Russia proposes advanced nuclear projects to India

Top officials from the two countries’ atomic agencies have discussed expanding cooperation beyond power generation

Top officials from Russian and Indian nuclear agencies on Thursday discussed expanding cooperation in the nuclear field beyond power generation, Rosatom said in a statement. Aleksey Likhachev, the director-general of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, and Ajit Kumar Mohanty, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, held talks during a site visit in Seversk, Tomsk Region.

During the visit, Rosatom showcased the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex to its Indian partners. This complex is being developed under the ‘Proryv’ (Breakthrough) project, which aims to establish a new technological platform for a closed nuclear fuel cycle and address the challenges of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.

The goal is to create a competitive product that will ensure the leadership of Russian technologies in the global nuclear power industry, according to Rosatom. “We are ready for serious expansion of the cooperation with India in the field of using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” Likhachev said.

According to him, this includes the construction of Russian-designed high-capacity nuclear power units at a new site in India, which is yet to be publicly disclosed by New Delhi, as well as implementing land-based and floating low-power generation projects.

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The two countries are also discussing cooperation in the nuclear fuel cycle area, as well as non-power applications of nuclear technologies, the Rosatom chief said.

The officials also discussed the progress of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), which is being built in Tamil Nadu, southern India. The KNPP, India’s largest nuclear power plant, includes six power units equipped with light-water reactors, each with a capacity of 1,000 MW. 

The first two units were connected to the national grid in 2013 and 2016 respectively, and currently supply power to the southern Indian region. The four remaining units are at different stages of construction and equipment fitting. 

In December last year, during a visit of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Moscow, the countries signed agreements to move forward on implementing the fifth and sixth reactors for the Kudankulam project. Jaishankar recently noted at a press conference in Mumbai that India is looking at “additional sites for Russian reactors.”

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Speaking to the media, Likhachev said Russia has been extensively sharing the latest technological advancements in the nuclear field with India. The two nations are also working together on projects in third countries – Rosatom and Indian companies have been engaged in the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh.

The plant, which is around 140km west of Dhaka, is Bangladesh’s biggest infrastructure project to date and a vital part of plans to move away from coal and other fossil fuels. Moscow and Dhaka signed several intergovernmental credit agreements worth around $12 billion for financing the project.

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