KAMINI
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KAMINI (Kalpakkam Mini reactor) is a research reactor at the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam, India. It achieved criticality on October 29, 1996.[1][2] It was designed and built jointly by IGCAR and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).[3] It produces 30 kW of thermal energy at full power.[2][4] KAMINI is cooled and moderated by light water, uses a beryllium oxide neutron reflector,[2] and is fueled with uranium-233 metal produced by the thorium fuel cycle harnessed by the neighbouring FBTR reactor.
Following the shutdown of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment in 1969, KAMINI was the only reactor in the world designed specifically to use uranium-233 fuel until the completion of TMSR-LF1 in 2023. Use of the large thorium reserves to produce nuclear fuel is a key strategy of India's nuclear energy program.
The KAlpakkam MINI reactor (KAMINI) was jointly designed and built by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) to serve as India’s first U‑233–fueled research reactor. Civil works and installation began in the mid‑1990s within the Post‑Irradiation Examination Facility at Kalpakkam, with the reactor achieving first criticality on 29 October 1996 and reaching its nominal thermal power of 30 kW in September 1997.[5]