ANEEL

What is ANEEL?
•    ANEEL is a patented nuclear fuel that blends thorium with High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU).
•    HALEU refers to uranium enriched between 5% and 20%, a range required for several advanced nuclear reactor designs.
•    The ANEEL fuel was developed by Chicago-based Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE).
•    The fuel is named ANEEL, in honour of Dr Anil Kakodkar, one of India’s foremost nuclear scientists.
Significance of ANEEL for India
•    ANEEL is significant because it is compatible with existing Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).
•    It enables improved performance in proven heavy water reactor systems by leveraging thorium’s favourable nuclear, thermal, and physical properties, without requiring entirely new reactor designs.
•    Of India’s 22 operational nuclear reactors, 18 are PHWRs and 4 are Light Water Reactors (LWRs).
•    India is also constructing 10 additional PHWRs to increase nuclear power capacity from the current 8,180 MW to 22,480 MW by 2031-32.
•    In this context, ANEEL offers an effective pathway to utilise India’s abundant thorium reserves while conserving limited uranium resources.

Role in India’s Nuclear Programme
ANEEL is viewed as a practical enabler of the Department of Atomic Energy’s (DAE) long-term objective to harness India’s thorium resources under the three-stage nuclear power programme, particularly by enabling near-term thorium utilisation within existing reactor infrastructure.
Thorium-Based Nuclear Fission Reaction
•    Thorium is a fertile material, meaning it cannot sustain a nuclear chain reaction on its own.
•    To function as reactor fuel, thorium must be paired with a fissile material such as Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239.
•    When neutrons from these fissile materials bombard thorium, it is transmuted into Uranium-233.
•    Uranium-233 is fissile and can sustain a nuclear chain reaction, thereby enabling power generation.