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Let us understand what Thorium based reactor is-Thorium is a basic element of nature, like Iron and Uranium. It is not possible to build a nuclear reactor using Thorium (Thorium-232) alone due to its physics characteristics. Thorium has to be converted to Uranium-233 in a reactor before it can be used as fuel. Like Uranium, its properties allow it to be used to fuel a nuclear chain reaction that can run a power plant and make electricity. Thorium itself will not split and release energy. Rather, when it is exposed to neutrons, it will undergo a series of nuclear reactions until it eventually emerges as an isotope of uranium called U-233, which will readily split and release energy next time it absorbs a neutron. Thorium is therefore called fertile, whereas U-233 is called fissile.Reactors that use thorium are operating on what’s called the Thorium-Uranium (Th-U) fuel cycle. The thorium fuel cycle is the path that thorium transmutes through from fertile source fuel to uranium fuel ready for fission. Th-232 absorbs a neutron, transmuting it into Th-233. Th-233 beta decays to Pa-233 and finally undergoes a second beta minus decay to become U-233. This is the one way of turning natural and abundant Th-232 into something fissionable.However, thorium is more difficult to use than uranium as a fuel because it requires breeding, and global uranium prices remain low enough that breeding is not cost-effective.Some believe thorium is key to developing a new generation of cleaner, safer nuclear power. According to a 2011 opinion piece by a group of scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology, considering its overall potential, thorium-based power "can mean a 1000+ year solution or a quality low-carbon bridge to truly sustainable energy sources solving a huge portion of mankind’s negative environmental impact."Up and coming nuclear reactor powerhouses China and India both have substantial reserves of Thorium-bearing minerals and not as much Uranium. So both countries are aggressively pursuing Thorium based nuclear energy.If we take the case of Indian Thorium Nuclear Energy, it dates back to the 1950s.India has one of the largest supplies of thorium in the world, with comparatively poor quantities of uranium. India has projected meeting as much as 30% of its electrical demands through thorium by 2050.India has a three-stage nuclear power program. It was formulated by Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha in the 1950s to secure the country's long term energy independence, through the use of uranium & thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. The ultimate focus of the program is on enabling the thorium reserves of India to be utilized in meeting the country's energy requirements.In the field of Thorium-Based Nuclear energy, India published about twice the number of papers on thorium as its nearest competitors, during each of the years from 2002 to 2006.The Indian nuclear establishment estimates that the country could produce 500 GWe for at least four centuries using just the country's economically extractable thorium reserves.Dr.Homi Jehangir Bhabha summarised the rationale for the three-stage approach as follows:The total reserves of thorium in India amount to over 500,000 tons in the readily extractable form, while the known reserves of uranium are less than a tenth of this. The aim of the long-range atomic power program in India must, therefore, be to base the nuclear power generation as soon as possible on thorium rather than uranium. The first generation of atomic power stations based on natural uranium can only be used to start off an atomic power program. The plutonium produced by the first generation power stations can be used in the second generation of power stations designed to produce electric power and convert thorium into U-233, or depleted uranium into more plutonium with breeding gain. The second generation of power stations may be regarded as an intermediate step for the breeder power stations of the third generation all of which would produce more U-233 than they burn in the course of producing power.In November 1954, Bhabha presented the three-stage plan for national development, at the conference on "Development of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes" which was also attended by India’s first PM Nehru. Four years later in 1958, the Indian government formally adopted the three-stage plan.India’s Nuclear Energy Programme three stages-1st StageThe first stage of India’s nuclear power program involved the development of natural uranium-based PHWRs of standardized 220MWe and 540/700 MWe designs. The designs of these reactors have progressively improved taking into account our own operating experience as well as that of PHWRs in other countries, and enhanced safety features evolved internationally for current generation nuclear power plants. At present, 18 such reactors are under operation, four units of 700 MWe capacity are under advanced stage of construction, and several others of 700MWe capacity are being planned. The spent fuel from these PHWRs is being reprocessed and the depleted uranium and plutonium obtained in this manner is being used to fabricate MOX fuel for FBRs.2nd StageThe preparation for the second stage began with the construction of a Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. This reactor, operating with indigenously developed mixed (U+Pu) carbide fuel, has provided a large volume of operating experience and a better understanding of the technologies involved and has enabled the design of commercial FBRs. As part of the second stage, a prototype 500MWe FBR is in the advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam and is expected to become critical this year. Considerable research work has also been carried out in the area of fast reactor fuel cycle technology and a Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility (FRFCF), co-located with PFBR, is being constructed to reprocess and refabricate fuel for FBRs. These experiences will be used for further evolutionary and innovative improvements in the fast reactor designs and associated fuel cycle technologies to obtain higher breeding ratios.3rd StageIn preparation for the third stage, the development of technologies pertaining to the utilization of thorium has been a part of the ongoing activities at BARC. With sustained efforts over the past many years, experience over the entire thorium fuel cycle has been generated. These include a number of experimental irradiation of different thorium-based fuels in research reactors, the use of thoria bundles in a limited way in PHWRs for initial core flux flattening, and laboratory studies on fuel fabrication and reprocessing. An experimental uranium-233 fuel-based KAMINI reactor has been constructed and is at present the only reactor in the world operating with uranium-233 fuel, part of the thorium fuel cycle.As part of the efforts to scale up the thorium fuel cycle experience, work on AHWR is being pursued. The reactor design is based on well-proven technology, adopted from pressure tube type reactors for which extensive operating experiences exist in India. At the same time, the reactor design incorporates many passive systems and first-of-a-kind features which enhance reactor safety so that the reactor can be located close to population centers. For this, extensive validation of these features in integral and separate effect test facilities is required. An extensive experimental program for the generation of data on behavior and operational aspects of such systems as well as to demonstrate their effectiveness to meet the design objective has been undertaken at BARC. The pre-licensing review of AHWR design has been completed by the national regulating authority, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India.The country’s first 220-MW PHWR at Rajasthan 1, completed in 1973, was based on CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) technology, but India relied on domestic designs for the others after Canadian assistance was withdrawn in 1974, even as the second Rajasthan unit was under construction. In 1981, it completed Rajasthan 2, and went on to complete Madras 1 and 2 between 1984 and 1986 using a standardized 220-MW PHWR design. Kaiga 1 and 2, and Rajasthan 3 and 4, which came online around 2000, incorporated improvements to the design.In late June 2012, India announced that its"first commercial Fast Breeder Reactor" was near completion making India the most advanced country in thorium research. "We have huge reserves of thorium. The challenge is to develop technology for converting this to fissile material," stated their former Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission.In February 2014, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, India, presented its latest design for a "next-generation nuclear reactor" that burns thorium as its fuel ore, calling it the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AWHR). They estimated the reactor could function without an operator for 120 days. Validation of its core reactor physics was underway by late 2017.“The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a 500 MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor with 1,750 tonnes of sodium as a coolant. Designed to generate 500 MWe of electrical power, with an operational life of 40 years, it will burn a mixed uranium-plutonium MOX fuel, a mixture of PuO2 and UO2, presently being constructed at the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam, India.”The design of this reactor was started in the 1980s, as a prototype for a 600 MW FBR. Construction of the first two FBR are planned at Kalpakkam, after a year of the successful operation of the PFBR. The other four FBR are planned to follow beyond 2030, at sites to be defined.The schematic diagram below showing the difference between the Loop and Pool designs of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor-In September 2018, the Department of Atomic Energy announced that the test reactor—which was originally expected to be commissioned in 2012 and has suffered several delays—is expected to achieve criticality in 2019, but now it is expected to reach the first criticality in 2020.“India’s 220-MW Kaiga 1 nuclear power plant, an indigenously designed pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR), on December 31, 2018, became a world record holder for running 962 unbroken days. The previous record for the continuous operation was held by Heysham-2 Unit 8 in the UK, which ran 940 days before it was taken offline on December 10, 2018.”Kudankulam nuclear power plant, one of India's newest in the above pic.Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR)- The liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a modern incarnation of the Thorium cycle based breeder reactor. The fuel used in such reactors is fluoride-based, molten, liquid salt of Thorium. The most notable and interesting thing about these Lifters (LFTRs, as they are spoken) is that they can achieve high operating temperatures at atmospheric pressure and can work at atmospheric pressure. This property changes the economics of nuclear power. In the light water reactors, the water deployed is under extremely high pressure. This implies that the light water reactors need to be sheathed in steel pressure vessels and placed in fortress-like containment buildings. The LFTR does not need all these.In comparison to AHWR, LFTR offers several advantages of economy and ease of installation of a nuclear reactor. The development of the LFTR could offer many advantages including the potential for low-cost manufacture and very rapid scalability.India is currently not going for LFTR but is continuing with AHWR, but China is very much interested in LFTR.Chinese Thorium-Based Nuclear Programme-Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR)MSRs can be divided into two main subclasses: Liquid Fueled MSR (MSR-LF) and Solid Fueled MSR (MSR-SF). These types of reactors can achieve excellent performance on safety and economy with a high-temperature output. Furthermore, the MSR-LF system together with the reprocessing process is particularly suitable for the use of thorium fuel.​Recently, research on MSRs has drawn fresh attention around the globe. The MSR-LF and MSR-SF have characteristics and applications including thorium energy utilization, hydrogen production at a high temperature, water-free cooling and small modular design. These properties make MSR one of the best approaches to solve the energy and environmental issues of China.“China’s dream to develop a thorium-based MSR is half a century old. China initially launched TMSR research in the 1970s, but it was terminated due to technical restrictions. At the beginning of this century, research on MSRs has drawn fresh attention around the globe. The MSR-LF and MSR-SF have characteristics and applications including Thorium energy utilization, hydrogen production at high temperature, water-free cooling and small modular design. These properties make MSR one of the best approaches to solve the energy and environmental issues of China.”-Prof. Hongjie XuThe TMSR program is divided into three stages:Early StageThe goal of the Early Stage is to master the key technology and obtain the equipment manufacturing capacity of TMSRs. This phase covers the TMSR design capability, R&D of molten salt manufacture and loop technology, R&D of the front-end and back-end of the Th-U fuel cycle, R&D of high-temperature durable materials, and R&D of safety standards and licensing.During the Early Stage, the first 10MW the solid-fueled molten salt test reactor (TMSR- SF1) will be constructed and will realize full-power operation. The first 2MW liquid-fueled molten salt experimental reactor (TMSR-LF1) with pyro-process function (trace level) will also be constructed and reach criticality.Engineering Experimental StageIn the Engineering Experimental Stage, the main goals are to construct a 100MW solid-fueled TMSR demonstration system (TMSR-SF2) and a 10MW liquid-fueled molten salt experimental reactor (TMSR-LF2) with pyro-process function.​Industrial Promotion StageIn the Industrial Promotion Stage, the commercialization of the TMSR-SF will be promoted step by step, based on the R&D foundation from the previous stages.Utilization of thorium in MSRs can be realized step by step depending on the fuel cycle modes and related technology development. TMSR-SF can be operated in a once-through fuel cycle for simplicity. In principle, thorium utilization can be realized in the TMSR-LF with the modified open or even fully closed fuel cycle.Structure of the TMSR Solid Fuel Reactor in the pic below-The Start of operations: January 2011In January 2011, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) launched the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR) nuclear energy system research program as one of the five Strategic Pioneer Science & Technology Projects to meet China’s major strategic needs.In early 2012, it was reported that China, using components produced by the West and Russia, planned to build two prototype thorium MSRs by 2015, and had budgeted the project at $400 million and requiring 400 workers." China also finalized an agreement with a Canadian nuclear technology company to develop improved CANDU reactors using thorium and uranium as a fuel.In 2013, the National Energy Administration included the TMSR project among the 25 “National Energy Major Application-Technology Research and Demonstration Projects” in its “Plan of Energy Development Strategy”.In 2014, the local government of Shanghai launched a major TMSR project to support the TMSR technology development. The TMSR project intends to solve major technological challenges in thorium-uranium (Th-U) fuel cycle and thorium-based molten salt reactors and to realize effective utilization of thorium and composite utilization of nuclear energy in 20-30 years.As of 2015, two reactors were under construction in the Gobi desert, with completion expected in 2020. China expects to put thorium reactors into commercial use by 2030.Both Chinese test reactors will be underground and the heat they generate will reach 12 megawatts. The heat will be channeled to a power generation plant, several factories and a desalination plant by the lake to produce electricity, hydrogen, industrial chemicals, drinking water, and minerals. After the experiment, China will move on to commercial or military use of the technology on a larger scale.China also plans to use these reactors which can be a hundred times or more compact than existing pressure water nuclear fission reactors to make all of their navy nuclear powered and for large long-duration drones.Chen Fu, a thermal physicist at the Harbin Institute of Technology involved in the development of new power generation systems for China’s navy, said the heat generated by a thorium molten salt reactor could be perfect to help generate power on a warship.So right now, we can conclude that India is far ahead of China in Thorium Based Nuclear Program, as India is likely to start commercial use of Thorium Power by 2020 whereas China expects to commercially use Thorium Power by 2030 & as of now 2020, the 2 Chinese Thorium reactors are still under construction in Gobi Desert.Since China is also interested in using Thorium-Based energy for its military use, it opted for LFTR as, In comparison to AHWR, LFTR offers several advantages of economy and ease of installation of a nuclear reactor, whereas India has not said anything about military use of Thorium-Based Energy & it is going with AHWR & difference between LFTR & AHWR is likely to favor China in a long run like decades.On 6 March 2020, India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment, Forests, and Climate Change released a report in which it "hopes that the [Department of Atomic Energy] would be in a position to commission the fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam by the end of 2021." The report also recognized that if this schedule were to be met it would have taken almost two decades for commissioning to take place.Sources-A future energy giant? India's thorium-based nuclear plansIndia designs new version of AHWR for thorium useDevelopment work on 300 MW advanced heavy water reactor at advanced stage | Chennai News - Times of IndiaThorium-Based Nuclear ReactorsIndian-Designed Nuclear Reactor Breaks Record for Continuous OperationSafe nuclear does exist, and China is leading the way with thoriumChinaGlobal race for transformative molten salt nuclear includes Bill Gates and ChinaAnil Kakodkar wants govt to follow France, China on nuclear power additionRecent Developments in Advanced Reactors in China, Russiahttps://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/Committee_site/Committee_File/ReportFile/19/126/326_2020_3_15.pdf