Rosatom on 20 December began construction of the sixth VVER-1000 reactor at India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu as first concrete was laid in the foundation slab of the reactor building.

Rosatom said the first two units at the station were operating at the nominal power level while the two units of the second stage (3&4) were under construction. Work is underway at Kudankulam 3 to prepare for the installation of the reactor pressure vessel. 

In June first concrete was poured for Kudankulam 5 marking the start of stage three of the project (units 5&6). The supply of equipment necessary for priority installation at units 5&6 is already underway, as well as the provision of the construction process with working documentation. In November, 2021, the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies (part Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division Atomenergomash) began assembling the upper half-shell of the VVER-1000 pressurised water reactor for Kudankulam 5. 

Kudankulam unit 1 has been operating steadily at the installed capacity of 1000MW since February 2016. Unit 2 was included in the national power grid of India in August 2016. A General Framework Agreement with Rosatom on the construction of the third and fourth power units was signed in 2014, and in June 2017, the Engineering Division of Rosatom and the Indian Atomic Energy Corporation signed an agreement on the construction of the third stage (units 5&6).  

Photo: First concrete has been poured for unit 6 at Kudankulam nuclear plant under construction in India (Photo: Rosatom)