Future trends for back end of the nuclear fuel cycle - Indian scenario

Nuclear power has a key role in meeting the energy demand of India. This can be sustained by ensuring robust technology for the back end of the fuel cycle. India's option on 'Recovery and Recycle' is well known since it has the potential to both ensure adequate supply of nuclear fuel and to reduce the long term radio-toxicity of the wastes. Thus, the emphasis should be on waste minimization, environment protection, safety and security. At the same time, public acceptance for a waste repository is an essential element to sustain and expand the nuclear power. Indian Nuclear Power Programme is based on parallel paths comprising of PHWRs and FBRs fuelled from reprocessed PHWR and FBR spent fuel as well as Thorium reactors in the third stage. Thus, we have to address reprocessing of oxide as well as metallic fuels. Even though, we have good experience on aqueous reprocessing industrially, enough scope and opportunities exist for advancement in PUREX flow sheet leading to minimization of the processing steps thereby improving the subsequent waste management. For metallic FBR fuels, Pyro-based reprocessing technologies attract strong interest in view of compactness and ability to address short cooled metallic fuels. This offers a great challenge for electrometallurgical separation. Developing effective and safe management for radioactive wastes is essential. Besides, waste minimization, reducing the radio-toxicity of the high level liquid waste (HLLW) would be a crucial driver to address reduction/elimination of uncertainties about the long term performance of waste repositories