Ghatshila: India is looking to rely more on domestic uranium for its strategic fast breeder reactor programme, with Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) set to supply fuel for the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. The move is part of the country’s broader effort to reduce dependence on external fuel supplies for strategic nuclear facilities and strengthen long term energy security.
Why Fast Breeder Reactors Matter
UCIL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Kacham Anand Rao said the company would supply fuel for the Kalpakkam PFBR. Fast breeder reactors are an advanced nuclear technology that can generate electricity while also producing new fissile material. This ability gives them an important place in India’s nuclear energy programme. Fuel and nuclear material originating from imported uranium can be subject to international safeguards and conditions on their use, making domestic fuel particularly important for strategic facilities.
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India’s nuclear programme is designed to progress through three stages. In the first stage, spent fuel from heavy water reactors is processed to recover Plutonium. The second stage uses this Plutonium as fuel in fast breeder reactors, creating the base for the third stage, which envisages using India’s large Thorium resources to produce fissile Uranium-233. The long term objective is to build a broader domestic nuclear fuel cycle using resources available within the country.
UCIL Expands Domestic Uranium Capacity
India has made significant progress in fast breeder technology and is among the limited number of countries, along with Russia, to have pursued the technology. Anand Rao said production related data is not publicly disclosed under provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. The UCIL currently meets around 30–40% of the country’s domestic nuclear fuel requirement, he said. To increase this share, the company is expanding operations in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, while new mining projects are also being developed at Rohil in Rajasthan and in Karnataka.
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