{"id":21236,"date":"2025-04-20T09:17:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T03:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=21236"},"modified":"2025-05-28T12:54:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T07:24:30","slug":"pfbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/pfbr\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s First Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>India\u2019s First Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>India\u2019s first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu is likely to be commissioned next year, marking the second stage of India&#8217;s three-stage nuclear programme.<\/p>\n<h2>About India\u2019s First Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is a\u00a0<strong>500 MWe sodium-cooled reactor<\/strong>\u00a0located in\u00a0<strong>Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The PFBR was\u00a0<strong>developed by BHAVINI (Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited),<\/strong>\u00a0a\u00a0<strong>government enterprise\u00a0<\/strong>set up in 2003\u00a0<strong>under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0<strong>focus on fast breeder reactors.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Construction began in 2004 and the reactor was originally expected to be completed in September 2010, but faced a series of delays.<\/li>\n<li>Unlike traditional nuclear reactors, the\u00a0<strong>PFBR uses fast neutrons for energy generation\u00a0<\/strong>and<strong>\u00a0employs liquid sodium as a coolant\u00a0<\/strong>instead of water.<\/li>\n<li>The innovative design\u00a0<strong>enables the reactor to breed more fuel than it consumes,<\/strong>\u00a0offering a\u00a0<strong>sustainable solution<\/strong>\u00a0to India\u2019s growing energy demands.<\/li>\n<li>The PFBR is<strong>\u00a0powered by plutonium and uranium-based mixed oxide fuel (MOX)<\/strong>, which ensures\u00a0<strong>high efficiency<\/strong>\u00a0in power generation.<\/li>\n<li>Its\u00a0<strong>advanced sodium cooling system allows operation at higher temperatures,\u00a0<\/strong>enhancing overall efficiency.<\/li>\n<li>Additionally, the reactor incorporates\u00a0<strong>robust safety features,<\/strong>\u00a0including a\u00a0<strong>strong containment structure and passive cooling systems\u00a0<\/strong>that prevent overheating.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>India&#8217;s Three-Stage Nuclear Programme<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India has adopted a three-stage nuclear power programme, with the\u00a0<strong>long-term goal of deploying a thorium-based closed nuclear fuel cycle.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The<strong>\u00a0first stage<\/strong>\u00a0involves the\u00a0<strong>use of pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), fuelled by natural uranium,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>light water reactors.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The<strong>\u00a0second stage<\/strong>\u00a0involves r<strong>eprocessing used fuel from the first stage to recover the plutonium to fuel FBRs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>In stage 3, Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs)<\/strong>\u00a0will\u00a0<strong>burn thorium-plutonium fuels\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>breed fissile uranium-233.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/first-of-its-kind-prototype-breeder-reactor-to-be-commissioned-by-september-2026\/articleshow\/120426007.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TOI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a 500 MWe sodium-cooled reactor located in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[198,21,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-21236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-indias-first-prototype-fast-breeder-reactor","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}