India confirms plans for second Russian-designed nuclear plant
MOSCOW. Sept 6 (Interfax) - India plans to build another Russian-designed nuclear power plant at a new site, a source close to Russia state nuclear corporation Rosatom told Interfax.
"India confirmed [during the BRICS summit] that there will be a new NPP site, but it is not yet saying where," the source said.
At the St. Petersburg International Economic Eastern Economic Forum in June, Russia and India signed a general framework agreement to build the third stage of the Kudankulam NPP (KNPP) in India. The stage will consist of the No. 5 and 6 reactor 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 at Kudankulam. In addition, an agreement was reached on India allocating yet another site for an NPP of Russian design, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December 2015 following talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prior to that, India's media reported that a site in Andhra Pradesh might be proposed for a second plant.
The Kudankulam 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 Russia's Atomstroyexport.
The first unit is already operating. The second unit was connected to the grid on August 29 last year. It attained criticality on July 10 last year, reached full capacity at the end of January and was put into warranty operation on March 31 this year.
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. Rosatom poured the first concrete of the No. 3 unit on June 29 this year.