UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — PARLIAMENT QUESTION: PROTOTYPE FAST BREEDER REACTOR
Q1. Under India's three-stage nuclear power programme, in how many of the three stages is the principal fissile fuel a material that has to be bred inside a reactor rather than drawn from naturally occurring stock?
- A. One
- B. Two
- C. Three
- D. None
Q2. Consider the following statements regarding the stages of India's nuclear power programme:
1. Stage I uses natural uranium in pressurised heavy water reactors, and the plutonium recovered from their spent fuel is the fuel for Stage II fast breeder reactors.
2. Uranium-233, the fuel envisaged for Stage III reactors, is bred exclusively in the pressurised heavy water reactors of Stage I.
3. Fast breeder reactors of Stage II can convert Thorium-232 into Uranium-233 in addition to converting Uranium-238 into Plutonium-239.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Stage I uses natural uranium in pressurised heavy water reactors, and the plutonium recovered from their spent fuel is the fuel for Stage II fast breeder reactors.
- Uranium-233, the fuel envisaged for Stage III reactors, is bred exclusively in the pressurised heavy water reactors of Stage I.
- Fast breeder reactors of Stage II can convert Thorium-232 into Uranium-233 in addition to converting Uranium-238 into Plutonium-239.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The rated electrical capacity of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam exceeds that of India's Fast Breeder Test Reactor at the same site by approximately how many MWe?
- A. 460.0 MWe
- B. 486.4 MWe
- C. 496.5 MWe
- D. 499.6 MWe
Q4. Regulatory clearance for the first approach to criticality of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor was granted by which one of the following?
- A. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, the safety regulator in the atomic energy establishment
- B. Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited, which alone certifies the safety of every reactor it commissions
- C. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, the sole licensing authority for all Indian power reactors
- D. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, which independently clears each reactor that it designs
Q5. The public sector enterprise that constructed and commissioned the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam functions under which one of the following?
- A. The Department of Atomic Energy
- B. The Ministry of Power, which oversees the Union's electricity generating utilities
- C. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, which administers non-fossil generation projects
- D. The Department of Science and Technology, which funds India's strategic reactor programmes
Q6. Which one of the following is officially described as the second largest research and development establishment under the Department of Atomic Energy?
- A. Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata
- B. Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore
- C. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam
- D. Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, Hyderabad
Q7. The reactor whose criticality in April 2026 marked India's entry into the second stage of its nuclear power programme was designed by one organisation and built and commissioned by another. Which one of the following pairs correctly identifies them, in that order?
- A. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre — Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
- B. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research — Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited
- C. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research — Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
- D. Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited — Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research
Q8. With reference to the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor that attained first criticality in 2026, consider the following:
1. It is the reactor with which India entered the second stage of its three-stage nuclear power programme.
2. Its operation makes India only the second country in the world, after Russia, to run a commercial-scale fast breeder reactor.
3. It attained first criticality on 6 April 2026 at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.
4. It is fuelled by a mixed plutonium–uranium carbide core, the same fuel type used in India's earlier fast reactor at the site.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It is the reactor with which India entered the second stage of its three-stage nuclear power programme.
- Its operation makes India only the second country in the world, after Russia, to run a commercial-scale fast breeder reactor.
- It attained first criticality on 6 April 2026 at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu.
- It is fuelled by a mixed plutonium–uranium carbide core, the same fuel type used in India's earlier fast reactor at the site.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q9. Consider the following statements comparing the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) with the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), both at Kalpakkam:
1. The FBTR was designed and is operated by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited, the same enterprise that commissioned the PFBR.
2. The FBTR is rated at 40 MWt / 13.6 MWe and is a sodium-cooled, loop-type reactor.
3. Unlike the PFBR, which uses mixed oxide fuel, the FBTR runs on a mixed plutonium–uranium carbide core whose plutonium content is unusually high.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The FBTR was designed and is operated by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited, the same enterprise that commissioned the PFBR.
- The FBTR is rated at 40 MWt / 13.6 MWe and is a sodium-cooled, loop-type reactor.
- Unlike the PFBR, which uses mixed oxide fuel, the FBTR runs on a mixed plutonium–uranium carbide core whose plutonium content is unusually high.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. In the blanket surrounding the core of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, which one of the following is the principal fissile nuclide that is bred?
- A. Uranium-233
- B. Uranium-235
- C. Plutonium-239
- D. Plutonium-241
Q11. According to Parliament replies of the Department of Atomic Energy in 2026, how many further 500 MWe fast breeder reactor units, over and above the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, have been accorded approval for pre-project activities at Kalpakkam?
- A. Two, as a twin-unit set of 500 MWe fast breeder reactors
- B. Four, all of India's future fast reactors being sited exclusively at Kalpakkam
- C. Six, covering every fast reactor sanctioned anywhere in the country
- D. None, no further fast reactor unit having been sanctioned at any site
Q12. The three-stage strategy under which India's limited uranium is to be multiplied and its large thorium reserves eventually exploited was chalked out at the very inception of the country's atomic energy programme, under the vision of which one of the following?
- A. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai
- B. Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha
- C. Dr. Raja Ramanna
- D. Dr. Homi Nusserwanji Sethna