India, Russia Explore Cooperation on Small Modular Reactors, Floating Nuclear Power Plants

Selection of a site for building a second nuclear power plant with Russian reactors in India and cooperation on small modular reactors figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The two sides discussed cooperation in the civil nuclear energy domain in the context of ramping up generation of clean energy.

"Energy security has been a strong and vital pillar of the India-Russia partnership. Our decades-old cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy has played an important role in advancing our shared clean-energy priorities," Modi said in his media statement.

"We will continue to take this win-win cooperation forward," he said.

In the talks, the two sides reviewed the implementation of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

The plant is being built with the assistance of Russia's state-run nuclear corporation, Rosatom.

"Getting this nuclear power plant to full power output will make an impressive contribution to the energy requirements of India. It will help supply Indian enterprises and houses with cheap and clean energy," Putin said.

"We presume that we could talk about the construction of small modular reactors and floating nuclear power plants and non-energy application of nuclear technologies, for example in medicine or agriculture," he said.

It is learnt that both sides discussed the possibility of cooperation on construction of small modular reactors.

A joint statement issued after the summit said the two sides confirmed their intention to broaden cooperation in nuclear energy, including fuel cycle, life cycle support for operating Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) and non-power applications.

It said cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy and related high technologies under a new agenda was also discussed.

The two sides noted the importance of the cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy as a significant component of the strategic partnership taking into account India's plans to increase nuclear energy capacity to 100 GW by 2047, it added.

The joint statement said the two sides "noted the importance of further discussion on the second site in India" for a nuclear power plant, and that the Indian side will strive to finalise formal allotment of the second site in accordance with earlier signed agreements.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing that a number of critical shipments for the third and fourth reactors at Kudankulam are underway.

"When it comes to the second site (for a nuclear power plant), this is an issue that has been under discussion between the two countries for some time now," he said.

Last month, Rosatom's director general Alexey Likhachev held wide-ranging talks with Department of Atomic Energy chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty on civil nuclear cooperation between the two sides.

"Relevant organisations are currently developing technical specifications for a new nuclear power plant in India featuring VVER-1200 reactor units," Rosatom had said.

"New areas of cooperation are also under discussion -” including the construction of small modular reactors (SMRs) of Russian design in India.

In April 2024, Rosatom presented its Indian partners with information on the corporation's floating nuclear power solutions," it said.