News Karnataka
Thursday, March 28 2024
Cricket
Technology

Fast Breeder Test Reactor attains design power level

Fast Breeder Test Reactor Attains Design Power Level
Photo Credit : IANS

Chennai: The Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), belonging to Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam near here, attained its design power level of 40 megawatt thermal (MWt) on Monday evening.

MWt refers to the input energy required for the power plant.

IGCAR Director B. Venkatraman said achieving design power level in FBTR is a landmark in its history.

Starting with a small core of 22 Mark-I fuel subassemblies rated for 10.5 MWt in 1985, the power was gradually raised in steps by adding fresh fuel subassemblies based on the performance of mixed carbide fuel in terms of fuel linear heat rating and burn-up.

However, with the limitation on reactivity in the core, the maximum power was limited to 32 MWt which was achieved in 2018.

For raising FBTR power to design power level, a novel core with few poison subassemblies was designed and safety analysis was carried out.

After getting the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s (AERB) clearance, FBTR core was converted to a new 40 MWt core and all the reactor physics parameters were measured to ensure safety.

The reactor was re-started with a new core and power was raised to 40 MWt, Venkatraman said.

The FBTR went critical in 1985 and its power output will be about 13MW. The 1970s vintage FBTR is a sodium-cooled loop-type reactor, powered by plutonium-uranium carbide fuel.

Share this:
MANY DROPS MAKE AN OCEAN
Support NewsKarnataka's quality independent journalism with a small contribution.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

To get the latest news on WhatsApp