CHENNAI: In the southern Tamil Nadu town of Kudankulam, which is dotted with Russian built Water-Water Energetic Reactors, has won the hearts of its makers who have named an alley after the small town.
The alley is located in city of Volgodonsk in Southern part of Russia. It is located next to Atommash Plant which manufactures the equipment for Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. It is a subsidiary of Atomenegomash, a machine building division of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.
Russia is one of India’s key partners in nuclear energy. It built the single largest nuclear power station at Kudankulam which was first agreed in 1988 with the Soviet leadership. The construction began in 2002, and the NPP was launched in 2013. Since then, the plant has been expanded, and Russia is building units 3 and 4 at the plant with plans to build units 5 and 6 in the next two years.
Russia is planting saplings to mark the success of its steam generators being manufactured by Atommash. Altogether 20 Catalpa saplings, an ornamental shade tree that produces dense clusters of white flowers, were planted. Atommash shipped out four steam generators PGV-1000M for Unit-3 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
“We started a tradition of planting new trees for each major shipment. Let them grow long at least as long as our equipment works at the plant,” said Andrey Nikipelov, chief executive officer of Atomenergomash.
Usually, the manufacturing of steam generators takes about two years and at each stage key priority is given to the quality of manufacturing and safety during subsequent operation. “The quality check has 104 test points, including those with the participation of customer representatives,” says Nikipelov.
The steam generators will reach by water to St Peterburg in Russia and from there along with other equipment, it will travel around Europe and through Suez Canal reach Tamil Nadu. The length of the route will be 21,000km.Currently, work is on the next set of equipment for India. The equipment includes four steam generators for Unit 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.