The project is part of a state-run program aimed at creating another technological stage for atomic energy on the basis of the shut fuel cycle with fast neutron reactors, according to Alexander Zagornov, project administrator at Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom.
Zagornov, who was invited to the opening of the company's South Asia regional center in India, explained that the new development will help neutralize the major ecological issue of deactivating and processing radioactive waste, as the shut fuel cycle includes reusing the waste as new fuel.
"Transition to the closed fuel cycle, which is based on the fast neutron reactors, will lead to the solution of the five key problems — safety, competitiveness, shortage of fuel, reprocessing and refabricating the used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste — as well as in enforcing non-proliferation of fission materials and weapons technologies," Zagornov told IANS.
The best solution, Zagornov said, is regional "collective use centers," in which one reactor can be used by numerous international clients, adding that Rosatom invites its Indian partners to join in and become pioneers in further research into nuclear processes.
