Russia and India are in talks to work together on a number of projects, such as research on controlled thermonuclear fusion and cooperative development of the Northern Sea route’s transit potential, according to a senior official of Rosatom, the state-run atomic energy corporation in Moscow.
The CEO of Rosatom, AE Likhacheva, stated that the prospects for continued cooperation in the fields of nuclear technologies as well as non-energy and non-nuclear areas were the main points of discussion with India.
During her visit to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu last month, Likhacheva stated that both parties had gained a great deal of experience working together during the construction of the plant’s initial units.
“Already, our cooperation extends beyond the borders of India. Indian companies are participating in Rosatom’s project to build the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh – Rooppur NPP,” he told Press Trust of India in an email interview.
Rosatom expanding operations, offering collaboration to allied nations
Furthermore, about eighty new areas of activity were being developed by Rosatom, many of which it was prepared to share its advancements with friendly nations.
“Thus, we can offer the Indian side our competencies in the construction of low-power nuclear power plants,” he went on to say.
According to him, there is a lot of room for collaboration between the two nations in scientific research, especially when it comes to controlled thermonuclear fusion.
According to Likacheva, Rosatom is prepared to give Indian scientists the chance to work on the MBIR multipurpose fast neutron research reactor, which is presently being built in Russia, for research purposes.
He believes that both countries have enormous potential for scientific collaboration, particularly in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion.
Likacheva stated that Rosatom was also willing to provide Indian experts with the opportunity to do research at the MBIR multi-purpose fast neutron research reactor, which is presently under development in Russia.
“This will be the most powerful research reactor in the world, it will open up unique opportunities for conducting a wide range of work on medical topics, research in the field of fundamental and applied physics, as well as in the interests of creating new materials,” he said.
Aside from that, Russia is in talks with India about jointly developing the transit potential of the Northern Sea Route, which is operated by Rosatom.
India is already second only to China in terms of the number of nuclear power plants under construction at any given time
This will assist in ensuring the supply of Russian oil, coal, and liquefied natural gas to India via the aforementioned route, including transshipment in Russian Far Eastern ports.
“We are also exploring options for cooperation within the framework of the Euro-Asian Container Transit project. This project involves the organization of a pilot line for international container transit through the Northern Sea Route. As you can see, the range of areas for mutually beneficial cooperation is very wide, and I am confident we will still make a significant contribution to the development of the strategic partnership of our countries,” he said.
Regarding India’s long-term energy strategy and aims, the Rosatom CEO stated that the business intends to attain a cumulative installed capacity share of non-fossil fuel energy sources of roughly 50% by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. Nuclear energy would play an important role in achieving these aims.
According to him, India is already second only to China in terms of the number of nuclear power plants under construction at any given time.
KNPP is a hallmark project of Indo-Russian collaboration, and it is being built using a modern generation 3 design with VVER-1000 reactors, he stated.
