New Delhi, April 26 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his 133rd Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, highlighted recent developments in India's nuclear and renewable energy sectors, calling the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Tamil Nadu's Kalpakkam achieving first criticality on April 6 a "historic milestone" for the country's civil nuclear programme.

Criticality marks the start of a controlled fission chain reaction in the reactor core. Though it will take some more time for commercial operation to produce electricity, it is a step towards successfully operationalising the second stage of India's three-stage nuclear programme.

He said the reactor has been built using indigenous technology and described breeder reactors as systems...