The Hindu : Front Page : Lifetime fuel for 2 Koodankulam reactors

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Friday, Nov 30, 2007
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Lifetime fuel for 2 Koodankulam reactors

Sujay Mehdudia

Covered through a sovereign guarantee of the Russian Federation, says Chavan

NEW DELHI: Moscow has assured New Delhi of lifetime fuel supply for two 1,000-MW nuclear reactors, being built with Russian assistance at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

“Two light water reactors of 1,000 MW each are now under construction at Koodankulam. The lifetime fuel supply for them is covered through a sovereign guarantee of the Russian Federation,” he said.

However, fuel for four other proposed reactors of 700 MW each would depend on India getting the nod from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The government was negotiating an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA and an NSG waiver was necessary to carry out nuclear commerce. Units 1 and 2 of Koodankulam were expected to begin operation in 2009.

Atomstroyexport, Russia’s nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, had been building the Koodankulam plant since 2002 in line with a 1988 agreement between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union and an addendum signed in 1998.

The plant, expected to be launched by year-end, is designed to have a capacity of 2,000 MW.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his recent visit to Moscow, said New Delhi and Moscow were working on a deal that would allow Russia to build four more reactors at Koodankulam. But no agreement was signed during the visit.

“An inter-governmental agreement to that end is in progress. We look forward to expanding the cooperation in nuclear energy in the future,” Dr. Singh said.

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