5 Dec (NucNet): Commercial operation of the second unit of Kudankulam nuclear power station in Tamil Nadu, southern India, is scheduled for February 2017, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said, according to reports by NIA, Russia’s state-operated domestic news agency.
In September 2016, NPCIL said the Russian VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor unit, which was connected to the grid in August 2016, would begin commercial operation this month (December 2016). NIA did not cite any reason for the two-month delay.
The unit is being built at Kudankulam as part of an agreement between India and Russia signed in 1988 that also saw the construction of Kudankulam-1, which began commercial operation in December 2014.
In April 2014, Russia and India signed a general framework agreement on the construction of Kudankulam-3 and -4, the second phase of the Kudankulam station.
An agreement on the construction of the third phase, Kudankulam-5 and -6, is being negotiated, Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom told NucNet.
A roadmap on nuclear cooperation between Russia and India provides for the construction of 12 units in India, including up to eight at Kudankulam, Rosatom said.
