Blog 173 - Marine Musings - Power Needs - A Nuclear Path - A Hydrogen Possibility - Our End Games (4 of 4)
A look at the three stages, as envisaged by Dr. Homi Bhabha, in simple terms.
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Fission and Fusion
While Fission has been found to be and remains a practicable energy source, Fusion is an on going Engineering challenge, likely to be resolved in the distant future.
Why is Fusion a goal, sought more than Fission?
Nuclear fusion is more powerful than fission because it yields significantly more energy per unit of mass of fuel, driven by a greater change in binding energy and a higher concentration of atoms in lighter elements.
Why Fusion Yields More Energy
Higher Energy Density by Mass: Fusion uses very light elements like hydrogen isotopes (deuterium and tritium), whereas fission uses heavy elements like uranium or plutonium. Because light atoms are much smaller, a single gram of fusion fuel contains far more individual atoms than a gram of fission fuel, allowing for a vastly greater number of energy-releasing reactions.
Greater Mass-to-Energy Conversion: Both processes release energy because the final products weigh slightly less than the starting ingredients, with the lost mass converting directly into energy (\(E=mc^2\)). However, the percentage of mass converted into energy is much higher when combining light nuclei together than when splitting heavy ones apart. Fusion produces roughly 3 to 4 times more energy per unit of mass than fission.
The Process: Fission splits a heavy nucleus into smaller pieces (like barium and krypton) after being hit by a neutron. Fusion forces two light atomic nuclei (like deuterium and tritium) to combine under extreme heat and pressure to form a heavier nucleus (helium).
Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion both release energy, but they do it in different ways.
(Top) In fission, a heavy nucleus such as uranium-235 absorbs an incident neutron and becomes unstable, then splits into two lighter nuclei, releasing additional free neutrons and energy. The emitted neutrons can initiate further fission events in nearby nuclei, creating a chain reaction.
(Bottom) In fusion, two light nuclei—typically the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium—combine under high temperature and pressure to form a heavier nucleus, like helium-4, releasing a free neutron and energy. Fusion relies on maintaining extreme thermodynamic conditions, rather than creating a chain reaction.
The problem is - to sustain fusion, requires temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, making sustained, controlled energy generation unrealistic in the present decades.
Coming back to the (presently) used Fission, India has just entered the 2nd stage - Fast Breeder Reactors.
A fast breeder reactor (FBR) is a type of nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material (nuclear fuel) than it consumes while producing electricity.
Breeding Fuel: FBRs generate more fissile material than they consume by converting fertile materials into fissile isotopes using fast neutrons.
Accumulating Plutonium: Operating FBRs on plutonium and uranium builds up the necessary fissile inventory required to transition advanced fuel cycles
A fast breeder reactor is the second stage because it uses the plutonium byproduct from the first stage to generate energy while creating the fissile material needed for the final thorium-based third stage.
Role in the Three-Stage Process
Stage 1 Output: The first stage uses natural uranium in pressurized heavy water reactors to make energy and plutonium-239 as waste.
Stage 2 Action: The Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) - PMF IAS take that plutonium-239 and combine it with uranium to produce power.
Breeding Fuel: Fast breeder reactors can generate more nuclear fuel than they consume, acting as surplus generators..
Preparing Stage 3: These reactors convert uranium-238 into more plutonium and irradiate thorium to produce uranium-233.
What has given impetus to Indian nuclear scientists recently, is the Fast Breeder technology and the fact that India can finally plan on using its vast unused Thorium (monazite) deposits in order to sustain nuclear reaction, lessening the import of uranium from unpredictable foreign sources.
Why Thorium Needs the Fast Breeder
Not Fissile on Its Own: Thorium-232 is fertile, meaning it cannot undergo a self-sustaining fission chain reaction by itself.
Transmutation to Uranium-233: Thorium must first absorb neutrons to transform into Uranium-233, which is fissile and can power reactors.
The Three-Stage Strategy: The fast breeder reactor phase acts as stage two—breeding the Uranium-233 or extra plutonium needed to feed stage three's thorium-based reactors.
How safe is Nuclear Power?
Well, for one, the Reactor at BARC Mumbai was commissioned in 1956, 70 years ago and is still operational.
Tarapur plant 1969 (Units 1 & 2)
Rajasthan station 1973 (Unit 1 now shut down, Unit 2 from 1981)
Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu 1984 Unit 1 and Unit 2 in 1986. Added to them are the Fast Breeder Test Reactor 1985 and the Prototype fast Breeder Reactor which attained criticality in 2026.
Narora Station, Uttar Pradesh in 1991.
Kakrapar Station, Gujarat in 1993
Kaiga Station, Karnataka in 2000
Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu in 2014
Indian nuclear power plants are considered very safe, backed by an unblemished operational safety record and stringent regulatory oversight.
The International Atomic Energy Agency gives out the information that 23 nuclear reactor are in operation, 7730 MWe produced, while 8 more are under construction, with a capacity of an additional 6028 MWe.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rates India's civilian nuclear reactors as "absolutely safe," stating that the country applies the highest levels of internationally agreed safety standards and security guidance.
A look at the sector that gobbles up the maximum quantity of our fossil fuel imports
The Transportation sector
Crude oil goes through a fractional distillation process, the byproducts collected at various stages and temperatures for various uses. Each byproduct is of importance to various sectors of a progressing nation.
For the present, let us concentrate on the byproducts of petroleum, diesel fuel, kerosene and gases collected, as they are the main ingredients of the transportation sector.
The transportation sector accounts for approximately 50% of the total distilled crude oil products consumed in India. Since India relies on imports for nearly 88% of its total crude oil requirements, the vast majority of the fuels powering this sector are derived directly from foreign imports
Breakdown by Fuel and Transport Type
Road Transport Dominance: Road transport is by far the largest single consumer of oil in the country. "Road transport is India's largest consumer of oil, its share in 2021 being 44 percent, this year probably exceeding 50%”. It is fueled almost entirely by petrol and diesel.
Diesel Consumption: The transport sector consumes roughly 70% to 74% of India's total diesel (High-Speed Diesel or HSD). Heavy commercial vehicles like trucks and buses make up the bulk of this share.
Petrol Consumption: The sector uses 95% to 100% of the country's distilled petrol (Motor Spirit). Two-wheelers and private cars consume nearly all of this allocation.
Aviation and Other Modes: Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) used by commercial aircraft, along with minor shares of fuel oil for maritime shipping, accounts for the remaining 3% to 6% of the transportation sector's oil demand.
The 95% electrification of the largest railway network in the world, has reduced the consumption of diesel oil to a very large extent. For the sake of progress - and not being subservient to anybody in the world in energy needs - it is necessary build indigenous capacity, with truly local products.
Can HYDROGEN play a big role in the transportation needs of our nation?
Recent events of a hydrogen drive train and several hydrogen driven buses have incited the energy watchers to think that we have found a positive solution.
Can Hydrogen replace fossil based fuels like diesel oil, petrol or Kerosene?
One source of hydrogen is the atmosphere.Hydrogen gas makes up about 0.00005% (or 0.55 parts per million) by volume of Earth's lower atmosphere.
Another source is the water around us. The mass percentage of hydrogen in water (\(H_{2}O\)) is approximately 11.19% (or about 11.11% using whole-number atomic masses). This becomes the source of hydrogen needs.
A third source is the run off from fossil fuels’ natural gas.
Hydrogen is extracted primarily through thermal processes involving fossil fuels or biomass, water splitting via electrolysis, and emerging biological or solar methods.
Thermal and Reforming Processes
Steam Methane Reforming (SMR): This is the most common industrial method. High-temperature steam reacts with a hydrocarbon source like natural gas to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide (known as grey hydrogen). If carbon capture is added, it is called blue hydrogen. - This is a Catch 22 situation, leading us back to fossil fuels.
Coal Gasification: Coal or low-quality brown coal is mixed with hot steam and oxygen under high heat to extract hydrogen (black or brown hydrogen). Extracting hydrogen via unabated coal gasification is not environmentally friendly, but it can align with transitional energy laws only if paired with Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) to produce "blue hydrogen". But it is unlikely to be economical, as it produces roughly 20 kg of CO2 for every kg of hydrogen produced.
Methane Pyrolysis: This technique breaks methane down into hydrogen gas and solid carbon instead of releasing carbon dioxide (turquoise hydrogen). This is also not practicable.
Electrolysis (Electrolytic Processes)
This process uses an electric current to split water molecules (\(H_{2}O\)) directly into hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Alkaline Electrolysis: A mature, traditional method using a liquid electrolyte solution.
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM): Uses a solid polymer electrolyte to split water efficiently at lower temperatures, ideal for smaller setups.
Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOEC): Uses ceramic materials and high heat to run the water-splitting reaction with high efficiency.
Note: When the electricity comes from renewable sources like wind or solar, the result is called green hydrogen.
Water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen through standard electrolysis at warm temperatures between 50°C and 90°C, while advanced high-temperature systems use steam operating at 700°C to 850°C (and up to 1,000°C) to save electricity.
One of the by products of the Fast Breeder Reactor:
India commissioned the world's first nuclear heat-based hydrogen production facility at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, utilizing process heat from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor.
The plant does not use electricity to run an electrolyzer; instead, it directly channels the intense thermal energy from the reactor to drive a chemical water-splitting process. Being a byproduct of the thermal energy generated, it is the cheapest to manufacture. Whether it can be produced in large quantities, is under experiment.
Technology: Copper–Chlorine (Cu–Cl) thermochemical cycle.
Heat Source: Sodium-cooled 40 MWt Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR).
Developer: Indigenous technology designed and validated by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.
Final Analysis
Future progress of India is now dependent on two streams of power.
One nuclear and two through hydrogen.
Once power is available cheap, there will be an upsurge of individuals going into power dependent manufacturing sectors, the fulcrum of progress.
AR
This is indeed a highly relevant topic—alternatives to conventional fuel sources. My knowledge on this matter dates back to school days when the periodic table laid the foundation for our understanding of quantum theory, isotopes, chain reactions, fission, fusion, and the distinction between exothermic and endothermic reactions. Sometimes it feels like those days were just yesterday.
Today, the pressing question is how we can harness atomic energy not only as a viable alternative to traditional fuels but also in an economically sustainable manner.
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