Safeguards-by-Design (SBD) Concepts for Thorium-based Fuel Fabrication Facilities

IntroductionIndia is a nation with a large population and is undergoing rapideconomic growth. A large section of rural poor do not haveaccess to modern energy services and rely on non-commercialsources such as firewood, crop residue, and animal waste. Rapideconomic growth and a desire to have access to modern energyservices are fuelling a strong demand for electricity. The presentshare of electricity from nuclear energy to the national grid isabout 3 percent; the policy framework of the Indian governmentenvisages a many-fold increase in nuclear installed capacity in thenear future. The present installed nuclear generation capacity isabout 5 GW, which is projected to grow to 63 GW by the year2032.1 India started working on a nuclear power program morethan sixty years ago. Considering its nuclear fuel resource profile,which consists of modest reserves of uranium and large depositsof thorium, India has unwaveringly followed a closed fuel cycleapproach from the inception of nuclear power program. Sincethe objective is to eventually use thorium for power generation,this translates into a three-stage nuclear program (Figure1). Inthe first stage of the program, power generation is by naturaluranium in pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). PHWRsare natural uranium fuelled, heavy-water moderated and cooledreactors. The reactors have a horizontal configuration and are fuelledonline, and the fuel is charged and discharged every day.