India leaps to split the atom

Akshara· Host0:00

[upbeat music] In today's episode, we'll break down two important stories. First, we'll talk about India solving a key bottleneck in nuclear energy, and then we'll talk about the imbalances that make up world trade. Welcome back to The Daily Brief by Zerodha, where we cut through the noise to help you understand what's actually happening in the most important stories from business and markets. I'm your host Akshara, and today is Wednesday, 15th April. Coming to the first story. So everything in the universe is made of atoms. An atom has a core called a nucleus built from smaller particles, protons and neutrons. In most elements, the nucleus holds together just fine. But in very heavy metals like uranium, it's so packed that it's barely stable. Fire a neutron at it, and the nucleus can split apart. This is nuclear fission. Now, when a uranium atom splits, two things happen. It releases a huge amount of energy as heat, millions of times more atom for atom than burning coal, and the splitting nucleus flings out two or three spare neutrons, which fly off and hit other uranium atoms, splitting them too, releasing more energy and more neutrons. This is a chain reaction, and if it keeps going on its own without outside help, the reactor has achieved what physicists call criticality. On Sunday, 9th April, inside a reactor hall on the coast of Tamil Nadu, the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, or PFBR, went critical. This is a big deal. The fast breeder is