'India's secret N-submarine project nearing completion'

[Khajur]

A very informative article by Adm Raja Menon.

 

[Reddy]

Excellent article by Adm Raja Menon, very informative.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Video: Rare scoop on INS Arihant's Nuclear Reactor​

Watch Video

 

[shravan]

Video: Rare scoop on INS Arihant's

Thanks a lot for the video.

 

[Screaming Skull]

INS Arihant's indigenous nuclear reactor!​

The 80 MWe indigenous PWR at Kalpakkam. In the foreground is the pressure hull and behind is the shield tank that contains water and the reactor.​

 

[Screaming Skull]

PWR building shows indigenous capability, says Kakodkar​

Monday, Aug 03, 2009

CHENNAI: India building an 80 MWe Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) at Kalpakkam near here “marks the beginning of its indigenous PWR capability,” Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar said on Sunday.

An identical PWR of the same capacity would propel the indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant that was launched on July 26. The two PWRs were built by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Enriched uranium would fuel them, and light water was both coolant and moderator. The Rare Materials Project at Ratnahalli, near Mysore, produced the enriched uranium. “For nuclear power generation also, the PWR technology is most popular worldwide,” Dr. Kakodkar said.

On Sunday, reporters were shown the PWR built on a beachhead at Kalpakkam. The reactor, built under a highly secretive project called Plutonium Recyling Project (PRP), has been operating from September 2006. The non-descript PRP building has the display of a sculpture of a dolphin outside.

The PWR, housed in a huge hall, has a massive pressure hull, a shielding tank with water and reactor inside, a reactor pressure vessel made of special steel, a control room and an auxiliary control room.

“The reactor is running now. All the safety related parameters are monitored in the auxiliary control room,” said A. Moorthi, scientific officer, BARC, who showed reporters round the reactor. The land-based reactor and the PWR that has been packed into Arihant’s hull are on a 1:1 scale.

Dr. Kakodkar said the PWR at Kalpakkam was an addition to the nation’s family of reactors. The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), which use natural uranium as fuel, “are world class.” “Our Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) are globally advanced. Our Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is globally unique,” he added.

The FBRs would use plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel. The AHWR, to be built, would have thorium as fuel.

Srikumar Banerjee, Director, BARC, called the introduction of indigenous PWR technology in the country “a major step” in the activities of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The BARC was mandated to develop a land-based prototype PWR and also a compact nuclear pack for submarine applications.

“The complexity increases manifold in a submarine due to the miniaturisation of the already complex systems,” Dr. Banerjee said. Besides, power should rise fast from 25 per cent to 100 per in a few minutes in the reactor of a nuclear-powered submarine. It should reach full speed in a few minutes. So, special attention had to be paid to the design of the reactor.

S. Basu, Director of BARC Facilities at Kalpakkam, said the successful operation of the PWR at Kalpakkam for the past three years generated data for the submarine version.

Arihant was a joint project of the DAE, the Navy and the DRDO.

 

[ironman]

^^ Thanks its a nice article. If things are going upto the plan our next aircraft carrier will be a nuclear powered one,fitted with a variant of two above mentioned reactors.

 

[holysaturn]

Nuclear power reactors’ capacity factor will go up, says Anil Kakodkar


T.S. Subramanian

India will overcome problems relating to shortage of natural uranium by 2012-2013






— Photo: S.S. Kumar

A STEP FORWARD: (From left) S. Basu, Facilities Director, BARC Facilities at Kalpakkam; Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission; and S. Banerjee, Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, address the media at Kalpakkam near Chennai on Sunday.


CHENNAI: With natural uranium production going up in India, the capacity factor of its nuclear power reactors, which is around 55 per cent now, will go up to 65 per cent by the end of this financial year (2009-2010), said Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), on Sunday.

“Next year, it will rise to 70 to 75 per cent.” The capacity would go up although three new reactors — two units at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS-5 and 6) and the fourth unit at Kaiga in Karnataka — would be commissioned “in a phased manner between this year and next year,” he said, addressing a press conference at Kalpakkam.

Dr. Kakodkar was confident that the capacity of the reactors would go up because the capacity of the mill at Jaduguda in Jharkhand, which converted natural uranium into yellow cake, had been augmented. Another mill at Turamdih, also in Jharkhand, was commissioned and its production of yellow cake was going up. “We have launched an expansion programme at Jaduguda and it is complete. Turamdih expansion will be completed next year,” he said. The uranium mine and the mill, which were under construction at Tummlapalle in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh, would go on stream in 2013. Exploration mining was taking place at Gogi in Karnataka. “By 2012-2013 horizon, we will overcome all the problems” relating to the shortage of natural uranium that led to a drop in the capacity factor of the reactors, he said.

(India has 15 Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors — PHWRs — that use natural uranium as fuel, and heavy water as coolant and moderator. India also has two Light Water Reactors that use enriched uranium as fuel, and light water as coolant and moderator).
New projects



The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was looking forward to the start of the construction of four PHWRs of 700 MWe each, for which the Union government had given approval. Dr. Kakodkar said, “That is where the new mines will come in handy. After a while, we will start the construction of four more reactors of 700 MWe each. It is a question of progressively increasing the capacity factor and also adding capacity.”

Srikumar Banerjee, Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), said the successful development of the 80 MWe Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) at Kalpakkam, which used enriched uranium as fuel, ushered in the PWR technology in India. The experience gained in this project would help in the indigenous development of PWRs for large-scale electricity generation. The reactor pressure vessel used in this PWR was made of special steel, which only a few countries had developed. It had high strength at a high temperature, Dr. Banerjee said.

(An identical PWR, built by BARC, forms the powerhouse of INS Arihant, India’s indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine).
Russian role


Asked whether the Russians had any role in developing the PWR, Dr. Banerjee said the development of a technology like this occurred in stages, and the PWR at Kalpakkam had been operating from September 2006. “In doing so, we have used the Russians as consultants. As far as efforts in designing, developing and maintaining the reactor are concerned, they are entirely ours,” the BARC Director said.

S. Basu, Director, BARC Facilities at Kalpakkam, also asserted that “everything is totally indigenous” about the PWR developed at Kalpakkam. “It has been developed by us. It is 100 per cent our reactor,” he said. Arihant was a demonstration of India’s indigenous capability to build a nuclear-powered submarine, and it was a joint endeavour of the DAE, the Navy and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Mr. Basu said.

Rear Admiral Michael Moraes, Flag Officer Commanding (submarines), was sure the design of Arihant was good. The Navy had already trained the crew who would man it. For submarines, “it is a constant between stealth technology and the detection technology. Any strong nation will like to have a submarine fleet because they can go anywhere in the world,” Rear Admiral Moraes said.
The Hindu : Front Page : Nuclear power reactors’ capacity factor will go up, says Anil Kakodkar
i am highly impressed by the navys attitude towards local defence production and design.the single word "good" can boost scientists of the drdo who rarely get a chance to hear such words from the army or the AF.when the navy could build a nuke sub with the drdo(in just 11 years) the iaf and the army couldnt build less complex tanks and fighters.

 

[Mig-29]

India built N-sub in Kalpakkam under codename 'PRP

KALPAKKAM: The secrecy attached to the development of the indigenous nuclear submarine project is almost
legendary.What’s little known is the extent to which the Indian N-establishment went to conceal the research not only from the public but also large sections of the scientific community within the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

For almost nine years, most staff working at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam believed the Plutonium Recycle Project (PRP) in the complex was used only for that purpose, that is recycling plutonium.

But with the launch of INS Arihant on July 25, top DAE officials have finally begun to lift the veil and reveal that they were actually building the core (nuclear reactor and propulsion systems) of the submarine as well as the land-based version of the hull of the indigenous vessel, which served as the technology demonstrator of the main vessel, within the PRP unit. For those in the know, even the term ‘PRP’ denoted the N-sub.

Sunday marked the commemoration of the fifth year since the project attained criticality at the PRP site with a controlled N-chain reaction. Ahead of a briefing by Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar, a team of scientists escorted journalists around a gigantic, dark grey-coloured hull of a submarine, which was the land-based version of the hull of Arihant. ‘‘It is a 1:1 model of the submersible. Everything was simulated here before being built on the main submarine at Vishakapatnam,’’ a scientist explained.

Although the idea of an indigenous nuke sub was conceived by Raja Ramanna over two decades back and research undertaken at Barc in Trombay, work on the PRP site in Kalpakkam began in 1999.
Criticality was attained on November 11, 2003, with the land-based version running on a light water reactor, scientists revealed. But Arihant remained shrouded in mystery. Three years later, on September 22, 2006, when the reactor was operational there was still silence.

In fact, going by dates provided now, the first hints of the project’s success came only a year later on September 11, 2007, when former AEC chief P K Iyengar said at a public meeting, ‘‘Indian scientists are capable of making light water reactors. We are constructing one at Kalpakkam for a submarine.’’

Defending the need for stealth, an IGCAR official explianed, “We had to maintain secrecy as this was a project of high national secrecy and security and we did not want other nations to know about this.’’

India built N-sub in Kalpakkam under codename 'PRP' - India - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[Screaming Skull]

^^ Thanks its a nice article. If things are going upto the plan our next aircraft carrier will be a nuclear powered one,fitted with a variant of two above mentioned reactors.

Here you go! This should answer some of the members' queries. But, I don't think the first two carriers will be n-powered. Maybe the later versions, when we have a decent carrier based aircraft on our radar. But, yes the country is capable of producing the nuclear reactors for such carriers!

India has tech for n-warship​

August 3rd, 2009

Kalpakkam Aug. 2: India can build its own nuclear powered aircraft carrier and warships, said the country’s top nuclear scientist.

“Yes, we have the capability and technical expertise to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and war ships of global standards. When the government asks us to build such ships, we will do it,” Dr Anil Kakodkar, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, said on Sunday.

He was addressing reporters at the Propulsion Reactor Project (PRP) site at the Indira Gandhi Centre For Atomic Research (IGCAR), where INS Arihant, the country’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine took shape.

Disclosing that India has mastered the technology to build Light Water Reactors (LWR), Dr Kakodkar said, “INS Arihant is powered by a Light Water Reactor built by the scientists of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). We have the capability to build big Light Water Reactors to meet the energy requirements of the country.”

The AEC chairman said that the kind of reactor built for the nuclear submarine could be used to electrify villages and remote areas not covered by the national grid. “We are not ruling out the possibilities of using such reactors for rural electrification. Though the cost of power production may be a bit expensive, we can always explore the possibilities for using this compact reactors for bringing light to the villages.”

Dr Kakodkar said the commissioning of the first reactor at Koodankulam had been delayed. “It will be ready for fuelling early next year. The 500 MW fast breeder reactor will be ready for commission by 2011.” Dr S Banerjee, director, Barc, said the LWR was more flexible than other reactors. “It can work 30 times faster than the conventional reactors. This will help the Navy personnel to manoeuvre the vessel to speeds of their requirement,” he said.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/india-has-tech-n-warship-367

 

[ironman]

Here you go! This should answer some of the members' queries. But, I don't think the first two carriers will be n-powered. Maybe the later versions, when we have a decent carrier based aircraft on our radar. But, yes the country is capable of producing the nuclear reactors for such carriers!

I meant the third one.Currently proposed aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya carrying General Electric LM2500 and Shaft Geared Steam Turbines built by Russia respectively.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Another fine article by Admiral Raja Menon (retd.)

Guarding India from sea​

Raja Menon

06 Aug 2009

India lives in a troubled neighbourhood, which is why our first nuclear submarine is a ballistic missile firing one (SSBN), unlike that of all other countries, which first commissioned a nuclear hunter-killer submarine. Their method enabled the other countries to try out nuclear engineering technology thoroughly before mating the ballistic missile firing system with that of the nuclear submarine. India’s is a bold attempt to shortcut the procedure, although when the project began in the Seventies and Eighties, what was being designed was only a hunter-killer (SSN). The beginnings of the project were in the Seventies, and it began like that of all other countries — to dry run a submarine propulsion reactor in one of the atomic energy department’s sites, at BARC. Now forgotten is the extraordinary case of the naval officer, Captain Subha Rao, a genius deputed to BARC, who ended up in a fight with that establishment. Subha Rao was arrested while boarding a plane for the US, with a copy of his IIT Phd thesis in his baggage, or so he claimed, which was also on propulsion reactor design which had been stamped ‘secret’ by the establishment to which he handed it in. The Internet has sites alleging that a US representative admitted that Subha Rao was carrying plans of the Chakra, which had been leased by the USSR to India. The facts are that Justice Saldanha of the Bombay High Court honourably acquitted the retired officer in 1987, and so claims the site, accused the government of having ‘perpetrated a fraud’.

The project had a better beginning in the Eighties under Ramanna who roped in Vice Admiral M K Roy, a Tamil speaking Bengali, and a classmate, to run the project for some years — as the Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) project. By the mid-Eighties there were many naval officers at the HDW yard in Kiel, Germany, as well as a design team at the 1KL design bureau in Lubeck, Germany. The fact is that, although the Indian Navy had been with the Soviets for 20 years, it was the Germans who first handed over both technology and submarine design in an incredible open and frank manner of fulfilling more than the written contract. Unfortunately the planners in Naval Headquarters at that time failed to understand what India had been given and closed down the yard in Mazagon, which at that time had the most advanced submarine hull building system in the world. Many of the officers of the German project went on to become project managers of ATV.

The Arihant is a stupendous industrial feat, as complex and larger than a moon probe, where 20,000 components are put together to fine tolerance, that must stand up to 50 times the atmospheric pressure. More than engineering itself, it’s a question of the culture of submarine building and submarining, where everything is double-checked and people never begin sentences with ‘I guess…’ The Indian decision to build both submarine and missiles together has obviously taken the submarine ahead of the missile, with the K-15 missiles limited in range to 750 km. These will have to be upgraded later to enable them to operate much farther away from the target, and therefore preserve the secrecy of movement. A closer patrol or operating area would be an inducement for the targeted country to detect or at least to harass the SSBN. This would be a totally unwanted condition that Soviet submarines suffered from during the Cold War, as they were shadowed by American SSNs.

At the time of writing India’s Nuclear Doctrine, the nation’s intention of fielding a triad, as well as a Minimum Credible Deterrent (MCD) were stated. In actual fact the two are contradictory. MCD does not consist of a mathematical number only, but the concept of fielding the largest proportion of the country’s nuclear arsenal on undetectable and undestroyable platforms. In today’s technology this means nuclear submarines. The other vectors, or carriers, are eventually vulnerable to a search by a determined enemy, who allocates this task to a permanent staff. So the non-submarine component of the arsenal becomes vulnerable at a certain rate (say two per cent) a year. These are the strategic reasons why the nuclear submarine gives the country MCD, and why for once, the government openly advertised this capability. What use is MCD if one doesn’t show it to others? So, today we have an assured launch capability no matter what the size and nature of the enemy’s first strike. Some critical decisions still lie ahead of us. The Chinese have, for instance put their submarines into caves. We should encourage this, because this is how the idea of a nuclear submarine is neutralised by woolly thinking. Hopefully the Indians will not imitate the Chinese, thinking that everything Chinese is more advanced.

Eventually, the success of our submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) fleet will depend on our rocket scientists. The better the rocket, the more powerful the solid fuel, and the smaller the rocket, for the same range and payload. If our SLBMs need quiet, safe areas to patrol they need missiles of 3,000 mile range that will fit inside a 10-metre hull. Such a rocket will keep the SSBN size below 7,000 tonnes and make an elegant and cost-effective solution. We don’t need the 8,000-mile range ICBM and a 14-metre hull, for that would mean a 15,000 tonne submarine at twice the cost.

The other aspect to monitor is the reactor’s life cycle. At present, it is reported that the core will need changing every 10 years. But the core exploitation rate has not been specified. The faster and longer a submarine travels, the greater the core usage. Modern submarines like the British Astute and the USS Los Angeles class have lifetime reactors, no matter at what rate they are used. That would be ideal. But when the first of the Ohio SSBNs were commissioned, their reactors had a limit of 4,00,000 miles. So we need to worry about this parameter or we would start worrying about the safety of the SSBNs in port, and begin to think of ridiculous ideas of putting them into caves like the Chinese.

An SSBN can, if assured a deep and distant patrol area, conduct its patrol at a slow and sedate speed, making as little noise as possible. The SSN is something else, particularly if it is to guard the flanks of India’s Carrier Battle Group as it operates in the South Indian Ocean. So as can be guessed, the SSBN is a national asset, as it protects the people by threatening a second strike. The SSN is much more a naval asset. But when navies are supreme at sea, the country’s image changes. So whether India ever faces a nuclear threat in this century, or not, the SSNs will certainly change India’s standing in the Indian Ocean and the world.

Guarding India from sea

 

[TsAr]

If India has the capability to built its own Aircraft carrier then it does not make sense to purchase a old and outdated carrier from russia?

 

[Brahm0s]

If India has the capability to built its own Aircraft carrier then it does not make sense to purchase a old and outdated carrier from russia?

Friend india allready building two aircraft carrier and 1 of them will join navy by 2014. 50percent work nearly completed on it. We told russia to build one because we need 3 to 4 aircraft carriers. India can build even nuclear aircraft carrier if goverment gives nod ahead.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Exclusive INS Arihant photo​

Exclusive INS Arihant photo: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.

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