Four Russia-supplied VVER units under construction at site
Flushing of the primary cooling system has begun at India’s Kudankulam-3 nuclear reactor unit under construction in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a statement said.
State-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) said the operation involves flushing and conditioning of safety systems and main coolant pipelines using light water.
Demineralised water is pumped through the circuits – including the active and passive safety system – to remove construction debris. It is the last step in installing the primary system.
The milestone marks the start of functional testing of primary system equipment and represents a transition towards more advanced commissioning stages ahead of operation, NPCIL said.
Construction of Kudankulam-3, a Russia-supplied VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor unit, began in June 2017.
There are three other units of the same design under construction at the site. Kudankulam-4 was started in 2017 and Kudankulam-5 and -6 in December 2021.
The Kudankulam site already hosts two operating VVER-1000 units. Once completed, total installed capacity at the site is expected to reach about 6,000 MW, said NPCIL.
Accrording to NPCIL, the project is central to India’s plans to expand low-carbon baseload generation as part of its long-term energy strategy.
India operates 21 commercial nuclear reactors with a total gross capacity of about 7.5 GW, data by the International Atomic Energy Agency shows. The country has eight more reactor units under construction, or a capacity of about 6 GW.
