Agreements linked to the construction of new reactors at the Kudankulam site in Tamil Nadu were signed during a five-day visit to Moscow by India's Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The agreements on Kudankulam were signed during a 25 December meeting on bilateral economic cooperation between Jaishankar and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, three documents relating to the plant were signed during the visit as well as a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in pharmaceuticals and healthcare and a Protocol on Foreign Office Consultations. The ministry did not provide further details of the agreements.

Jaishankar also held meetings with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow.

India's energy relationship with Russia is "very substantial" with India seeking to expand its investments in Russia, in oil and gas, Jaishankar said at a press conference following his meeting with Lavrov. "As also in nuclear; yesterday we signed two important amendments, which will take the Kudankulam nuclear power project forward," he said.

Kudankulam, about 100 kilometres from the port city of Tuticorin in the state of Tamil Nadu at the southern tip of India, is already home to two operating Russian-VVER 1000 pressurised water reactors: Kudankulam 1 has been in commercial operation since 2014 and Kudankulam 2 since 2017. Four more VVER units are currently under construction in two phases: construction of units 3 and 4 began in 2017, with work on units 5 and 6 beginning in 2021. Two further units - Kudankulam 7 and 8, AES-2006 units with VVER-1200 reactors - have been proposed as the fourth phase of the plant.

by world-nuclear-news