US firm & NTPC to team up, fuel India's thorium ambitions, Pg5

Key Highlights:

• Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE), a US firm, will partner with NTPC Ltd to develop thorium as an alternative nuclear reactor fuel.
• NTPC's board has approved a minority equity investment in CCTE, pending approval from the Ministry of Power, to achieve 30GWe atomic energy capacity by 2047.
• The partnership aims to deploy thorium-based fuel in India's Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), enhancing energy and fuel security.
• The SHANTI Act, 2025, allows private sector involvement in India's nuclear power sector, including foreign participation and fuel management.

Detailed Insights:

• CCTE's fuel, ANEEL, blends thorium with High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), suitable for existing PHWRs, enhancing energy security and proliferation resistance.
• Thorium, more abundant than uranium in India, produces less long-lived radioactive waste, aligning with India's long-term energy independence strategy.
• Anil Kakodkar suggests using existing PHWR capacity to convert thorium to fissile uranium using HALEU, accelerating India's three-stage nuclear program.
• Recycling used fuel from PHWRs can establish additional nuclear capacity, including Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs), promoting faster energy independence.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Thorium: A radioactive metallic element considered as an alternative to uranium in nuclear reactors.
• PHWR (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor): A type of nuclear reactor that uses heavy water as its coolant and moderator.
• HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium): A type of uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% U-235.