Has India cracked its nuclear endgame?

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[background music] Hello, folks. You're tuned into Finshots Daily. In today's episode, we talk about how India achieved criticality of its first-ever prototype fast breeder reactor. But here's a quick side note before we begin. This week, we're hosting a free two-day insurance masterclass that helps you build real financial security by understanding health and life insurance the right way. If you'd like to save your spot, then head to the link in the description and register while the seats last. By the way, it's completely free. All right, let's get on today's story. In the years after India gained independence, it was still finding its footing in the world, while one man was planning for decades ahead. Homi Jehangir Bhabha wasn't just building a nuclear program, he was designing a future where India wouldn't depend on the world for its energy needs. But there was a problem. India didn't have much uranium, the fuel most nuclear reactors run on. Even today, the country depends heavily on imports to keep its reactors running, including multi-billion dollar agreements with countries like Canada. What it did have, however, was something far less talked about, vast reserves of thorium, or twenty-five percent of the global total, buried in its sands. There was just one catch, though. Thorium by itself can't be directly used as fuel in most nuclear reactors. It needs to be converted into a usable form, and that process requires another material to kickstart it. And at the time, countries like the U.S. were racing ahead with uranium-based reactors, scaling nuclear