Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa jointly dedicated the Unit 1 to the nation.

Developed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), the nuclear project features Voda Voda Energo Reactor (VVER) reactors, each with 1GW capacity, and is the first nuclear plant to use imported PWR technology.

The first 1,000MW reactor was installed in October 2013. It attained its full production capacity in June 2014 and commenced commercial operation from December 2014.

Modi said that the second unit of the plant is scheduled to be commissioned by end of this month. This unit achieved criticality in July 2016.

Modi was quoted by The Economics Times as saying: “At Kudankulam alone, five more units of 1000MW each are planned. In our journey of cooperation, we plan to build a series of bigger nuclear power units.”

The nuclear reactors for the Kudankulam plant are being built jointly by India’s state owned NPCIL and Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia's state nuclear power corporation Rosatom, as part of a deal signed earlier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “The achievement of phenomenal capacity by the first and in the near future by the second unit of KNPP will raise the energy supply of India and enhance its economic stance.”

Construction work on the Unit III and IV is planned to commence next year.

Putin noted that a general framework agreement is expected to be signed to construct third lead of the power plant by the end of this year.

Modi was reported by The Times of India‎ as saying: "Kudankulam 1 is an important addition to India's continuing efforts to scale up production of clean energy in India and it also signals our joint commitment to build pathways of partnership+ for green growth.”

The KKNPP’s Generation III+ reactors feature a combination of active safety systems as well as passive safety systems including passive heat removal system, hydrogen recombiners, core catcher, hydro accumulators and quick boron injection system.

Image: Construction work underway at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India. Photo: courtesy of Petr Pavlicek/IAEA.