NTPC Limited signed a strategic pact with US-based Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) to explore development and deployment of ANEEL (Advanced Nuclear Energy for Enriched Life).
- NTPC, a Maharatna company under Government of India, is India’s largest power generator.
About ANEEL
- Developed by CCTE, ANEEL is a Thorium based fuel for Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).
- It combines thorium with small amounts of enriched uranium.
Expected Benefits of ANEEL Fuel:
- Utilization of thorium as a fuel in existing PHWR reactors, enhancing India’s energy security using domestically available thorium.
- Waste Reduction: Through high burnup fuel performance, it reduces nuclear waste generation by over 85%.
- Cost Savings: Fewer fuel replacements reduce operational expenses.
- Non-Proliferation: Spent fuel is non-weaponizable due to thorium content.
About Thorium
- Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive metal.
- Thorium exists in nature in a single isotopic form – Th-232 – which decays very slowly.
- Most common source of thorium is Monazite, whose richest concentrations are found in placer deposits.
- India has the largest thorium reserves in the world (11.93 million tonnes of Monazite, containing 1.07 million tonnes of thorium).
- Thorium (Th-232) is not itself fissile and so is not directly usable in a thermal neutron reactor.
- It requires a fissile material such as Uranium-233 or Plutonium-239 as a driver for chain reaction.
