NEW DELHI: The VVER-1000 reactor vessel for the sixth unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power project (KNPP), located in Tamil Nadu, is being carried to the building site. The facility is being built in India using a Russian design. The 320-ton machinery was produced at the Atommash facility, the machine-building branch of Rosatom, a Russian atomic energy company, and delivered to the client.
The thick steel container used to store nuclear fuel in a nuclear reactor is called a reactor vessel. An alternative name for it is a reactor pressure vessel.
A special automotive conveyance brought the equipment to the plant dock, where it was put onto a river vessel bound for Novorossiysk, the sea port, prior to the reactor vessel embarking on a sea cruise. The reactor vessel was then loaded onto a maritime vessel's hold in the port to travel the 11,000 km to India.
In 2025, a set of four steam generators for the Kudankulam N-plant's sixth unit will be shipped.
The Kudankulam NPP is now constructing four additional power units in accordance with the Russian design. Divisions of Rosatom State Corporation's engineering division are responsible for the station's design, construction, and equipment delivery. JSC Atomstroyexport and ICAEL (Atomic Energy Corporation of India) signed contracts for the design and provision of equipment.
"In terms of equipment design, which guarantees an unparalleled degree of safety, as well as the economic efficiency of our products, we are improving and refining our work." Valery Kryzhanovsky, general designer of OKB Gidropress, stated, "We are currently developing a reactor installation for nuclear power plants with increased power characteristics, more modern operational properties, and improved technical and economic indicators for use in Russia and abroad."
Six VVER-1000 reactors with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW of energy are planned to be developed at KKNPP in partnership with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport, the Russian state business.
In July 2013, the plant's first reactor reached criticality, and three months later, it was linked to the grid. Commercial operations began on December 31, 2014. On July 10, 2016, the second unit reached criticality, and in August, it was linked to the grid.
In 2017, work on building units 3 and 4 with comparable VVER-1000 power units started. 73% of Units 3 and 4 are finished. According to a project overview published by the Union government in August 2024, they had a schedule overrun of 72 months and a cost overrun of around 73%. According to the project overview, Units 5 and 6 are about a third of the way through and have not had any time or expense overruns.
