Russia offers India cooperation in building small tropical nuclear power plants, coinciding with PM Modi’s visit | India News – Times of India

MOSCOW: India said on Tuesday that cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear technology is an important pillar of the multifaceted cooperation with Russia, which provided assistance in the construction of small tropical nuclear power plants.
“Russia offers India cooperation in the construction of small tropical nuclear power plants, with the possibility of deep localization, including the transfer of the construction part to New Delhi,” said the CEO of the state-owned company Rose petals Alexei Lichachev said this during a tour of the Atomic Pavilion for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We offer cooperation opportunities for the construction of tropical stations … with very deep localization. We can hand over the entire construction part to you,” the CEO told Modi when he visited the Rosatom Pavilion at the All Russian Exhibition Centre, VDNKh here.
VDNKh, set to open in November 2023, is one of the largest exhibitions in the history of scientific and technological developments. Modi also witnessed a photo exhibition dedicated to Indian-Russian cooperation in civil nuclear energy.
“Visited the Atom Pavilion with President Putin. Energy is an important pillar of India-Russia cooperation and we would like to further strengthen ties in this sector,” Modi posted on his official X platform, along with photos of the visit.
“Prime Minister Modi was also shown the ‘Atomic Symphony’ – a permanent working model of the VVER-1000 reactor, the heart of the “Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in India,” a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
Modi is here to host the 22nd annual India-Russia summit with President Putin.
Russia and India are cooperating in the construction of six 1,000 MW nuclear reactors at Kudankulam. Power plants No. 1 and No. 2 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which have been under construction with Russian assistance since 1998, have already been commissioned.
“Construction of power plants No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 is also underway. The plan is to fully complete construction in 2027. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has indicated that additional facilities are being sought. In December 2021, New Delhi also promised to provide an area for the construction of the second Russian-designed nuclear power plant,” state news agency TASS reported.
The MEA statement also said, “At the Pavilion, the Prime Minister spoke to a group of Indian and Russian students. He encouraged them to look at future possibilities in science and technology, which can be harnessed for the benefit of future generations and the planet.”
“Cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear technology is an important pillar of multifaceted cooperation between India and Russia,” the Ministry of External Affairs posted on X shortly after the visit.
Likhachev also said that Rosatom wants to develop 4G core technologies in India.
“We are currently developing the agenda for further cooperation. Because we have tested each other and built very efficient relationships in the current generation, the so-called 3+, we want to work together towards the fourth generation,” he said.
TASS, quoting him from an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV news channel, said that these (the fourth generation) are fast reactors, fast neutron reactors, there is further modification and development of our VVER technologies, water-water reactors, there is closing of the fuel cycle, and there are also such basic areas as thermonuclear and quantum technologies.”
Earlier on May 23, Secretary of the Ministry of Atomic Energy Ajit Kumar Mohanty met Likhachev and discussed ways to further strengthen nuclear energy cooperation between the two countries.
Both sides visited the construction site of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex (PDEC) in Seversk, Tomsk region of Russia. A large-scale discussion on the possible areas of Russian-Indian cooperation in the nuclear field took place there, Rosatom reported in a statement at the time.
A week earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India is looking for additional sites for Russian nuclear reactors.