of the metal alloy fuelled fast breeder reactors to enhance the rate of expansion of the fast reactor capacity. Towards establishing the metal fuelled reactors, R&D in a variety of domains has been initiated, which includes the fabrication and irradiation of sodium bonded and mechanically bonded metal alloy test pins in FBTR. Simultaneous with reactor development, the activities of establishing the associated fuel cycles have also been pursued. The mixed carbide fuel of FBTR irradiated up to 150 GW·d/t has been reprocessed and the closure of the fuel cycle of FBTR demonstrated. The development of pyroprocessing technology for metallic fuels is being undertaken on a lab scale for understanding the science behind the process steps and on an engineering scale to develop the equipment and processes that can be subsequently translated to plant scale. India is also addressing the gamut of other technologies associated with the development of fast reactors and fuel cycles including materials development and safety studies, inspection technologies, components testing, instrumentation development, etc. (author)