Rosatom, India agree to collaborate in third countries
VIENNA. Sept 19 (Interfax) - Rosatom and India have agreed to collaborate in third countries, Alexei Likhachev, the Russian state nuclear corporation's head, told reporters.
Rosatom's work in Vienna began precisely with an informal meeting with the Indian partners, Likhachev said. "Our partners, as we agreed, are examining and beginning to implement the project connected with serial production at a new site in India of Russian-designed facilities. Our flagship VVER-1200 project is proposed," he said, adding that the sides are working to localize production of a portion of the equipment in India.
"We began discussing possible cooperation [with India] in implementing projects in third countries. As the flagship, pilot project of cooperation with the Indians, the station in Bangladesh has been taken, where we plan to pour the first concrete and begin full-scale construction work in the next few months," he said.
"The Indians are very well-disposed to this pilot project. I hope that on the basis of our India-Bangladesh-Russia interaction we in general work out the approaches to operations in third countries," he said.
Russia is already working on construction of the third line at Kudankulam (the fifth and sixth power units). A road map for cooperation in nuclear power between Russia and India provides for construction of 12 units in India, including up to eight power-generating units at Kudankulam.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is being built in India under a bilateral agreement of November 20, 1988 and supplements to it signed on June 21, 1998. Construction of the first two VVER-1000 reactors with 2,000 megawatts of combined capacity began in 2002 under the supervision of Atomstroyexport.
The first power unit is in commercial operation. The second power unit achieved 100% capacity at the end of January 2017.
In April 2014, Russia and India signed a general framework agreement on the construction of the second stage of KNPP, which includes the third and fourth generating units.
Permission to begin construction of the second line was received on June 19, 2017, and the first concrete for the third power unit was poured on June 29.