12 Dec (NucNet): Russia’s Atomstroyexport has signed a general framework agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for the construction of Units 3 and 4 at the Kudankulam nuclear power station in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said the agreement covers “all necessary arrangements” to begin the practical implementation of the project.
Atomstroyexport also signed a contract with NPCIL to manufacture and supply the main equipment for the two units.
“All contractual formalities for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Kudankulam using Russian technology have been irreversibly launched,” Atomstroyexport vice-president Andrei Lebedev said.
On 11 December 2014, Russia and India signed an agreement to cooperate on nuclear energy, including the construction of “at least 12 new reactors” by 2035. Kudankulam-3 and -4 were listed as priority projects in the text of that agreement and India also agreed to “expeditiously identify a second site” in addition to Kudankulam for the construction of Russian-designed nuclear power units.
Russia is the technology provider and contractor for Kudankulam-1 and -2, both VVER-1000 units.
Construction of Kudankulam-1 began in 2001 and first criticality was July 2013. The unit reached full power in June 2014, but was then shut down for maintenance before restarting on 31 August 2014. It had to be shut down again on 13 September 2014 because of a technical malfunction.
Attempts to restart Unit 1 led to a component in the turbine section coming loose and causing “significant damage” to the turbine. The damaged components were replaced by ones manufactured for Kudankulam-2 and the unit came back online on 7 December 2014
Construction of Kudankulam-2 began in 2002 and the unit should have entered commercial operation in 2008. In September 2014, NPCIL said the unit would reach first criticality in November 2014, but this schedule has been pushed back due to the problems experienced at Unit 1.
NPCIL said Unit 2 is 97 percent complete and scheduled for first criticality in April 2015.
