OREANDA-NEWS. September 9, 2008. India hopes to start building four more reactors at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant with Russia’s support either in 2008 or in 2009, Managing of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) S.K. Jain said.

“We are planning to start the work either this year or next year, at latest,” Jain said. In Feb 2008 Russia and India initialed an inter-governmental agreement for the construction of four reactors in addition to the two reactors that are presently being built by Atomstroyexport. The project was put off till the lifting of the nuclear embargo imposed on India by IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. On Aug 1 IAEA and India signed a nuclear safeguards agreement. On Sept 6 the Nuclear Suppliers Group granted India a waiver. According to Jain, the official start to the project may be given in Dec 2008. This will be the beginning of a new era in Indian-Russian nuclear cooperation.

During their last meeting the Russian and Indian parties discussed their further steps and are planning to draft technical and economic proposals by Mar-Apr 2009.

Jain said that the parties had clear idea of how to implement the project and in the next six-eight months they were planning to draft specific proposals on how to enlarge and coordinate it.

In the last months NPCIL has actively worked to prepare area for the new reactors: it has been building infrastructure: roads, power networks, houses for constructors. The next stage is digging the foundation pit.

Jain said that they were sure that the cooperation would be continued. That’s why they have received all necessary permissions from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Now that IAEA and the NSG have lifted their restrictions there are no more obstacles to Russian-Indian cooperation in the nuclear sector.