Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant: India has achieved a milestone in its civil nuclear energy program. The spontaneous nuclear chain reaction has started at the Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. On April 6, the prototype fast breeder reactor of the Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant achieved criticality. With this achievement, India has also realized the dream of Homi J. Bhabha. Homi J. Bhabha saw the dream of automatic nuclear chain reaction in a nuclear power plant in the 1950s. Bhabha developed a program that could provide the country with cheap, clean energy for a long time by using thorium. Now, under the rule of PM Modi, Indian engineers have achieved this feat.
India has now become the second country, after Russia, to have a nuclear chain reaction in automatic mode. This will make the country energy self-sufficient and a major step towards the 2070 net-zero goal.
This 500-megawatt prototype fast breeder reactor, built in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, was developed by India’s nuclear company Bhavini (Bhabha Nuclear Fuel Complex). This reactor uses a plutonium-uranium mixed fuel, with liquid sodium as the coolant. While conventional nuclear reactors burn fuel, fast breeder reactors produce more fuel. This means they produce more new fissile material than they consume, enabling the chain reaction.
Achieving criticality means the chain reaction is now running automatically. The reactor is not only generating energy but also storing fuel for future use. This technology is very complex because the liquid sodium must be kept heated to 550 degrees. Any small error can affect the entire system.
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