The Director, Energy Management Centre – Kerala (EMC), has been tasked with conducting a ‘model study’ on how Kerala can use its thorium deposits for future energy generation.
EMC director R. Harikumar is expected to visit Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, where India’s first indigenous fast breeder reactor (500 MWe) is under development, later this year.
Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty had informed the Assembly last week that government would decide on the future course of action after studying the EMC director’s report and securing public consensus on the issue.
Nevertheless, Power department sources point out that the development of commercially viable thorium-based nuclear reactors is likely to take many more years. In 2019, the Union government also had stated that the Department of Atomic Energy plans the use of India’s thorium deposits “as a long-term option.” Given the characteristics of thorium, it is not possible to construct a nuclear reactor using thorium (thorium-232) alone as fuel. It has to be converted to Uranium-233 in a reactor before it can be used as fuel.
India hopes to utilise thorium in the third stage of its nuclear programme. The commissioning of the Kalpakkam fast breeder reactor, expected in 2026, will mark India’s entry into the second stage of the programme. This reactor will initially use uranium-plutonium mixed oxide as fuel.
Published – September 27, 2025 06:05 pm IST
