Russia begins construction of fifth nuclear power unit at Kudankulam
1 min read . Updated: 29 Jun 2021, 02:07 PM IST
Premium- Rosatom is providing the technology for the construction of the Kudankulam plant which is to have six units of 1,000 MWe generation capacity each
NEW DELHI: Russia on Tuesday began construction of the fifth nuclear power unit at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, a development hailed by Russian ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev as a “significant" milestone in bilateral nuclear cooperation.
Russian company Rosatom is providing the technology for the construction of the Kudankulam plant which is to have six units of 1,000 MWe generation capacity each. It is India's first light water reactor.
The ceremony, which took place via video link, was also attended by Rosatom director general Alexey Likhachev.
The first pouring of concrete was preceded by “continuous preliminary work: concrete bedding for foundations of the reactor building, auxiliary reactor building with the main control room, turbine building and power supply building for normal operation, emergency power supply and safety control systems," Rosatom said in a statement on Tuesday.
“For many years the Kudankulam NPP (nuclear power plant) construction project has been a symbol of close cooperation between Russia and India. However, we do not want to stop at what had already been achieved. Rosatom has all the most advanced nuclear power technologies. Together with our Indian colleagues we are ready to launch the serial construction of the state-of-the-art Generation III+ Russian-designed nuclear power units at a new site in India. It is stipulated by the existing agreements," Likhachev was quoted as saying.
Nikolay Kudashev said that the first pour of concrete at the construction site of the 5th nuclear reactor of Kudankulam NPP “is one of significant moments in the Russian-Indian nuclear energy cooperation."
“It demonstrates our firm devotion to achieve success in all bilateral undertakings," he said.
After signing the General Framework Agreement (GFA) for the construction of units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam NPP, India and Russia began talks for the constructions of two more units at the same site. In June 2017, the two countries signed the GFA for units 5 and 6. Units 1 and 2 are already operational.
