New Delhi, June 16 (ANI): The Russian Embassy in India said the successful installation of the reactor pressure vessel for Unit 5 at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant marks another significant milestone in long-standing civil nuclear cooperation between India and Russia.
In a post shared on Instagram, the embassy stated that the reactor pressure vessel was installed in its designated position on June 15 with the participation of the Engineering Division of Rosatom State Corporation, the project’s general designer and contractor.
The embassy noted that the installation was carried out using the “open top” method, under which heavy equipment is lifted into the reactor building using a high-capacity crane before the dome is erected. It added that the method had previously been successfully used during the construction of the second phase of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
According to the post, the reactor vessel was manufactured at the Atommash plant of Rosatom’s machine-building division in Volgodonsk, in Russia’s Rostov region. The vessel delivered to the Kudankulam project in 2025 weighs approximately 300 tonnes.
Following the installation of the reactor vessel, work will begin on assembling major reactor plant equipment, including steam generators, main circulation pumps, coolant pipeline modules, the pressurizer, and emergency core cooling system tanks.
Reacting to the progress of the project, Mikhail Novikov, Director for Projects in India at JSC Atomstroyexport, highlighted the strength of Indo-Russian cooperation in the nuclear energy sector.
He said the key to the Kudankulam project is long-standing cooperation between Russia and India, noting that Indian specialists are currently constructing four power units based on the Russian design, while two units have already been generating electricity for more than a decade.
He added that the project reflects strong teamwork aimed at strengthening bilateral partnership between the two countries.
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