India and Russia this week discussed setting up more nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu, in addition to the two being jointly built which will become operational in the next two years, IANS reported.
Announcing the discussions on ‘additional nuclear reactors’, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said the move “reflects our mutual desire for strong cooperation in the field of defence and (civil) nuclear energy.”
Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, is building two 1,000 MW reactors in Kudankulam in collaboration with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), and is in negotiations to build more.
The first of the original reactors is undergoing final safety tests and is likely to start operations early next year, while construction on the second is mostly complete, IANS reported.
India now ranks sixth in the world's elite nuclear club, with its 20th nuclear-powered reactor at Kaiga in Karnataka achieving criticality Saturday, officials said.
After the United States, France, Japan, Russia and Korea, India now has 20 or more nuclear reactors in operation, they said.
