Russia ready to transfer nuclear tech to India – Rosatom head

Russia and India are moving to a new level of cooperation in nuclear energy, which could involve much higher levels of localization and technology transfer, Aleksey Likhachev, the head of Russian state nuclear giant Rosatom, told RT.

Likhachev was speaking in Mumbai on the sidelines of a working meeting with Ajit Kumar Mohanty, the chairman of India’s Department of Atomic Energy, as the two sides take stock of bilateral projects ahead of a planned summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month.

As the Indian government has set a target of increasing nuclear power generation capacity from 10Gw to 100Gw over the next several decades, Moscow and New Delhi are in talks for new projects. This includes large capacity installations of 1,000 megawatts and more, as well as small modular reactors, a new class of nuclear fission reactors that can be assembled on site, Likhachev said.

“In addition to traditional areas, we are discussing small stations, both land-based and floating. This is a unique competence of Rosatom,” he said, noting that Russia has been operating a floating nuclear power station – the Akademik Lomonosov – in the Arctic port town of Pevek over the past five years.

“We are ready to operate not only in cold northern waters but also in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. There is a special development known as the ‘tropical variant’ of a floating nuclear power plant.” 

Likhachev added that Rosatom sees the potential to significantly increase the level of localization of Russian technologies in India, particularly when it comes to smaller installations.

“We are ready to transfer technologies related to the station’s equipment and turbine island, as well as shipbuilding competencies, to our partners. As is well known, India is a maritime power and has considerable experience not only in operation but also in the construction of its civilian fleet. Discussions around this topic are ongoing,” the Rosatom head said.

The Russian nuclear giant is currently involved in the construction of four units of India’s largest nuclear power plant, Kudankulam, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Two units of 1,000 MW capacity each were connected to India’s national power grid in 2013 and 2016, respectively, and currently supply electricity to the southern regions of the country, while four more units are in various stages of completion.