5 Dec (NucNet): India and Russia today signed a “milestone” civil nuclear cooperation agreement that confirms proposals for the construction of additional reactor units at India’s Kudankulam site.
The agreement was signed during a summit meeting in New Delhi between Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Russia will cooperate in the construction of additional units at Kudankulam as well as in the construction of Russian-designed nuclear plants at new sites in India. The agreement was signed by the head of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar and the head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) Sergei Kiriyenko.
The agreement follows the signing of a memorandum of intent by both sides, in January 2007, which outlined proposals for Russia to build four additional units at Kudankulam and other units at yet-to-be-identified sites.
Mr Singh said today: “The signing of the agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Russia marks a new milestone in the history of our cooperation with Russia in the field of nuclear energy.”
The two leaders also agreed to “expand and pursue further areas for bilateral cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy”.
The Kudankulam project, under construction with Russian cooperation in the state of Tamil Nadu in the south of India, currently comprises two Russian VVER-1,000 reactor units.
In October 2005, India chose four possible sites for the construction of new nuclear power units. Three of the sites – Kudankulam, Kakrapar in Gujarat and Rawatbhata in Rajasthan – are close to existing nuclear power plants or plants that are under construction. The fourth site is at Jaitapur in the state of Maharashtra in the west of the country.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Russia Signs Agreement To Construct More Units In India (World Nuclear Review No. 4, 26 January 2007)
Russia Delivers First Fuel For India’s Kudankulam-1 (News in Brief No. 61, 28 May 2008)
The NucNet database currently contains around 12,000 reports published since 1991. To subscribe or ask for any further information email info@worldnuclear.org
