India is an important member of the 'International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor'. If this experiment succeeds, what is the immediate advantage for India?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) It can build fusion reactors for power generation
ITER is an experiment to show that nuclear fusion, the joining of light atomic nuclei as in the Sun, can work at power-plant scale. Every ITER member shares the experimental results and intellectual property, so if it succeeds, India can build its own fusion reactors for power.
- ✓ (d) ITER is meant to prepare the way for future fusion power plants, and members share its results and intellectual property. Fusion power reactors are the natural next step for India.
- ✗ (a) Using thorium as fuel belongs to India's fission reactor programme; ITER is a fusion project and does not test thorium.
- ✗ (b) Satellite navigation depends on satellite systems (such as India's own navigation constellation), which have nothing to do with a fusion experiment.
- ✗ (c) Fusion is a different process from fission. A fusion success would not by itself make fission reactors more efficient.
Remember · ITER (in France; members China, EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA) tests nuclear fusion; the payoff is knowledge to build fusion power plants.
Sources
- ITER Members (ITER Organization) ↗ · reference work “the ITER collaboration Members China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States will share in the cost of project construction, operation and decommissioning, and also share in the experimental results and any intellectual property generated by the project.”
- ITER in a few lines (ITER Organization) ↗ · reference work “ITER will bridge the gap between today's smaller-scale experimental fusion devices and the demonstration fusion power plants of the future.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·