Russia's Rosatom looking to reach new agreements with India for various capacities this year
PAKS/MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) - Russia's Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation expects to conclude new agreements with India this year, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev told reporters at a press conference following the pouring of the first concrete at the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary, with the company's press service having released the corresponding audio.
"I am confident that this year will bring not only new stages in implementing already signed contracts, and we are entering the final stages for units 3 and 4 of our joint nuclear power plant, but also new agreements across a wide range of capacity models," Likhachev said.
Likhachev recalled India's plans to increase its nuclear capacity significantly. "I would hypothesize that without Rosatom's decisions on both large, medium, and small nuclear power, including floating, this goal will be difficult to achieve," he said.
Likhachev also mentioned the law passed at the end of the year allowing private businesses, not only Indian but also foreign ones, to participate in the nuclear sector. Speaking about the transport sector, Likhachev noted that there are also "separate negotiations on the participation of Indian partners in the development of the NSR," and that the parties are generally actively cooperating in logistics and other corridors.
Rosatom reportedly expects commissioning to begin on Unit 3 of the Kudankulam NPP in India by mid-year. Unit 4 was previously scheduled for 2027.
Russia has already built Units 1-2 of the Kudankulam NPP with VVER-1000 reactors, with total capacity of 2,000 MW in India. Unit 1 was commissioned in 2013, and Unit 2 in 2017. The Indian regulator in the summer of 2017 issued permission to pour the first concrete for Stage 2, which includes Units 3-4. The start of guaranteed operation for these units was previously expected to be in 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, a general framework agreement was previously signed to construct Stage 3, Units 5-6, of the Kudankulam NPP.
As reported, India may also be interested in another large Russian-designed plant, and small nuclear power plants were also discussed.
