3 Stage Nuclear Programme of India - Background, Objective, Process, Benefits, Challenges & More

The 3 Stage Nuclear Program in India was developed by the late H. J. Bhabha is sometimes known as India's father of nuclear power development. The program’s ultimate goal is to fully exploit India’s massive Thorium deposits and become self-sufficient in nuclear energy generation. India has little native uranium resources. However, we have plenty of Thorium. India has planned a 3 Stage Nuclear Program to use thorium.

The 3 Stage Nuclear Program UPSC is significant topic under the Science and Technology section for both the prelims and GS Paper 3 Syllabus of the UPSC Mains curriculum. In this article, we will provide you with all information on the 3 Stage Nuclear Program, which is a necessary part of UPSC. You can also study major topics of Science and Technology from the perspective of UPSC Exams by enrolling in UPSC CSE Coaching.

What is India’s 3 Stage Nuclear Program?

• The 3 Stage Nuclear Program in India was designed to exploit the country’s huge thorium-232 supplies.
• It is worth noting that India possesses the world’s third biggest thorium deposits. However, thorium cannot be utilised as a fuel in its natural condition.
• After a sequence of reactions, it must be transformed into a useful fissile form. Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, an Indian scientist, devised a 3 Stage Nuclear Program to facilitate this and eventually develop nuclear power from its thorium supplies.
• The 3 Stage Nuclear Program scheme based on a closed nuclear fuel cycle was devised.
• The 3 stages of 3 Stage Nuclear Program are:
  • Natural uranium-fueled Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs),
  • Fast breeder reactors (FBRs) using plutonium-based fuel,
  • Aadvanced nuclear power systems using thorium.

Background of India’s 3 Stage Nuclear Program

• India’s three-stage nuclear power programme was created in 1954 by Dr. Homi Bhaba. It was designed to give India energy security. The primary objective was to use India’s large thorium reserves while considering its small uranium reserves.
• India holds 25% of the world’s thorium reserves but just around 2% of the world’s uranium reserves.
• Nuclear energy facilities were created for the first time in the early 1950s. Until recently, uranium was the most often utilised fuel in nuclear power reactors.
• So, HJ Bhabha presented a self-sufficient technique. This strategy would reduce reliance on imports. The 3 Stage Nuclear Program was formally adopted by the Government of India four years later, in 1958.
• In addition, two years before the program’s approval, India’s first nuclear reactor, APSARA, began operations.

Source: DAE

Objectives of 3 Stage Nuclear Program

• India possesses a significant portion of the world's Thorium deposits but only a small share of global Uranium reserves.
• Unlike Uranium, Thorium is not inherently fissile, meaning it cannot sustain a nuclear chain reaction and produce energy on its own.
• However, Thorium can be converted into another fissile element called U-233, which is frequently used as nuclear fuel.
• Due to the multi-step nature of breeding U-233 and establishing a Thorium fuel cycle, India has implemented a three-stage program.
• This program aims to successfully complete the Thorium fuel cycle and achieve self-sufficiency in meeting the country's energy requirements.

Also, Study Pillars of Nuclear Doctrine of India its Affiliate for UPSC Exams

3 Stage Nuclear Program: Process

From the beginning of India's atomic energy program over four decades ago, the significance of nuclear energy as a sustainable resource for our country was acknowledged. A comprehensive three-stage nuclear power program was formulated, focusing on a closed nuclear fuel cycle.

These three stages are as follows:

• Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) are fueled by natural uranium.
• The implementation of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) that employ fuel based on plutonium.
• The development of advanced nuclear power systems to harness thorium as a resource.

This three-stage program aims to ensure a sustainable and self-reliant nuclear power sector in India, making optimal use of available resources and technological advancements.

Stage I

• The first stage of India's nuclear power program uses natural uranium to fuel PHWRs to produce electricity and plutonium-239 as a by-product.
• PHWRs were chosen because they are efficient in terms of uranium utilization.
• It was calculated that it would be easier to create heavy water production than uranium enrichment facilities.
• Using PHWRs instead of LWRs was a wise decision because PHWRs use unenriched uranium, which India could domestically produce.
• The by-product plutonium-239 will be used in the second stage of the program.

Here are the reactors used in the first stage:

• Boiling Water Reactor
• Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor
• Pressurized Water Reactor

Stage II

• In the second stage of the nuclear power program, plutonium-239 is employed to create mixed-oxide fuel for use in Fast Breeder Reactors. 
• Plutonium-239 undergoes fission to generate energy, and the resulting metal oxide is combined with enriched uranium to produce additional plutonium-239.
• Moreover, once a sufficient quantity of plutonium-239 is accumulated, thorium will be utilized in the reactor to produce Uranium-233. This Uranium-233 is a crucial component for the third stage of the program.
• The Fast Breeder Reactor, first established in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, operates without a moderator and utilizes liquid sodium as the coolant. It is also commonly referred to as the Fast Neutron Reactor.

Stage III

• The third stage of India's nuclear power program is designed to achieve a sustainable nuclear fuel cycle.
• This will be done by using a combination of uranium-233 and thorium.
• Thorium is a fertile material, which means that it can be used to produce fissile material.
• In the third stage, thorium will be used in thermal breeder reactors.
• These reactors will use thorium to produce uranium-233, which can then be used to fuel other reactors.
• The use of thorium in the third stage will help to ensure that India has a sustainable supply of nuclear fuel.

Here are some of the challenges of using thorium in nuclear power:

• Thorium cannot be used directly. It must be used with added fissile material.
• Thorium absorbs neutrons, producing more plutonium more efficiently in a fast breeder reactor.
• This means that using thorium in the first or early part of the second stage of the nuclear power program would adversely affect the rate of growth of nuclear power generation capacity in the initial periods.

Also Study about Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) for UPSC Exams!

What Are The Benefits of Thorium Technology?

• Thorium-based reactors offer enhanced safety features, as the reaction can be swiftly halted and does not require intense pressure.
• Compared to uranium reactors, Thorium reactors produce significantly less waste. The waste they do generate has a much shorter half-life.
• Utilizing thorium as a new primary energy source has been intriguing for many years.
• However, effectively harnessing its latent energy value cost-efficiently remains challenging and necessitates substantial research and development investment.
• Like iron and uranium, thorium is a fundamental element in nature.
• Like uranium, its properties enable it to initiate a nuclear chain reaction capable of powering a power plant and generating energy. However, thorium itself does not undergo fission and release energy independently.

Challenges of 3 Stage Nuclear Program

• The main challenge in India's nuclear power program is not technological. The limited availability of fissile material to convert fertile thorium into fissile U-233.
• India has tested all the technologies related to the program in laboratories, but it needs more fissile material.
• Even after the program is complete, there will still be challenges in maintenance, accident prevention, and nuclear waste disposal. However, these challenges can be greatly reduced with technological innovation.
• The government may need help in land acquisition and finding suitable locations for nuclear power plants.
• Handling and/or recycling spent fuel is more costly due to the difficulty in shielding gamma rays.
• The nuclear industry is highly conservative, and the main challenge with thorium is its lack of operating experience.
• Thorium dioxide melts at temperatures 550 degrees higher than uranium dioxide. Therefore, very high temperatures are necessary to make high-quality solid fuel.

Nuclear Reactors in India

In India, behind coal, gas, wind, and hydroelectricity, nuclear power ranks as the fifth-largest source of energy production. India currently has 22 nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of roughly 6,780 MW. Under Homi J. Bhabha’s direction, India’s nuclear energy programme was started around independence. The Mumbai-based Apsara Research Reactor is Asia’s first nuclear power plant. India has a little indigenous uranium deposit. Hence the country must import uranium from other nations to fuel its nuclear power sector. Russia has been India’s main source of nuclear fuel since the 1990s.

You can also Study Nuclear Security Summit Here!

Way Forward

Long-term energy security, mostly based on indigenous resources, is a vital and unavoidable need for a large country like India, both economically and strategically. The sustainable development of energy resources has several facets, such as global environmental, ecological, and social factors in addition to economic, technological, and political ones. These factors will determine the ideal composition of our energy mix at various points in the future.

3 Stage Nuclear Program UPSC Previous Year Questions

1.Give an account of the growth and development of nuclear science and technology in India. What is the advantage of fast breeder reactor programme in India?[2017]

Testbook provides a set of comprehensive notes for different competitive exams. Testbook is always on the top of the list because of its best quality assured products like live tests, mocks, Content pages, GK and current affairs videos, and much more. To study more topics from Environment India for UPSC, download the Testbook App now!