Rosatom seeks collaboration with India in developing small and medium sized reactors

Chennai:

Russian’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation has evinced interest in working with Indian companies in developing small and medium sized nuclear reactors.

Nikita Mazein, Vice President of Rusatom Overseas (a division of Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation) revealed this during the 11th edition of Nuclear Energy Conclave organised by the Indian Energy Forum.

“Rosatom is developing small and medium-sized solutions based on light water reactor unit of Russian design. In Russia, we have commissioned and will so be operationalizing the first Floating Nuclear Power Plant this year,” Mazein said addressing the conclave.

Hinting here is need to explore the possibility of such projects in the coastal areas of India, he said the segment can provide opportunity for furthering the nuclear cooperation between India and Russia.

Rosatom is the main equipment supplier and technical consultant in the construction of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Russia and India have an action plan document for the construction of second nuclear power plant. The two countries are planning to develop a project of up to six nuclear power units of Russian design at a new site in India.

“We are looking for cooperation to execute projects not only in India but also in third countries. We are discussing with our partners in India how to execute the localization agreement signed three years ago. We are talking with stakeholders about developing new power plant projects,” he added, citing the success of nuclear reactors based on Russian design, which have seen one reactor being commissioned almost every year for the last 14 years.

Mazein also articulated India’s need to reduce cost and recurring costs for nuclear power to make it more competitive. He said that cooperation could also be expanded to other sectors like health and agriculture.

According to World Nuclear Association, small units are seen as a much more manageable investment than big ones whose cost often rivals the capitalization of the utilities concerned.An additional reason for interest in small and medium reactors is that they can more readily slot into brownfield sites in place of decommissioned coal-fired plants, the units of which are seldom very large – more than 90 per cent are under 500 MWe, and some are under 50 MWe. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are defined as nuclear reactors generally 300MWe equivalent or less, designed with modular technology using module factory fabrication, pursuing economies of series production and short construction time.