India, April 12 -- India's Kalpakkam fast breeder reactor is not just a technical milestone; it is the closest India has come to making the Indian nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha's three-stage nuclear vision work as originally intended. The breakthrough matters because it strengthens the bridge from today's uranium-based power system to tomorrow's thorium economy, but it also brings serious engineering, safety, and proliferation risks that India will have to manage carefully. After Russia, India is only the second country to attain the ability to operate a commercial-scale Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR).

BHABHA'S LONG DESIGN Often, accurately, called "father of the Indian nuclear programme", Homi Bhabha's three-stage programme was designed in ...