At the service of nuclear energy since 1956
Russia is already building India’s largest nuclear power plant, Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. The Kudankulam nuclear power plant will contain six sets with VVER-1000 reactors. The work began following an intergovernmental agreement between India and Russia signed in 1988. Units 1 and 2 (Phase I) are already in operation and painting is underway to construct Units 3 to 6 (Phase I). stages II and III). The visitor and operator of the plant is the National Power Company of India Ltd (NPCIL), the general contractor is JSC ASE JSC (Rosatom Engineering Division), the general designer Atomenergoproject and the apparatus designer OKB Gidropress.
Units 1 and 2 began operations in 2016. The overall framework agreement with Rosatom on structural assemblies 3 and four was signed in 2014, and in 2017, Rosatom’s engineering department and NPCIL signed an agreement on structural assemblies five and 6. Work on sets five and 6 began in 2021 and the nuclear power plant is expected to operate at full capacity until 2027. The roadmap for nuclear cooperation between Russia and India envisages building a total of 12 sets in the India, adding four to eight in Kudankulam.
Modi, accompanied by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev, visited the Rosatom pavilion at the All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNKh – Vistravka Dostizhenii Narodnovo Khozyaistva) in Moscow. VDNKh Opened in 2023, it is one of the world’s permanent science and generation exhibitions.
“Russia offers India cooperation in the construction of small tropical nuclear power plants with the option of an upper point of location, adding the transfer of structural paintings to New Delhi,” Likhachev told Modi at the stopover at the pavilion.
Putin and Modi also discussed non-energy nuclear technology programs, such as water desalination, irradiation of seeds and food products to ensure their quality, transportation of goods from India to Europe and Russia along the Northern Sea Route, and a floating nuclear power plant. Likhachev provided detailed explanations.
Putin and Modi also watched a video on the structure of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant for the Indian nuclear program and the source of isotopes for the Indian lunar program and medicine.
“I visited the Atom Pavilion with President Putin. La energy is a vital pillar of cooperation between India and Russia and we hope to strengthen ties in this sector,” Modi posted on his official X platform with photographs of the visit. “We also saw the ‘Atomic Symphony’, a permanent operating style of the VVER-1000 reactor, which is the center of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant,” said an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA). “Cooperation in the nonviolent uses of nuclear generation is a vital pillar of multifaceted cooperation between India and Russia,” MEA published in X after the visit.
“We are in a position to seriously expand our cooperation with India in the field of the use of nuclear force for non-violent purposes,” Likhachev said. “These are, first of all, the serial construction of Russian-designed large-capacity nuclear power plants at a new site in India, the implementation of small-scale production projects of terrestrial and floating design, and cooperation in the field of nuclear fuel. cycle, as well as in the table of non-force nuclear technologies programs.
Likhachev also said that Rosatom needs to expand fourth-generation nuclear technologies in India. “We are currently working out a programme for further cooperation. As we have tested other existing generation 3 technologies and built very effective relationships, we would like to move forward combined towards the fourth generation,” he said.
In an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel, he noted that fourth-generation technologies include fast reactors, fast neutron reactors, further modification and progression of VVER technologies, closure of the fuel cycle, as well as basic spaces such as quantum technology.
In May, India’s Atomic Energy Decomposition Secretary Ajit Kumar Mohanty met with Likhachev and discussed tactics to increase cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. They visited the Brest-OD-300 reactor, which is part of the demonstration pilot complex. (ODEK – Opitno Demonstratsionovo Energo-Kompleksa) evolved as a component of the Breakthrough (Proryv) mission, designed to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology. The ODEK mission includes a nuclear fuel manufacturing and remanufacturing module and an irradiated fuel reprocessing module. The reactor is expected to be connected to the grid in 2027.
The Russian presidents noted that among the new spaces for interaction discussed are the construction in India of six more Russian-designed nuclear equipment at a new site and low-power nuclear power plants, as well as cooperation in the field of closing the nuclear fuel cycle. .
Another important issue is the serial construction in India of generating sets for a Russian-designed nuclear power plant based on VVER-1200 reactors. “Specialized organizations are preparing the terms of reference for the construction of a new Russian-designed nuclear power plant in India with VVER-1200 reactor facilities. “
The report says that Russia and India have wonderful prospects for cooperation in the clinical and technical fields, adding nuclear fusion and India’s participation in the multipurpose fast neutron research reactor (MBIR). ) Russian, structure in Dimitrovgrad. Rosatom and Indian corporations are looking for clients for interaction in the field of quantum computing, adding the creation of quantum computers.
At the same time, joint advancement of the Northern Sea Route transit perspective (one of Rosatom’s responsibilities) is being negotiated with Indian partners. Relevant organizations of Russia and India are discussing the possibilities of systemic transfer of Russian energy resources (oil, coal and liquefied natural gas) from ports in northwestern Russia to ports in India, with transshipment in Russian ports in the Far East.
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