Science & Technologyv3 · 2 versions
PFBR Criticality - Stage II Milestone
On 6 April 2026 India's 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu reached first criticality, the moment a reactor first holds a controlled, self-sustaining fission chain. Designed by IGCAR and built by the public-sector BHAVINI, it is India's first commercial fast reactor and carries the country into Stage II of its three-stage nuclear programme. A Lok Sabha reply of 5 August 2026 sets out how it was commissioned and what follows it at the same site.
Last updated 6 August 20266 min read
Latest update
Added the government's account of how the Kalpakkam breeder was commissioned — IGCAR's under-sodium ultrasonic imaging, the DISHA weld-inspection robot and about 90 percent indigenous manufacture — plus the two more 500 MW breeders in pre-project work there and the climb from 8,780 MW of nuclear capacity to 22,480 MW by 2031-32.
- PFBR
- Kalpakkam
- BHAVINI
- IGCAR
- fast breeder reactor
- three-stage nuclear programme
- thorium
- DAE
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