Kudankulam nuclear power plant : Rosatom completes delivery of main equipment for unit 3

ASE (Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division) has completed the supplies of the main equipment for the third unit of the 6GW Kudankulam nuclear power plant (Kudankulam NPP) in India.

The Kudankulam power plant is located in Koodankulam, Tirunelveli district in the southern Indian state Tamil Nadu. The Indian nuclear power plant, which will feature a total of six units, is owned and operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).

Andrey Lebedev – the Vice-President of ASE EC for projects in India said that all main equipment items to be installed on the red line of the reactor pit installation have been supplied.

Kudankulam nuclear power plant – Delivery of main equipment for unit 3. Photo courtesy of JSC EC “ASE”.

Rosatom has been the main equipment supplier and technical consultant for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. According to the Russian state-owned nuclear energy company, the Kudankulam NPP unit 3’s reactor plant main equipment consists of the molten core catcher, embedded parts of the reactor pit, truss buckstay, dry protection, truss buckstay, heat-insulation of the cylindrical shell/barrel, and a reactor vessel.

By the next shipload, Rosatom expects to deliver a thrust truss and devices for neutron flux monitoring chambers allocation.

Andrey Lebedev said: “Taking into account that four steam generators, pressurizer, main coolant pipelines, a bubbler were delivered earlier, generally JSC ASE has completed the procurement of the containment equipment for power unit No.3 to ensure uninterruptible and continuous operation for the reactor plant construction which is on the critical path of the Project.”

In October 2013, the first unit of Kudankulam NPP was connected to the southern power grid, while the second unit was connected in August 2016.

Construction is in progress at the third and fourth units of the Indian nuclear power plant. India’s state-owned firm Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) secured an INR440 crore ($61 million) order from NPCIL in June 2019 for the erection of the turbine generator islands for units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, which will each have a capacity of 1GW.

BHEL had earlier completed the erection of turbine generator islands for the first and second units of the Indian nuclear power plant.

For the remaining two units of the Indian nuclear power project, construction contracts have been signed and the preliminary work is in progress.

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