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India designs new version of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor

by israeli.agent | September 16, 2009 at 11:15 am

301 views | 36 Recommendations | 6 comments

In a significant development that can boost the country's effort to achieve self reliance, Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar announced that India has developed a new version of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor.

Heavy Water (D2O) is a coolant used in nuclear based reactors. Having mastered the two production technology using two chemical exchange processes - (H2S-H2O) bithermal process and NH3-H2 monothermal process - India is one of the major manufacturer of Heavy water in the world.

India has designed a new version of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) which will use low enriched uranium along with thorium as fuel, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar announced on Wednesday in Vienna.

Significance of the new technology underlines India's effort towards achieving self sufficiency in the production of enough Heavy Water . During 1980s India said to have obtained Heavy Water for its reactors that had virtually smuggled from a former Soviet bloc country.

Norway said that 15 metric tons of its heavy water, which can be used to make atomic bombs, had been illegally rerouted to India on a flight that also carried several tons delivered from the Soviet Union.

Now the country is in a position to export Heavy Water reactors that works using low enriched uranium and thorium as fuel. India has a lot of thorium deposits within the country

"A new version of AHWR named Advanced Heavy Water Reactor-Low Enriched Uranium (AHWR-LEU) that uses low enriched uranium along with thorium as fuel has been designed recently," Mr. Kakodkar said at the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference.

The reactor has a significantly lower requirement of mined uranium per unit energy produced as compared to most of the current generation thermal reactors, Mr. Kakodkar said.

Here is an interesting link about Heavy Water.

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sara star

at 11:21 on September 16th, 2009

So India will be able to be self sufficient in terms of producing power, now if they can only produce enough water for the farmers...

Nuclear wastes are also still a problem I believe.

israeli.agent

at 11:45 on September 16th, 2009

Thanks Sara.

The awareness about nuclear energy is high among Indians. When India did their latest nuclear test, Indians 'discovered' and 'classified ' so many diseases as negative aspect of the test. Not much are scientifically proved, but the general awareness is there that nuclear energy is not clean.

Unless the government make sure that it is really safe to use nuclear energy, it will not be easy to set up new nuclear power plants.But considering the increase in energy consumption rate , there has to be a balance between yes and no factors.

The next best thing developing countries like India can do is to find means to tap the "big burning thing above".

Water is a different issue altogether.

.Agent.

Spydermonkey

at 11:56 on September 16th, 2009

Another power source for any country with ocean fronts will be wave/tidal force & underwater currents. The idea is not currently perfected, but it is getting closer to being a practical power source.

israeli.agent

at 12:06 on September 16th, 2009

There is a tidal power plant pilot project is running in India for last four years. There are some major plans to tap wave energy in the anvil.

Energy is also obtained from waves and tides. The first wave energy, project with a capacity of 150MW, has been set up at Vizhinjam near Trivandrum. A major tidal wave power project costing of Rs.5000 crores, is proposed to be set up in the Hanthal Creek in the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.

.Agent.

Barbara McPherson

at 17:28 on September 16th, 2009

I think the heavy water(deuterium) reactors are similar in principle to the CANDU reactors that Canada builds. They are not as 'dirty' as the breeder reactors. India is also pursuing an ambitious program of wind power generation.