Moscow is reportedly in talks with New Delhi to offer expertise to set up modular reactors in coastal areas
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexei Likhachev, visit the Atom pavilion at VDNKh in Moscow on July 9, 2024. © Sputnik Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom has reportedly offered technology transfer to India for small modular reactors (SMR), as the South Asian nation seeks to boost nuclear energy generation. Rosatom could explore the possibility of setting up SMRs in coastal areas of India, the Economic Times reported on Monday, citing sources. Rosatom, which is currently developing India’s largest nuclear energy facility – the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu – offered New Delhi cooperation on SMR technology last year, the report noted. Several documents signed between the two nations in 2024 also indicated the intention to cooperate in SMR technology, including the joint statement issued during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow in July, which emphasized deepening cooperation in the nuclear energy field. During his visit, Modi, accompanied by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was given a tour of the Atom Pavilion in Moscow. The two leaders were briefed on a range of different nuclear energy technologies and projects, including nuclear-powered icebreakers and floating nuclear power plants, which, according to TASS, Putin said could eventually “replace the oil produced around the world.” Rosatom Director General Aleksey Likhachev was reported as having told Modi that Russia could offer small nuclear reactors to India with “very deep localization” and could transfer the “whole construction part.” Rosatom is the only foreign company involved in the construction of a nuclear power facility in India, the outlet noted. The report, however, added that the SMR segment in particular has attracted players from the US and France which have been offering India collaboration.
Read more The report comes one day after the Indian government announced a Nuclear Energy Mission with funding of $2.35 billion (20 billion rupees) into the sector. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her announcement of the federal budget for the 2025-26 financial year (which starts in April), noted that under the mission, India is planning to operationalize five SMRs by 2033. The finance minister noted that the mission aligns with India’s commitment to increasing its clean energy output, with a goal of achieving 100 GW of atomic energy capacity by 2047. New Delhi plans to amend the legislation governing the nuclear energy sector as well as leverage nuclear energy as part of its strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. Industry watchers have pointed out this would help access to electricity in far-flung areas where traditional ways of reaching power are difficult and expensive. SMRs are a new generation of nuclear reactors that are smaller in size and designed in a modular fashion. Each SMR unit typically generates up to 300 megawatts of electricity, which is roughly one-third the capacity of a conventional nuclear power plant. The deployment of SMRs is expected to overcome several energy generation challenges, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas where traditional large-scale power plants are not viable. Unlike conventional nuclear power plants, SMRs can be manufactured in factories and then transported to sites, where they can be easily assembled on a relatively small area, roughly the size of two football fields.
