India-Russia summit to boost small nuclear reactors, localisation

New Delhi: The 23rd India-Russia annual summit slated for December will give a strong push to expanding bilateral civil nuclear cooperation including small and modular reactors (SMRs) and enhancing localisation of nuclear plant equipment.

Alexei Likhachev, director general at Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom met Ajit Kumar Mohanty, director general of the Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai on Monday to discuss developing new large and small-scale nuclear power plant projects in India and broader nuclear fuel cycle cooperation.

The two officials reviewed in detail progress on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), the largest nuclear facility in India and the flagship project of Russian-Indian technological and energy cooperation, according to a Rosatom statement.

KNPP Units 1 and 2 were connected to the country's national power grid in 2013 and 2016 respectively and currently supply electricity to southern India. At Unit 3, pre-commissioning activities are underway, with preparations for one of the key upcoming milestones - testing of safety systems on an open reactor.

Meanwhile, construction and installation work, and equipment deliveries continue at Unit 4, while the third phase comprising Units 5 and 6 is actively under construction.

The discussion on Monday also covered expansion of the partnership, including the development of projects for both large- and small-scale nuclear power plants, and cooperation in nuclear fuel cycle.