New Delhi: Russia’s Rosatom has shipped the VVER-1000 reactor vessel for Unit-6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, India. Built to a Russian design, the 320-tonne reactor vessel was manufactured at the Atommash plant, a division of Rosatom’s machine-building operations. It is now en route to the construction site in India.
The reactor vessel, also called a reactor pressure vessel, is a robust steel container that houses nuclear fuel in a reactor. Prior to its sea voyage, the vessel was transported by specialized vehicles to the Atommash pier, loaded onto a river vessel, and shipped to the Novorossiysk sea port. From there, it was transferred to a sea vessel for an 11,000-km journey to India.
In addition to the reactor vessel, a set of four steam generators for Unit-6 will be shipped in 2025.
Currently, four additional units are under construction at the Kudankulam plant using Russian designs. Rosatom’s engineering divisions are responsible for the design, construction, and equipment supply, under contracts between JSC Atomstroyexport and India’s Atomic Energy Corporation.
Valery Kryzhanovsky, the General Designer of OKB Gidropress, stated, “We are continuously refining our equipment to ensure enhanced safety, improved operational efficiency, and superior technical and economic performance for nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad.”
The Kudankulam NPP is planned to host six VVER-1000 reactors, developed in collaboration with Atomstroyexport and India’s Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL), with a combined capacity of 6,000 MW.
The plant’s first reactor achieved criticality in July 2013 and began commercial operation on December 31, 2014. The second reactor followed, reaching criticality on July 10, 2016, and was connected to the grid in August.
Construction of Units 3 and 4, also VVER-1000 reactors, began in 2017 and is 73% complete, albeit with a cost overrun of 73% and a delay of 72 months as of August 2024, per a government report. Units 5 and 6 are about one-third complete and have stayed on schedule and within budget so far.
