OREANDA-NEWS. May 22, 2008. China and India are planning to build own experimental fast reactors by 2010, the first deputy head of OKBM Vitaly Petrunin said during a conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

OKBM is a Russian company specializing in designing Russia fast breeder reactors. Presently, Russia owns the world’s only commercial fast breeder reactor – BN-600 reactor (600MW) at Beloyarsk NPP.

Petrunin said that a number of countries, like China, India, France, Japan and the United States, are carrying out intensive work under similar projects. Particularly, China, jointly with Russia, is building CEFR reactor and is planning to launch it in 2010. By 2020 the Chinese are planning to build a demo reactor similar to Russian BN-600. “The Chinese are serious people. They can even outrun us in this sphere if we make no headway,” Petrunin said.

India is presently curbed by restrictions imposed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group after that country carried out nuclear tests. That’s why the Indians are designing fast breeder technologies with their own strengths. By 2010 they are planning to build a demo reactor. “As far as we know, they are doing quite well and will finish the work in time,” Petrunin said.

He pointed out that the United States has finally decided to start designing fast reactors. In Russia and the whole world these reactors are called breeders, in the United States they are called burners.

Fast reactors are regarded as one of the most promising nuclear technologies, reactors of the future. They can be used for burning radioactive waste and weapons-grade plutonium.

As was reported earlier, the pioneers in the sphere are France and Russia. France has an experimental reactor while Russia has commercial 600MW reactor and is building the second 800MW reactor at Beloyarsk NPP.