Rosatom sends initial fuel load for Kudankulam’s third reactor as Putin arrives in Delhi

Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation announced on Thursday that it has delivered the first consignment of nuclear fuel

Updated on: Dec 4, 2025, 23:45:37 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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New Delhi: Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation announced on Thursday that it has delivered the first consignment of nuclear fuel for the initial loading of the third reactor at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, with the development coinciding with President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in New Delhi for an annual bilateral summit.

the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu

A cargo flight operated by the Nuclear Fuel Division of Rosatom delivered fuel assemblies manufactured by the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, the corporation said in a statement.

A total of seven flights from Russia are planned to supply the entire reactor core and some reserve fuel. These shipments are provided under a contract signed in 2024, which includes fuel supply for the third and fourth VVER-1000 reactors of the Kudankulam plant for the entire service life, starting from initial loading.

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Russia is the only country to have built a nuclear power plant in India in recent decades, and the Kudankulam plant will have six VVER-1000 reactors with a total installed capacity of 6,000 MW. The first two reactors at Kudankulam were connected to India’s power grid in 2013 and 2016 and currently supply electricity to the southern region. The four other reactors are under construction.

During the operation of these two reactors in the first phase of the Kudankulam plant, Russian and Indian engineers have done considerable work to increase their efficiency through the introduction of advanced nuclear fuel and extended fuel cycles, Rosatom said. Beginning in 2022, the Kudankulam plant has been supplied with nuclear fuel of the TVS-2M model, which provides more reliable and cost-effective reactor operation due to its rigid design, a new-generation anti-debris filter, and an increased mass of uranium.

The introduction of this fuel has enabled the fuel cycle of the reactors to be extended from 12 to 18 months, and power units are stopped less frequently for fuel reload and can generate more electricity.

The second phase of the Kudankulam plant will become the first using VVER-1000 reactors to be launched with an 18-month fuel cycle, Rosatom said. This is the result of successful cooperation between Rosatom’s Nuclear Fuel Division and Indian partners, with solutions implemented earlier at similar plants in Russia and China being introduced at Kudankulam.

Rosatom supplies nuclear fuel throughout the operational life of nuclear power plants and provides engineering services, increasing the efficiency of reactors by introducing new fuel and fuel cycle solutions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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