India's Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor Achieves Criticality, Advancing Nuclear Self-Reliance
India's domestically designed Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam has achieved criticality, a major step toward producing its own nuclear fuel and expanding capacity to 100 GW by 2047.
Key Points
- PFBR at Kalpakkam achieved criticality, a key step before power generation.
- India aims to expand nuclear capacity to 100 GW by 2047 from current 8 GW.
- This advances the second stage of India's nuclear program, leveraging thorium reserves.
Full Details
On April 7, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam attained criticality, marking a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. This milestone advances India's second-stage nuclear program, aiming to harness vast thorium reserves for energy independence. India, the world's most populous nation and third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, plans to expand nuclear power capacity from the current 8 GW to 100 GW by 2047. The PFBR is a domestic design that will eventually produce plutonium-239 from uranium-238, enabling a closed fuel cycle. This achievement reduces reliance on imported uranium and supports India's long-term energy security and climate goals.
Why It Matters
This positions India as a leader in advanced nuclear technology, enhancing energy security and reducing carbon emissions, while potentially influencing global nuclear fuel cycles.
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