India and Russia will soon sign contracts for design and supply of equipment for Units 5 & 6 at Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) building on the General Framework Agreement and Credit Protocol for these reactors concluded at the June 1 annual summit in St Petersburg.
"Taking into fact agreement signed recently for Units 5 & 6 for KNPP contracts for design and supply of equipment for the same will be signed in near future," Valery Limarenko, Director General of Atomstroyexport (Rosatom subsidiary) told a group of journalists on the sidelines of Atomexpo, world's biggest annual nuclear expo here.
Limarenko also informed that the foundation for Unit 3 for KNPP will be laid either end of June or early July. "india has also assured that second site for Russian nuclear power plant will be announced. We have excellent cooperation with the Indian nuclear scientists who are talented and skilled," Limarenko noted.
The General Framework Agreement and Credit Protocol for Units 5 & 6 were concluded after the 18th edition of Indo-Russian annual Summit at St Petersburg between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 1.
"We welcome the conclusion of the General Framework Agreement and Credit Protocol for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant... The future of Indian-Russian cooperation holds great promise across a wide spectrum covering nuclear power, nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear science and technology," a read the St Petersburg Declaration (which laid down vision for bilateral partnership in the 21st century) issued after Modi-Putin annual summit.
The growing partnership in the nuclear power sector between India and Russia has opened opportunities for developing advanced nuclear manufacturing capabilities in India in line with Government of India's "Make in India" initiative, the Declaration outlined.
The reactors are being built by India's Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia's Atomstroyexport company. The MEA last month described a report as mischief which tried to link signing of agreements for Units 5 & 6 with Russia's failure to convince China to support India for NSG membership.
The two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the country's nuclear power generation. Total power generation from six reactors of KNPP will be 6,000 MW.
Unit 1 of the Kudankulam NPP was put into commercial operation in December 2014, and Unit 2, - in late March of this year. The nominal capacity of Units 1 and 2 is 2000 MW. Unit 1produced over 13 million units of power by January 26 this year.
The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors in India is 6780 MW.
KKNPP was the outcome of an inter-governmental agreement between the erstwhile Soviet Union and India in 1988. It is the single largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 March 2002. The reactors are pressurised water reactor of Russian design, model VVER-1000/V-412 referred also as AES-92.
The Kudankulam NPP fully meets the requirements of regulations and technical standards of Russia, IAEA and is certified for compliance with the requirements of the European association of operating organizations (European Utility Requirements (EUR), according to Russian officials.
KNPP is regarded one of the safest in the world with all post-Fukushima safety requirements being implemented and functioning successfully. The NPP is also protected from natural and technlogical disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes even plane crash.