Modi, Putin to inaugurate civil works for KKNPP units 3,4

Official sources said, Mr Putin who is attending the two-day eighth annual BRICS summit, will formally inaugurate the base concreting work in the deep trench dug for the third and fourth units, each with a capacity of 1,000 MWe along with Mr Modi through video conferencing from Goa at 13:05 PM on October 15.

Though the "first pouring of concrete" for the third and fourth VVER-1000 type Pressurised Water Reactors belonging to the Light Water Category will take place during the first quarter of next year, the leaders of both India and Russia will formally inaugurate the base concreting work, the sources said.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is constructing the Units three and four at KKNPP at an outlay of Rs 39,747 crore with Russian assistance. Both the units were likely to attain criticality by 2022.

The techno-commercial negotiations were going on between India and Russia for the construction of fifth and sixth reactors at KKNPP. The KKNPP, once completed will be India's largest and most advanced civil nuclear power programme.

The sources said KKNPP's second reactor that was stopped on September 7 last year for scheduled fine-tuning after it attained criticality on July 10, has so far generated over 50 million units of power. The first unit has produced over 12,300 million units of power, including the infirm power.