Key Messages

  • For India, thorium-based nuclear power has been the endgame, and will form the final phase of the three-stage Indian nuclear programme for energy security developed by Dr Homi J. Bhabha in the 1950s. This report assesses strategies for thorium adoption in the Indian nuclear power sector.

  • An early introduction of thorium in currently operational reactors would help establish expertise in the various aspects of fuel cycle -- as database and operational experience on thorium fuels are limited, compared with uranium- and plutonium-based fuel cycles.
     
  • It is possible to considerably advance the thorium stage if the spent fuel reprocessing of thorium-based fuel and a Th - U-233 breeder design are ready for deployment before we enter the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) stage on a big scale.
     
  • Requisite research and development related to thorium stage should be in parallel with, rather than consecutive to, the FBR stage.