China’s Thorium Reactor Milestone Should Push India to Rethink Its Nuclear Energy Strategy

Suspense crime, Digital Desk : India was uniquely known across the globe for its strong faith over the years in thorium as a long term solution for providing clean and almost limitless energy. However, on April 17, 2025, China exceeded that goal by showcasing the world’s first operational molten salt reactor (MSR) using thorium, a 2 MW pilot reactor located in the Gobi Desert. China is already constructing a larger 10 MW MSR based on this initial success. This marks a global first.

This alarming contrast in policy approach and scientific ambition should serve as a striking alarm for Indian policymakers and scientists.

Chinese Molten Salt Reactor Milestone

Chinese developed reactor is deeply rooted in marks of Chinese innovation. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory refined the MSR/Molten Salt Reactor, and while unrelated to China, work on this at ORNL began back in the 1960s. That project was also abandoned around the same time in 1969 but the shell design was left publicly available, allowing Chinese researchers to revive and scale the design. While middle-level reliability of South China Morning Post may often mislead concerning the factual reliability of this so-called “Thorium MSR Breakthrough,” there are plenty of other credible outlets for reporting these breakthroughs.

The reactor takes advantage of China's molten salt reserves as both a coolant and fuel carrier, thorium and salt are byproducts of China’s booming rare earth industries.

Brief Consideration: Three-Stage Indian Nuclear Program

Nuclear program milestones of india were structured in the 1950's by Homi J Bhabha with a vision to harness thorium (Th-232) synonymously as a prime fuel resource:

Stage 1: A shift from pressurised heavy water reactors(PHWRs) towards natural uranium integrated systems. The associated spent fuel is reprocessed for plutonium.

Stage 2: Capture plutonium within Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) alongside Uranium-238 to breed and transmute thorium into uranium-233 (U-233).

Stage 3: Usenable, capable of employement thorium (Th) and U-233 would serve as the primary fuel and stand in for advanced reactors.

While operational existance of PHWRs counted to 20, the remaining PFBR in Kalpakkam pegs rest to 500 MW's and is still under developed apart from being overdue for completion to September 2026.  The latter stages invest in r&d.

Aligning with india, incorporating thrium intiatives positions towards advanced water reactors delivers an overreaching endgoal, looping back to installing the AHWR. However, in the past decade there have been no approachable blueprints introduced alongside prototypes.

While the original strategy surrounding the tri-phased plan for producing a plutonium stockpile for weapons has largely been accomplished, focus now shifts towards catering to the increasing civilian energy requirements which should become the primary focus.

Pathways to Redesign Nuclear Reactors

India requires a more holistic approach towards nuclear research. To further develop its nuclear strategy, India needs to abandon the focus on heavy water reactors and start advanced research and experimentation on other designs including:

Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs)

Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS)

High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors (HTGRs)

All of these methods provide superior and safer mechanisms for the use of thorium and also circumvent the delay associated with the phased approach.

Read More: US Officials Claim Ninety Percent Of Ukraine Peace Deal Agreed By Kyiv And Europe