Let us look at the longer term picture. India has about 100,000 tonnes of uranium in the ground. This will be adequate to support 10,000 MW of PHWR capacity over its lifetime. India wishes to use thorium as an energy source, as it has a large reserve of thorium. But the Fast Breeder Reactor capacity of the second stage that can be supported by 10,000 MW of PHWR will still be too small to permit a large-scale use of thorium even after two or three decades. We must have some 30,000 to 50,000 MW of the first stage programme (using natural and enriched uranium) to allow us to exploit the thorium resources in a significant manner.

If India manages to overcome the opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal and moves ahead, it can import natural uranium from Africa, central Asia, Canada, Brazil and maybe Australia too (if they change their policies). This would enable us to put up 10,000 MW of additional PHWRs (making a total of 20,000 MW). More importantly, India can import some 20,000 to 30,000 MW of Light Water Reactors (LWRs) from Russia, France, US (with Japan collaborating with the US). The plutonium produced in the Indian-built PHWRs and the imported LWRs can both be used as fuel in Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs).

Thorium can then be irradiated in the FBRs to produce Uranium-233 in large enough quantities to be used as fuel in U-233-Thorium reactors. BARC has designed a 300 MW reactor using this fuel cycle and heavy water as moderator. Work can commence soon and India will have pioneered this new concept.

... contd.