Mr. Evgeni Griva, Director General of Rosatom, South Asia in his recent interview
with some Indian media talked about present status and future plan of Russia-India cooperation
in the field of nuclear energy as well as Rosatom’s expanding global development strategy.
Rosatom has been entrusted with the setting up of Bangladesh’s first ever nuclear power plant
at Rooppur.
Q: Recently Rosatom has been actively building up its network of regional offices. How many
offices does Rosatom now have abroad, what are the network development plans? Do you plan
to establish a representative office in India?
Ans: Rosatom is now actively expanding its global footprint. The State Corporation is opening
its regional offices. Rosatom is expanding its branch network to strengthen its global footprint in
accordance with its long-term development strategy of increasing the foreign orders portfolio up
to USD 190 billion. This is the ambitious but achievable goal of the State Corporation for the
next 5 years.
Rusatom-International Network Company is in charge of developing and managing Rosatom’s
regional network. The regional offices aim to promote products and services offered by
Rosatom and explore new businesses. Regional centers are usually located in the countries of
strategic interest to Rosatom and are responsible for information collection, situation monitoring
and analysis of potential opportunities.
Rosatom regional centers are currently already in operation in South Africa, Eastern, Central
and Western Europe, Central and Southeast Asia and Latin America. Work is now underway to
establish an office in Dubai in order to promote products and services of Russian nuclear
industry enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, in order to strengthen the
presence of Rosatom State Corporation in South Asia, the process of opening a regional office
in Mumbai, India, is being finalized, which will also ensure supervision of our projects in
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Q: What is the current status of the Kudankulam nuclear plant construction project? When do
you intend to launch power unit 2, and is there any progress with the construction of power units
3 and 4?
Ans: Currently, the NPP Kudankulam project includes the construction of six power units with
VVER-1000 type reactors. The first unit of Kudankulam NPP was commissioned in autumn
2013 according to the latest safety requirements. By the beginning of the scheduled preventive
maintenance (SPM) the nuclear plant had already generated 6873 million units of electricity,
and the turbine generator had been in operation for 9267 hours. Thus, the installed capacity of
the Indian nuclear power plants reached 5780 MW. This is the world’s first nuclear power plant,
which has implemented and successfully operated “post-Fukushima” tightened security
measures. The generation tariff for Kudankulam NPP is maintained at the level set by the Indian
Government in 2010-2011 without any escalation. This rate is considered to be one of the most
competitive in India. The first SPM has now successfully completed, the turbine is running, and
the unit is expected to be connected to the grid within a few hours.
The second unit assembly is finished. The hot run stage is completed. The physical launch is
scheduled by the Indian party for mid-2016.
On April 10, 2014 a General Framework Agreement (GFA) was signed along with the agreed
technical and commercial proposal for procurement and services of Kudankulam NPP units 3
and 4. The first and most important contract within this GFA has been signed within the
Russian-Indian Summit late last – the delivery contract from the Russian Federation of long-lead
equipment and priority delivery equipment. Besides the first priority design work contract is
practically completed, and the engineering documentation development contract has been
signed.
On September 7, 2015 Atomenergomash holding, the power plant division of Rosatom State
Corporation signed the comprehensive delivery contract for reactor equipment for power units 3
and 4 of Kudankulam NPP.
The permit for excavation works and foundation pit preparation has now been obtained from the
Indian regulatory body.
Q: During the recent visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia it was
announced that the signing of the MFA for the construction of units 5 and 6 is planned in Q1
2016. What is the status of this project?
Ans: The technical and commercial proposal for the installation of Kudankulam power units 5
and 6 has already been provided to the Indian party. Atomstroyexport JSC and Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Ltdare currently involved in detailed discussions of the project and the
General Framework Agreement with regard to the Indian party requirements concerning further
enhancement of the project safety and localization.
Q: Based on the results of talks between Russian President Putin and Indian Prime Minister
Modi it was announced that an agreement has been reached on allocation by the Indian party of
one more site for a Russian design nuclear power plant apart from Kudankulam NPP which is
already under construction. What is the progress in this area?
Ans: Apart from the Kudankulam NPP, Russia and India are considering the possibility of
building a number of other nuclear power plants. These are all practical steps to implement the
most important document signed on December 11, 2014 – “Strategic Vision of Strengthening
Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the Russian Federation and the
Republic of India”.
An agreement has been reached on the allocation by the Indian party of one more site for the
construction of six new nuclear reactors of Russian design. We hope to get more detailed
information about the site from the Indian party as soon as possible.
Q: During the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Moscow Rosatom signed
the production localization program in India for Russian design nuclear plants. What does this
program envisage?
Ans: On December 24, 2015 during the visit of the Prime Minister of India NarendraModi to
Moscow an Action Program was indeed signed between the State Corporation Rosatom and the
Atomic Energy Department of the Government of India on the localization of production in India
for nuclear power plants of Russian design.
The Action Program includes areas of cooperation in the field of joint machinery production,
especially the production of equipment which can be supplied to nuclear power plants, as well
as cooperation in the field of joint development, mastering and technological support of the
implementation of end-to-end production technologies of products for heavy and power
engineering industries.
The Indian Government strategy of the localization of production, including the nuclear industry,
is implemented under the “Make in India” initiative aimed at supporting the Indian manufacturer.
We fully support this commitment of the Indian Government and we believe that this is a good
opportunity for further development of cooperation between both countries in the nuclear
industry, as well as for the implementation of current and future construction projects of Russian
design reactors at the Kudankulam site and in other locations.
Q: Which task forces in the nuclear energy area are currently active within Russian-Indian
cooperation and what are they doing? Are there discussions about cooperation between Russia
and India on the territories of third countries on the agenda?
Ans: The Russian-Indian Coordinating Committee on cooperation in the peaceful uses of
nuclear energy was established in December 2014 and is committed to monitoring the whole
scope of bilateral cooperation.
To perform the tasks, three joint working groups on the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear energy and
scientific-technical cooperation were set up within this Committee in 2014. Furthermore, based
on the decision signed in December 2015, a fourth working group on the localization of
production in India has already been established and is operating successfully.
We are pleased to note that the Russian nuclear power industry is supporting India in the
implementation of its national program for the development of the nuclear sector. We reaffirm
our commitment to the agreements about the further development of cooperation in the peaceful
uses of atomic energy.
source: rosatom