OREANDA-NEWS. November 21, 2008. Russia and India are ready to develop cooperation in the fields of NPP construction, uranium mining and machine building, Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko said after his meeting with Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India K. Anil Kakodkar, reports a source from Rosatom SC.

Kiriyenko congratulated Kakodkar on the decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to lift the restrictions on international nuclear cooperation with India imposed after nuclear tests in that country.

“It is a big victory,” Kiriyenko said. “Now, our cooperation may rise to a new level.” Among the key fields of cooperation are uranium mining, machine building, construction of nuclear power plants as well as production of radioactive isotopes for use in medicine and manufacturing of high-tech equipment.

During the meeting Kiriyenko and Kakodrkar discussed the construction of the 1st and 2nd units of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plants. They pointed out the fields where the parties had to intensify their work and specified the actions of each of the parties.

They also discussed the prospects for construction of three more reactors on the same site.

Kiriyenko pointed out that at Kudankulam the Indian contractors were mastering new technology: reactors with unique combination of active and passive safety barriers. Kudankulam NPP is being built with the technical support of Russian engineers, by Russian design and with the use of Russian equipment, however, the construction and installation work is being carried out Indian specialists. Of course, this is causing certain objective difficulties. Nevertheless, the experience the Indian constructors are acquiring now will come in handy under other similar projects and will benefit the economy of India, as a whole. The loss of time will be compensated for under further projects.