Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation or Rosatom hopes the Indian government will finalize the second site to house six more of its reactors with a capacity to generate 1,170 MW each, said a top official of the group company.
“We expect the site to be selected in the nearest time and that the process of signing contracts for the new units will begin,” Evgeny Pakermanov, President, Rusatom Overseas, told IANS in an email.
According to him, Rosatom may offer referential technical solutions and necessary terms and conditions of financing to the Indian customer.
The Indian customer is Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd which has two Russian reactors under operation at Kudankulam, around 650 km from here, and two more under construction.
India and Russia are expected to sign necessary agreements for the setting up of two more – 5th and 6th – units at Kudankulam.
“Rosatom is ready for various formats of project implementation. Within the framework of this sphere, we have signed an action programme of providing gradual localisation of production facilities for our NPP (nuclear power plant) projects in India,” Pakermanov added.
According to him, building upon the successful cooperation achieved on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Russia plans to build at least six new atomic power projects at a new site in accordance with the intergovernmental agreements.
All the reactors at Kudankulam – the two existing and the four to be built – are of 1,000 MW capacity. After the first six units, Russia will be supplying higher capacity units.
“The site selection committee of the government is exploring the possibility of identifying a suitable coastal site in Andhra Pradesh for locating nuclear power plants with Russian cooperation,” Minister of State for Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh has told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
Speaking to IANS recently Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Sekhar Basu, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said the second site for the Russian reactors has to be a coastal one.
The Andhra Pradesh government has given its nod to conduct studies to identify potential sites, including Kavali in Nellore District.
According to the Russian nuclear power company Rosatom, it is building two such VVER reactors (1,170 MW) at Belarus.
The VVER reactors are Russian Vodo-Vodyanoi Energetichesky Reaktors, translated in English as Water-Water Energetic Reactors.
Meanwhile, excavation works for Kudankulam units 3 and 4 are in progress. The first concrete for the new units will be poured in March 2017.
In December 2014, Moscow and New Delhi signed a document on strategic vision of serial construction of nuclear power units in India by using Russian technology.
The document outlines plans for the construction of more than 12 nuclear power units in India, at the Kudankulam site as well, Rosatom added.
IANS