Energy released from the nuclei of atoms, mainly through fission of uranium or plutonium in reactors, which India uses to generate low-carbon electricity under a three-stage programme aimed at using its large thorium reserves.
India's atomic energy programme began soon after independence. The Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1948 and the Department of Atomic Energy in 1954, with Homi J. Bhabha as the guiding figure. The research reactor Apsara, Asia's first, became critical at Trombay in 1956. Bhabha designed a three-stage programme because India has limited uranium but some of the world's largest thorium reserves, found in monazite sands along the coasts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
The first commercial plant at Tarapur, with two boiling water reactors supplied by the United States, began operating in 1969. After the 1974 Pokhran test, India faced decades of restrictions on nuclear trade and had to develop its own pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), fuel fabrication and heavy water production. This isolation slowed growth but built strong indigenous capability. The 2008 India–US civil nuclear agreement and a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group allowed India to import fuel and reactors for safeguarded plants.
Create a free account to read 5 full pages a month, or upgrade for unlimited access. The definition above, the A–Z index and the pop-up definitions in lessons stay free.
