SHANTI Act: How thorium can power India’s path to energy independence, Pg16

Key Highlights:

• The SHANTI Act 2025 aims to open India's nuclear energy sector to public, private, academic, and industrial participation.
• India's nuclear energy mission targets 100 GWe by 2047, largely dependent on imported uranium for thermal reactors.
• Global uranium resources may only sustain the reactor fleet in once-through mode for about three decades.
• Thorium recycling offers energy independence and reduces proliferation risk, leveraging India's large thorium reserves.
• India's three-stage nuclear power program includes Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) to utilize thorium resources.
• Irradiating thorium in Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) using High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel can boost uranium-233 production.

Detailed Insights:

• India's reliance on imported uranium poses sustainability challenges for its nuclear energy goals, given limited domestic uranium ores and increasing global demand.
• Nuclear recycling, particularly thorium recycling, is crucial for long-term sustainability, increasing fuel energy potential by 50-100 fold.
• The development of metal-fueled FBRs with fuel recycling is essential for achieving short doubling times needed for rapid capacity growth.
• Utilizing PHWRs to irradiate thorium with HALEU fuel offers benefits in economics, safety, and proliferation resistance, achieving burn-up levels comparable to light water reactors.
• Development of Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR)-based Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and green hydrogen production technologies should be prioritized.
• The pyrochemical nuclear recycling process can be used as a common back-end technology for TMSRs, SMRs and metal-fuelled fast reactors.
• Accelerated irradiation testing and demonstration in PHWRs, along with leveraging international cooperation, are necessary for qualifying HALEU-thorium fuel.

Key Concepts Involved:

• SHANTI Act 2025: Legislation promoting public and private sector involvement in India's nuclear energy program.
• Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs): Reactors that breed more fissile material than they consume, using fast neutrons.
• Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR): A type of nuclear reactor that uses thorium as fuel in a molten salt form.
• High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU): Uranium enriched between 5% and 20% U-235, used in advanced reactor designs.