Russia hands over responsibility for Kudankulam 1

Russia's ASE Group and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) have announced the "final acceptance" of unit 1 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The two sides signed a joint statement yesterday confirming that ASE had met its contractual obligations to its customer for the Kudankulam 1 construction project.

Kudankulam 1 entered commercial operation in December 2014, while unit 2 reached 100% of its operating capacity in January this year. Two further VVER-1000 units - Kudankulam 3 and 4 - are to be built at the site in a second construction phase, with more units to follow.

Andrey Lebedev, vice-president for projects in South Asia for the ASE Group, said in a company statement yesterday: "The warranty period of operation demonstrated the reliable and safe operation of the unit. Thus, the Indian customer has confirmed that ASE Group, which is the general contractor, has fully and qualitatively fulfilled all the tasks assigned to it. The further operation of unit 1 is the full responsibility of the Indian side."

NPCIL signed an agreement on 3 April provisionally accepting Kudankulam 2 from its Russian suppliers and thus marking the unit's entry into commercial operation. The unit reached first criticality in May 2016 and was connected to India's power grid in August.

NPCIL's signature of the provisional acceptance certificate marks the start of a year-long period of operation under guarantee from Russian suppliers ASE Group, after which a final acceptance certificate will be signed. This is due to take place on 3 April 2018.

ASE Group was formed by the merger of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom's engineering subsidiaries, including Atomstroyexport, Atomenergoproekt and Atomproekt.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News