India and the Thorium Fuel Cycle

In the past decade, India has concluded a series of agreements opening nuclear trade with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, including the United States, ending three decades of nuclear trade isolation following its first test of a nuclear device in 1974. The US-India Nuclear Deal includes advanced permission to reprocess nuclear fuel originating in the US, and guarantees India assistance in building a strategic fuel reserve. Due to India’s minimal uranium supply and abundant natural thorium resources, India has a strong incentive to commercialize the thorium fuel cycle.  As India is not a member of the Nonproliferation Treaty, their plans to expand nuclear energy technology create new challenges, both technical and political, to upholding the nonproliferation regime.

Focus Areas:

• Nuclear Chemistry
• Nuclear Engineering
• Nuclear Security Policy

Team members:

• Team lead: Eva Uribe, Graduate Student in Chemistry
• Kelly Kmak, Undergraduate in Chemistry