Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom plans to commission the third unit at India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant this year, the company’s chief executive, Aleksey Likhachev, revealed in a weekend interview with the TV channel Rossiya-24.
Located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Kudankulam is the largest nuclear power station in India. When completed, the facility will comprise six Russian-designed power units. The first two units are already operational, while the remaining four are expected to be completed by 2027. All of the units will have capacity of 1,000 MW, resulting in a total capacity of 6,000 MW.
Tests on key systems at the third unit were successfully carried out in October.
The Kudankulam plant is a long-term strategic project that the two countries agreed to undertake back in 1988 prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Construction began in 2002, and the first unit was launched in 2013.
During the interview, Likhachev also revealed that the 2,400 MW Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, the country’s first, would also be commissioned in 2024.
Russia is currently also building more than 20 nuclear power units in other countries, including in Hungary, China, Türkiye, and Egypt.
