Tamil Nadu's Kudankulam nuclear project to be impacted by Russia sanctions: Govt

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) will be impacted by sanctions on Russia, the government informed the upper house of the parliament on Thursday. The project completion schedule is likely to be impacted as the components and equipment to be imported from Ukraine and Russia may be delayed due to the logistical and ocean freight problems arising out of the conflict, the government confirmed. 

KNPP, set up in cooperation with Russia is slated to be India’s largest electricity unit to run on nuclear power and is being built by Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation subsidiary Atomstroyexport.

The government further said that the exact extent and nature of the impact is difficult to assess as the situation is still evolving.

Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS), ministry of personnel, public grievances was responding to a written question by Member of Parliament (MP) Abir Ranjan Biswas in the Rajya Sabha.

"Units 3 & 4 and 5 & 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, being set up in cooperation with Russian Federation, are presently under construction. KKNPP 3 & 4 and KKNPP 5 & 6 have achieved an overall physical progress of 58.22 per cent and 8.12 per cent respectively as of February 2022," the ministry's written statement said.

The plans entail constructing six units of 1,000 megawatts (MW) each, of which two units have already been completed. Unit-1 started generation in 2013, while Unit-2 in 2016.

The work on Unit-3 and Unit-4 is in the advanced stage and is scheduled to be completed by financial year 2027. In June last year, the construction work on Unit-5 and Unit-6 started with the first concrete pouring into the foundation plate of the reactor building.