RAS question
The 'Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)' at Kalpakkam uses which fuel?
Correct answer: (A) Mixed oxide (MOX) of uranium and plutonium.
The PFBR at Kalpakkam uses mixed oxide (MOX) fuel made from uranium and plutonium, not natural uranium, enriched uranium or thorium.
Explanation
The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam is a 500 MWe fast breeder reactor designed after India's experience with the Fast Breeder Test Reactor. It belongs to Stage 2 of India's three-stage nuclear programme, where the reactor breeds more fissile material than it consumes. The Press Information Bureau states that indigenously produced mixed uranium and plutonium oxide will be used as the fuel in the PFBR at Kalpakkam. That is why option A is the precise answer. The Press Information Bureau also explains the closed fuel-cycle logic of fast breeder reactors: waste from the first-stage nuclear programme is reprocessed and used as fuel, reducing the need for large annual external fuel feed.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Natural uranium is wrong because the PFBR uses mixed uranium and plutonium oxide, not unprocessed natural uranium.
- (C) Enriched uranium is wrong because the PFBR fuel is mixed uranium and plutonium oxide rather than enriched uranium.
- (D) Thorium is wrong because the Stage 2 PFBR fuel is MOX of uranium and plutonium, not thorium.
Concept
This tests India's three-stage nuclear programme and fast breeder reactor technology. RAS often asks such questions because they connect basic nuclear science with Indian strategic technology projects.