Why are thorium reactors still decades away from commercial deployment?

Although achieving criticality of the fast breeder reactor in Kalpakkam has brought India closer to its nuclear roadmap, “third phase” – which involves mass use of thorium – is still several decades away. Business Today analyzes why India, despite possessing 25% of the world's thorium reserves, is still waiting for energy independence

Ten years have passed since the Indian government provisionally approved the Tarapur location in Maharashtra for the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) that would use thorium. Yet, the project remains in the research and development phase. While experts emphasize that thorium could bring energy independence amid the conflict in the Middle East, commercial success is lacking – according to Business Today analysis.

Interestingly, last year the American startup Clean Core Thorium Energy received a license to sell its thorium fuel to Indian PHWR reactors, while domestic projects await priority.

The main reason why thorium is “on hold” is physics. Unlike uranium, thorium in nature does not contain fissile isotopes. To become fuel, it must be bred in reactors using fissile material such as plutonium or uranium-233.

This means that mass use of thorium can begin only when India has enough plutonium from its fast breeder reactors (FBRs), which make up the second phase of the nuclear program. Only after the fast reactors (such as the one in Kalpakkam that achieved criticality on April 6) enter mass use will the conditions be created for the thorium phase. And that is a process that will take decades.

Former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, explains that the delay is not of a scientific nature.

“At that time, plutonium was needed for other purposes, and fast reactors had to be given priority," he said.

Additionally, increased availability of imported uranium in recent years has reduced the urgency of developing the complex thorium fuel cycle, which requires elaborate processing and handling of highly radioactive spent fuel.

And India's thorium reserves could generate an incredible 358,000 gigawatt-years of electricity, which is enough to meet the country's needs in the coming century and beyond. Therefore, experts warn that India must more decisively move thorium from the laboratory into the commercial phase by integrating the AHWR reactor into the roadmap that envisions 500 gigawatts of clean energy.

According to Kakodkar, India's aspiration to become a developed nation is inseparable from the use of thorium, and all resources must be directed toward this natural resource.

Source: Business Today