Russia ships nuclear reactor vessel for Kudankulam reactor 6; steam generators to be supplied during this year

The VVER-1,000 MWe reactor vessel for the sixth unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), being built to a Russian design, is being transported to the construction site in Tirunelveli district.

The equipment, weighing 320 tonnes, was manufactured at the Atommash plant, Rosatom’s machine-building division, and shipped to the customer on the eve of 2025. A set of four steam generators for the sixth unit will be shipped this year.

Before sending the reactor vessel on a sea voyage, the equipment was delivered by special motor transport to the plant’s pier, where it was loaded onto a river vessel, the destination of which was the seaport of Novorossiysk. The reactor vessel was then placed in the hold of the ship for the 6,000-mile (9,656 Km) journey to India.

Currently, four new 1,000 MWe VVER nuclear reactors are being built at the KKNPP according to a Russian design. Presently, two units with similar capacity are generating power since 2013 and 2016 respectively. The station is being designed, constructed and supplied with equipment subdivisions of the engineering division of the Rosatom State Corporation. Rosatom State Corporation provides fuel to the power units of the KKNPP throughout their entire life cycle.

VVER – 1,000 MWe series reactors have been proving their reliability and efficiency for several decades – the operation of nuclear power units with VVER in Russia and abroad has exceeded 2 thousand reactor-years. Installations of this type have the potential for long-term use. In particular, reactor installations of this type can form the basis of NPPs planned to be built in the Far East, an official statement said.

“Despite the confident position we have achieved in the nuclear world, we are not standing still. We are developing and making our work more perfect both in terms of equipment design, ensuring an unprecedented level of safety, and in terms of the economic efficiency of our products. We are currently developing a reactor installation for a nuclear power plant with increased capacity, more modern operational properties, improved technical and economic indicators for use in Russia and abroad,” noted the general designer of OKB Gidropress, Valery Kryzhanovsky as the nuclear reactor vessel for KKNPP’s sixth unit left for India.

OKB Gidropress is the main designer of reactor installations including the most important equipment, the reactor vessel. The company supports the equipment at all stages of the life cycle – from the development of the technical design to the support of the equipment during commissioning and during operation. Atommash is the flagship of domestic mechanical engineering. It produces complex equipment like reactors, steam generators etc. for almost all nuclear construction projects with Russia’s participation in Bangladesh, India, China and Turkey.

The production cycle for manufacturing a VVER-1000 reactor vessel from the start of production is two years. The manufacture of the equipment requires the highest level of precision and compliance with strict international quality standards. The overall quality plan includes 289 control points.

At the same time, all operations are carried out under the supervision of inspectors from the authorized organization and the foreign customer. Representatives of the foreign customer (NPCIL) have been in Volgodonsk since the beginning of the production of equipment for the KKNPP since 2016.