BARC's new reactors to produce hydrogen

Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is designing two new reactors that will produce large quantities of hydrogen, which is increasingly being looked upon as a fuel option for combustible engines.

Prototype versions of the Compact High Temperature Reactor (CHTR) and the Indian High Temperature Reactor (IHTR) are being developed.

Both these reactors will have reactor core temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius, known as white hot cores. Current reactor temperatures range around 300 degrees Celsius. White hot cores are said to be more efficient at producing hydrogen.

BARC director Srikumar Banerjee said that the CHTR and IHTR experimental reactors will be ready by 2012 with the commercial version expected by 2017.

The experimental version with a capacity of 600 Mw will be capable of producing hydrogen by night when the demand for power drops and can also be used to desalinate sea water, he said.

Banerjee also said that BARC was working on a design for a 300 Mw Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) as well as a 30 kilowatt light water reactor (LWR). The design for the AHWR was in the process of being approved by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, he said.

Both the AHWR and LWR are technologies new to India. The three-stage Indian nuclear power programme is based on the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) which use Uranium as fuel.

In the second stage, it is expected to move on to the fast breeder reactors (FBR), of which there is an experimental prototype at Kalpakkam near Chennai. The third stage of the programme are the Thorium based reactors.

While Indian uranium reserves are estimated to be around 10,000 mw, it has 40 per cent of the world's Thorium reserves.

Explaining the three stages, Banerjee said "The spent fuel from the first two stages will be used to process Thorium 232 to Uranium 233. Unless we build a sustainable neutron inventory using our spent fuel, we cannot move on to using Thorium technology."

India has the world's only Thorium based experimental reactor at BARC, the 30 Kw Kamini reactor.