Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL has been contracted to supply advanced nuclear fuel for units 3&4 (Phase 2) of India’s Kudankulam NPP. The contract is designed for the entire life of the units, starting with the initial fuel load.
Kudankulam NPP in the southern state of Tamil Nadu will comprise six units with VVER-1000 reactors. Work began following an intergovernmental agreement between India and Russia signed in 1988. Units 1&2 (Phase I) began operation in 2016 and work is underway on units 3-6 (Phases II and III). The customer and operator of the station is the National Power Company of India Ltd (NPCIL), the general contractor is JSC ASE JSC (Rosatom’s Engineering Division), general designer Atomenergoproject and equipment designer OKB Gidropress. Work on units 5&6 began in 2021 and the NPP is expected to be operating at full capacity by 2027.
During the operation of units 1&2 , Russian and Indian specialists worked to increase their efficiency through the introduction of improved nuclear fuel and extended fuel cycles. Since 2022, advanced TVS-2M nuclear fuel has been supplied to the Kudankulam NPP. It ensures more reliable and cost-effective operation of power units due to its rigid design, a new generation anti-debris filter and a larger mass of uranium. In addition, its implementation made it possible to increase the continuous operating cycle of the first two units from 12 to 18 months.
“The capacities of the second stage of the Kudankulam NPP will be the first VVER-1000 power units in history to be launched from the start using an 18-month fuel cycle, noted Natalya Nikipelova, President of TVEL JSC. “This is the result of our successful cooperation in recent years, when the effective solutions that were previously implemented at similar power units in Russia and China were tested at the first two units of the power plant.
