The Hindu Business Line : Fast breeder reactor promises cheaper power

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Chennai Jan. 31 The 500-MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), now under construction at nearby Kalpakkam, promises power at Rs 3.20 a unit in 2010, when it will commence generation.

The next set of (two) FBRs planned to be put up at the complex will deliver electricity at Rs 2.50 a unit.

"Some of our younger scientists are even talking of power at Rs 2 a unit," said Dr Baldev Raj, Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam.

An FBR breeds its own fuel; therefore, fuel costs are practically zero.

Since India is planning to build a family of FBRs, the industry will be able to supply equipment at a lower cost.

But India will have to wait a while for that. Construction work on the first two of the future FBRs will begin in 2011 and will be completed in 2017.

Meanwhile, Dr Baldev Raj told newspersons on Tuesday that work on the PFBR was progressing as per schedule.

Civil construction of the `reactor containment vault' is over and the first of the several equipment will be `lowered' into the vault in April.

Dr Baldev Raj was speaking to newspersons at the end of an `awareness workshop' on research and career opportunities in the field of nuclear science, held for the benefit of college students.

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