CleanImperatives of Energy-

Nuclear Power can Meet the Challenge

S A BhardwajDAE Homi Bhabha Chairsabhardwaj@npcil.co.in

Securing India's Clean Energy Future- Role of Nuclear Energy, 14 October 2014, New Delhi

James WattSteam Engine

Natural Resources for Nuclear Power

UraniumThorium

Mined Uranium

Only 0.7% ( the Uranium 235 isotope) of this is fissile fuel

Rest is Uranium 238

Initiates power production in current reactors of the world

On operation of current reactors the small Uranium 235 isotope produces

Electricity

Radioactive waste

Small quantity of synthetic fuel Plutonium ( from uranium 238)

Unused Uranium

Radioactive waste

Smaller quantity of synthetic fuel Plutonium

Unused Uranium

Plutonium and radioactive waste remain embedded in the unused uranium. The whole spent fuel is treated as radioactive nuclear waste in many countries at present.

SPENT FUEL- RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Radioactive waste

Smaller quantity of synthetic fuel Plutonium

Unused Uranium

On the contrary, if the spent fuel is reprocessed through chemical process it opens possibility of accessing energy potential of large unused uranium -a precious resource.

This is the objective of the THREE STAGE NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME conceived by Dr Bhabha way back in mid fifties

ReprocessingA unique feature of nuclear energy is that used fuel may be chemically reprocessed to recover recyclable materials to provide fresh fuel for future nuclear power plants.

Reprocessing of spent fuel also reduces the volume of high-level wastes

Recycling the reprocessed Plutonium and uranium

synthetic fuel Plutonium

Unused Uranium

+ portion of unused uranium

Make fuel for FAST BREEDER REACTORSwithout any additional mining

FAST BREEDER REACTORS•Plutonium mixed with used uranium(mostly uranium 238) when used as fuel produce more plutonium from uranium than the consumption of plutonium. They BREED fuel.•The nuclear installed capacity grows.•No mining required. The large amount of unused uranium from previous thermal reactor becomes a resource.•Long half life plutonium gets consumed

FAST BREEDER REACTORS

Unused UraniumElectricity

Make fuel for more FAST BREEDER REACTORSwithout any additional mining

More Plutonium, thus Reactors possible

September 24, 2013

Atomic Goal: 800 Years of Power From WasteBELLEVUE, Wash. — In a drab one-story building here, set between an indoor tennis club and a home appliance showroom, dozens of engineers, physicists and nuclear experts are chasing a radical dream of Bill Gates.

Use nuclear waste to power UK, says top scientist

Global supplies of uranium will begin to run out in 2023 when UK will rely on domestic nuclear

supply, predicts Sir David King

Fast reactor starts clean nuclear energy era in RussiaJune 27, 2014

Controlled nuclear fission has been started in Russia’s newest fast breeder reactor in the Urals, heralding a closed nuclear fuel cycle and a future without nuclear waste. Russia is the only country that operates fast neutron reactors industrially.The next generation BN-800 breeder reactor (880 megawatts) assembled at Russia’s Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant has been put in the so-called critical state on Friday, a week after all necessary nuclear fuel was loaded into the active zone.The press service of Rosenergoatom, the electric energy generation branch of Russia’s nuclear monopoly, Rosatom, has confirmed to the RIA news agency that nuclear reaction in the BN-800 reactor has been initiated.

Thorium

Unused Uranium

Electricity

Thorium

Thorium

Thorium – uranium233Power plants

Uranium233

A unique feature of nuclear energy is that used fuel may be reprocessed to recover recyclable materials to provide fresh fuel for future nuclear power plants.Reprocessing of spent fuel also reduces the volume of high-level wastes – though small in volume is high in radioactivity and a small fraction of this has very long radioactive life.

The waste is composed of different elements. In principle the chemical reprocessing can be extended to separate out very long lived components of waste- PARTITION the waste.

Clean Energy

•Nuclear power produce no green house gases.• The very small highly radioactive waste generated so far is being vitrified.•In coming times partitioning of waste will be possible and it can be transmuted in fast neutron reactors to make such waste negligibly small.•Thorium will not add to long term waste.

Nuclear power is a clean energy source potential to be available for coming centuries, in large capacity and with round the clock availability.

Thanks for your kind attention