<p>“With the system, India can become a Saudi Arabia in terms of nuclear fuel. We can supply fuel to everybody, thanks to our thorium deposits,” said Swadesh Mahajan, a scientist at the University of Texas, whose three-year work to discover “Super-X diverter”—a vital instrument in the reactor—brought the hybrid system closer to reality.<br /><br />Mahajan has solved a key technical issue to come up with the architecture of a fission-fusion hybrid reactor, in which the department of atomic energy (DAE) has shown interest. “We have the architecture in place and believe that the next stage, engineering, can be taken up,” he said.<br /><br />Almost all common nuclear reactors work on the principle of nuclear fission in which the core of a heavy element is broken to generate nuclear energy. But there is also a fusion process in which two light elements are fused to produce larger quantity of nuclear energy.<br /><br />Fusion has never been exploited for electricity production in the absence of a successful commercial technology. It is only being used to make hydrogen bombs, that pack far more destructive power than atom bombs.<br /><br />A hybrid reactor combines both fission and fusion to generate electricity. It has two advantages—efficient use of nuclear fuel and reduction in the production of toxic radioactive waste as byproduct. In the last two weeks, Mahajan met the DAE top brass in Mumbai and scientists at Institute for Plasma Research in Gandhinagar, who showed keen interest in the project.<br /><br />The department will be sending a couple of young researchers to the University of Texas to work with Mahajan further on the hybrid. The technology will be tested first at Culham in the UK, where US$ 50 million has already been granted to set up a hybrid system using Mahajan’s technology.<br /><br />Setting up of a hybrid reactor presents an immense challenge in engineering and finding out appropriate and sturdy material. Most of the difficulties originate from the fusion portion and the material.<br /><br />In fact, much before the hybrid, seven countries including the USA, France, India and China have joined hands to develop a large fusion reactor—ITER—in Cadarche in France to determine if fusion energy can be harnessed commercially.<br /><br />“But the ITER will not guarantee an eventual economic fusion reactor though some technical challenges could be addressed,” Mahajan said, claiming that his hybrid provides a better and greener option.<br /><br />All nuclear reactors produce toxic radioactive waste. But hybrids provide a cost-effective option to further process a large part of the effluence. An alternative route being pursued by the DAE to treat nuke waste is three times more expensive.<br /><br />Mahajan also claimed to have solved the material issue by making a modular core inside the reactor chamber that can be replaced every year.</p>
<p>“With the system, India can become a Saudi Arabia in terms of nuclear fuel. We can supply fuel to everybody, thanks to our thorium deposits,” said Swadesh Mahajan, a scientist at the University of Texas, whose three-year work to discover “Super-X diverter”—a vital instrument in the reactor—brought the hybrid system closer to reality.<br /><br />Mahajan has solved a key technical issue to come up with the architecture of a fission-fusion hybrid reactor, in which the department of atomic energy (DAE) has shown interest. “We have the architecture in place and believe that the next stage, engineering, can be taken up,” he said.<br /><br />Almost all common nuclear reactors work on the principle of nuclear fission in which the core of a heavy element is broken to generate nuclear energy. But there is also a fusion process in which two light elements are fused to produce larger quantity of nuclear energy.<br /><br />Fusion has never been exploited for electricity production in the absence of a successful commercial technology. It is only being used to make hydrogen bombs, that pack far more destructive power than atom bombs.<br /><br />A hybrid reactor combines both fission and fusion to generate electricity. It has two advantages—efficient use of nuclear fuel and reduction in the production of toxic radioactive waste as byproduct. In the last two weeks, Mahajan met the DAE top brass in Mumbai and scientists at Institute for Plasma Research in Gandhinagar, who showed keen interest in the project.<br /><br />The department will be sending a couple of young researchers to the University of Texas to work with Mahajan further on the hybrid. The technology will be tested first at Culham in the UK, where US$ 50 million has already been granted to set up a hybrid system using Mahajan’s technology.<br /><br />Setting up of a hybrid reactor presents an immense challenge in engineering and finding out appropriate and sturdy material. Most of the difficulties originate from the fusion portion and the material.<br /><br />In fact, much before the hybrid, seven countries including the USA, France, India and China have joined hands to develop a large fusion reactor—ITER—in Cadarche in France to determine if fusion energy can be harnessed commercially.<br /><br />“But the ITER will not guarantee an eventual economic fusion reactor though some technical challenges could be addressed,” Mahajan said, claiming that his hybrid provides a better and greener option.<br /><br />All nuclear reactors produce toxic radioactive waste. But hybrids provide a cost-effective option to further process a large part of the effluence. An alternative route being pursued by the DAE to treat nuke waste is three times more expensive.<br /><br />Mahajan also claimed to have solved the material issue by making a modular core inside the reactor chamber that can be replaced every year.</p>
