Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Kudankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Russia’s integrated nuclear power player Rosatom on Tuesday said the first pouring of concrete for building the sixth 1,000 MW atomic power plant at Kudankulam has begun.
In a statement, Rosatom said the main construction period of the sixth unit was officially launched on Monday through the first concreting in the foundation slab of the reactor building.
India’s atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has two 1,000 MW plants (Units 1 and 2) at Kudankulam, while four more (Units 3, 4, 5 and 6) are under construction.
All the six units are built with Russian technology and equipment supplied by Rosatom.
In June 2021, the first concrete was laid at the power unit No 5.
The power units of the second stage are being constructed, and the works are underway at Unit 3 to prepare for installation of the reactor pressure vessel.
The equipment required for the top-priority installation at units 5 and 6 is being supplied now and the construction process is being supported by the working documentation, Rosatom added.
Russia advanced a credit of ₹ 6,416 crore (US$0.97 billion) for both the units. Unit 2 attained criticality on 10 July 2016 and was synchronised with the electricity grid on 29 August.
In 2015, Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd (NPCIL) announced a price of ₹ 4.29/kW·h (6.4 ¢/kW·h) for energy delivered from Kudankulam nuclear power plant.
The ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 & 4 was performed on 17 February 2016.
Due to technology changes, inflation and insistence of the supplier and operator for additional liability insurance the construction cost of units 3 & 4 amounted to twice the cost of units 1 & 2 and was later revised to be ₹39,849 crore (US$5.38 billion).
A budget of ₹49,621 crore (US$6.7 billion) has been approved for construction of Units 5 & 6.
