India, Russia consolidate nuclear ties, sign accord for KNPP ‘third stage

The documents were signed early this month at the 18th Annual Russian-Indian Summit, held alongside the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, by Valery Limarenko, president ASE Group, and Sri Sharma, chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow.
The agreement, which was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, covers construction of units 5 and 6 according to Russian nuclear reactor design. According to Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom, the agreement and protocol were required to start construction of the units, specifying as they do the "obligations of the two sides, costs and other important conditions of their cooperation".
According to a Rosatom statement, Limarenko said: "Extremely important documents have been signed that have been the focus of intensive joint work in recent months." He added: "All the formalities have been carried out now in order to finally launch the project to construct two new power units at Kudankulam using Russian technologies." The project thus entered the "practical phase", he added.
Kudankulam, in Tamil Nadu, is home to two VVER-1000s supplied by the ASE Group, which is Rosatom's engineering subsidiary and includes Atomstroyexport and Atomenergoproekt.