DY Patil University in Pune to conduct research in nuclear fusion technology

The initiative aims to deliver a compact volume neutron source capable of producing medical isotopes along with nuclear fuel breeding by converting thorium to uranium, says official

The DY Patil International University and Albot Technologies Private Limited have joined hands to carry out research in nuclear fusion technology under the project titled ‘Project Sanlayan’.

The initiative was announced by Prof Prabhat Ranjan, vice-chancellor, DY Patil International University, Akurdi and Akash Singh, founder of Alobot Technologies Private Limited and a Silicon Valley, USA-based investor, on Wednesday. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The initiative was announced by Prof Prabhat Ranjan, vice-chancellor, DY Patil International University, Akurdi and Akash Singh, founder of Alobot Technologies Private Limited and a Silicon Valley, USA-based investor, on Wednesday.

Ranjan, who is the chief mentor of the project, said, “The initiative aims to deliver a compact volume neutron source capable of producing medical isotopes along with nuclear fuel breeding by converting thorium to uranium. It would also be possible to do nuclear waste management.”

“The goal of the project is to generate baseload electricity in a clean and sustainable manner. On the way to energy production, we also aim to use neutrons produced through nuclear fusion for several critical applications to enable commercialisation,” he added.

Students would benefit by participating in the different stages of the project.

The ‘Project Sanlayan’ was announced on December 3, 2020, during the 8th Bihar Science Conference. In addition to developing a reactor for energy generation, the project is focused on the development of a spherical tokamak based compact volume neutron source with the purpose of producing extremely short-supplied medical isotopes.

Singh said, “We have provided the initial seed funding of USD 1 million for the project. This is a long-term project with a timeline of about 15 years for achieving the desired outcome. As the project grows and moves ahead 200 to 300 million USD would be required. We intend to approach Indian and international investors who fund high-risk high returns kind of projects with long term objectives.”

“Technology-wise, we are exploring the unique possibility of using a non-superconducting magnet system to reduce the complexity, cost and make the system modular to improve the duty cycle of the operation. This approach, while discussed in the literature, has not been experimentally achieved so far,” said Ranjan.