Nuclear Energy in India : Updates
- Thread starter Himanshu
- Start date
PRAGYA has achieved first light! Rapid progress!
www.indiatoday.in
"According to Pranos, the reactor took around eight months to build. The company plans to operate Pragya for nearly two decades, targeting between 10 and 12 experimental shots a day, or roughly 3,000 shots annually.... The high-frequency experiments are expected to generate a large volume of data on plasma behaviour, tokamak design and control systems."
"Pranos plans to use the facility to test plasma control technologies, high-temperature superconducting magnets, diagnostics and other critical systems that could eventually be integrated into larger fusion machines."
"Pranos aims to have its high-temperature superconducting magnet technology operational by 2027. By 2030, it hopes to build a net-gain fusion reactor called PraniQ, a far more ambitious machine designed to demonstrate a major milestone in fusion development."
@Gautam @Ashwin @BMD
Bengaluru-based Pranos unveils India's 1st private compact nuclear fusion reactor
Pranos Fusion has unveiled Pragya, which it describes as India's first privately developed compact tokamak. The machine will test fusion technologies while helping build domestic capability in plasma science.
"According to Pranos, the reactor took around eight months to build. The company plans to operate Pragya for nearly two decades, targeting between 10 and 12 experimental shots a day, or roughly 3,000 shots annually.... The high-frequency experiments are expected to generate a large volume of data on plasma behaviour, tokamak design and control systems."
"Pranos plans to use the facility to test plasma control technologies, high-temperature superconducting magnets, diagnostics and other critical systems that could eventually be integrated into larger fusion machines."
"Pranos aims to have its high-temperature superconducting magnet technology operational by 2027. By 2030, it hopes to build a net-gain fusion reactor called PraniQ, a far more ambitious machine designed to demonstrate a major milestone in fusion development."
@Gautam @Ashwin @BMD
I don't think even scientists in the field can give you a definitive answer for that
I still believe ITER is the best possible shot at proving the technologies for commercial-scale electricity production from fusion (but remember, ITER itself is never supposed to produce commercial power, that will be pursued in follow-on reactors called DEMO, built using lessons from ITER).
Bottom line, expect something by ~2050. But that's just a ballpark figure I'm throwing out there. Everyone you talk to will give you a different one. Some will say it's always gonna be 20 years away i.e. it'll never work, while others say they'll have it ready by this time next year. Of course everyone's talking with their biases.
i think the main problem is the current systems are good for experimentation but not exactly for commercial power plants, for example the most used design for the fusion purpose today being the tokamak (its the donut shaped one), is a good design for getting the plasma condition started to where we want, but keeping it in that state of condition is the hard part with it, as the design itself depends on a huge coil that is charged for magnetic field to suspend the plasma, and simply put, after certain time of operation the charge needed for the coil to sustain the magnetic field simply becomes too high, and current solutions for that is like re directing the power generated by the fusion reactor back to the coil to sustain the charge, or simply turn off so that can be started again in to run the thing again, now turning off and turning on tokamaks whenever needed is not bad for experimentation and research but for a commercial power plant, that too one that is aimed at running and generating electricity for long periods is definitely not good, also the "re directing the generated power back to the coil to sustain the process" will simply hit a limit when all the generated power is simply turned back to the reactor instead of sending to grid for electricity.
i think this video explains this problem well
( i most likely gotten some things wrong here, so please correct me if i am)
ITER is 440MWe,in and 500MWth out, or about 200-250MWe out.
India eyes nuclear power in Andamans as China challenge grows near Malacca Strait
Scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have begun assessing potential sites for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This move could strengthen the archipelago’s energy resilience as India expands strategic and civilian infrastructure near the Strait of Malacca.
A team from the Department of Atomic Energy is visiting the islands from September 4 to 8 to assess potential sites across all three districts. The exercise follows a recommendation to explore SMRs to meet the archipelago’s rapidly growing power requirements.
Electricity demand is expected to rise sharply as major infrastructure projects take shape, including the International Container Transhipment Terminal, a greenfield airport and deep-water multipurpose ports.
The BARC team has also briefed Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lieutenant Governor Admiral D K Joshi on potential sites and other features of the proposed SMR plan.
The proposed SMR sites assume added significance against the backdrop of the Great Nicobar Project, one of India’s most strategically important infrastructure initiatives in the region.
The project envisages an International Container Transhipment Terminal at Galathea Bay, a greenfield international airport, a township and associated power infrastructure. The government has described the project as having strategic, defence and national-security significance.
Its location gives the project significance beyond trade and connectivity. It comes as India seeks to expand its economic and strategic footprint in the eastern Indian Ocean and strengthen its ability to monitor maritime activity in the region.
Countering China, watching the Malacca Strait
The proposed SMR sites acquire a broader strategic dimension because Great Nicobar is emerging as a key component of India’s efforts to strengthen its position in the eastern Indian Ocean amid China’s growing presence in the region.
The government has explicitly described the Great Nicobar Project as having strategic, defence and national-security importance. It has said that a strong and permanent defence presence on the island would help India monitor and secure maritime routes while countering the growing presence of foreign powers in the Indian Ocean.
The Strait of Malacca is central to this strategy. A major maritime chokepoint, it carries substantial volumes of global trade and energy supplies between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Great Nicobar’s location gives India a strategically important position near the western approaches to the strait.
The Ministry of Defence has previously highlighted the importance of INS Baaz at Campbell Bay, noting that the naval air station overlooks the Strait of Malacca and the Six Degree Channel.
Scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have begun assessing potential sites for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This move could strengthen the archipelago’s energy resilience as India expands strategic and civilian infrastructure near the Strait of Malacca.
A team from the Department of Atomic Energy is visiting the islands from September 4 to 8 to assess potential sites across all three districts. The exercise follows a recommendation to explore SMRs to meet the archipelago’s rapidly growing power requirements.
Electricity demand is expected to rise sharply as major infrastructure projects take shape, including the International Container Transhipment Terminal, a greenfield airport and deep-water multipurpose ports.
The BARC team has also briefed Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lieutenant Governor Admiral D K Joshi on potential sites and other features of the proposed SMR plan.
The proposed SMR sites assume added significance against the backdrop of the Great Nicobar Project, one of India’s most strategically important infrastructure initiatives in the region.
The project envisages an International Container Transhipment Terminal at Galathea Bay, a greenfield international airport, a township and associated power infrastructure. The government has described the project as having strategic, defence and national-security significance.
Its location gives the project significance beyond trade and connectivity. It comes as India seeks to expand its economic and strategic footprint in the eastern Indian Ocean and strengthen its ability to monitor maritime activity in the region.
Countering China, watching the Malacca Strait
The proposed SMR sites acquire a broader strategic dimension because Great Nicobar is emerging as a key component of India’s efforts to strengthen its position in the eastern Indian Ocean amid China’s growing presence in the region.
The government has explicitly described the Great Nicobar Project as having strategic, defence and national-security importance. It has said that a strong and permanent defence presence on the island would help India monitor and secure maritime routes while countering the growing presence of foreign powers in the Indian Ocean.
The Strait of Malacca is central to this strategy. A major maritime chokepoint, it carries substantial volumes of global trade and energy supplies between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Great Nicobar’s location gives India a strategically important position near the western approaches to the strait.
The Ministry of Defence has previously highlighted the importance of INS Baaz at Campbell Bay, noting that the naval air station overlooks the Strait of Malacca and the Six Degree Channel.