Chapter 1INTRODUCTIONNuclearenergyhasturnedout tobetheachievement ofthepast century.Themost cleanenvironmental friendly and of less running cost mode of power generation is now in our hand. At present it is estimated that our natural reserves of U3O8 is about 7! tones! but thelong run potentials depends upon the large reserves of Thorium which is about 3!"! tones.The optimum usage of the available resources ta#es place via three stages namely$% The first stage and perhaps used widely is using natural uranium as fuel. The plutonium thus yield by first stage along with thorium is fed in &ast 'reeder (eactors. ThethirdstagewouldemploytheU%)33obtainedfromsecondstagetogether withthorium is employed. *erhaps the third stage could either be a fast reactor or a thermalreactor.+n fact reactors high energy neutrons are re,uired to bring about fission. +t is most common withelement having even number of mass number. +n thermal reactors! thermal neutrons i.e. slow moving neutrons are re,uired to being about thefission.Those having mass number as an odd number possess this type of property.1Chapter 2NEED FOR NUCLEAR POWERThe forth coming generations! there will be a large increase in the need of -A./AN+.A0energyparticularlyfromclean! greenthee1plorationof natural resourcesfor generationofelectricity has been an evolutionary process. Over the years! it has progressed from tapping thepotential energy of falling water to burning of fossil fuels. 'ut the ,uest for more sources ofelectricity! which is the cleanest and most efficient form of energy! is unending and the limits oftheconventional sourceshaveservedtoheightenman2san1iouseffortsinthisregard. Thediscovery of fission and the promise of abundance which nuclear energycame to holdsubse,uently turned man2s attention to utili3e the potential of this source. .onsidering the current population growth which has already crossed 4 crores in the)4stcentury and improvements in standard of living of and safe energy sources. The-A./AN+.A0 energy will play a vital role in sustainable development of the country. Amongall the available conventional and non conventional energy sources! the nuclear energy is mostefficient! abundantly available!sustainable and cost effective energy sources. +t does not emitobno1ious gases that cause global warming! o3one hole and acid rain.So The Nuclear Power:- +t is thus evident that some new from of energy! such as nuclear! which is a large addition to ourenergy resources! has to be developed in a big way. The currently #nown uranium reserves in thecountry can support a */5( program of 4!-5 for a design life of 3 years. 6ven thoughthere is every reasons can support an ultimate capacity of 37! -58e9 by fast breeder .the longrange potential of so! on thorium resources which e1ceed 3"!tonnes.when used in the breederreactors! the thorium reserves would bee,uivalent to " billion tons of coal.Nuclear Power I Sa!e:-+mproving the ,uality of life has been the driving force for ma#ing to push ahead with the use ofmodern technology. That these benefits carry along with them some ris#s! has been #nown forsometimes and one has also to recogni3e that there is nothing li#e an absolutely safe technologicalproducts be it the automobile! aircraft! chemical industry! or for that matter! a nuclear reactor. +f2man#ind had decided to ta#e a: 3ero%ris# approach:.+t is thus evident that some new from of energy! such as nuclear! which is a large addition to ourenergy resources! has to be developed in a big way. The currently #nown uranium reserves in thecountry can support a */5( program of 4!-5 for a design life of 3 years.3Chapter " INDIAN NUCLEAR POWER PRO#RA$$EThe /ead,uarters of +ndian Nuclear *ower *ro;ects are located at -umbai +t is the