Russia’s Mashinostroitelny Zavod in Elektrostal (MSZ, part of Rosatom Fuel Company TVEL) has produced the initial fuel load for unit 4 of India’s Kudankulam NPP in the state of Tamil Nadu. TVEL is contracted to supply the fuel for Kudankulan 3&4 for their entire service life. The initial load for unit 3 was manufactured at Rosatom’s Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NZKhK – Novosibirskii Zavod KhimKonsentratov) and delivered to India in December 2025.
Kudankulam NPP will comprise six units with VVER-1000 reactors. Work began following an intergovernmental agreement between India and Russia signed in 1988. Units 1&2 (Phase I) are already in operation and work is underway to build units 3-6 (Phases II and III). The customer and operator of the station is NPCIL, the general contractor is JSC ASE (Rosatom’s Engineering Division), general designer Atomenergoproject and equipment designer OKB Gidropress.
Since 2022 Kudankulam has been supplied with improved TVS-2M fuel. It ensures more reliable and cost-effective operation power units due to its rigid design, new anti-debris filter generations and more uranium. Its introduction also made it possible to increase the fuel operation cycle from 12 to 18 months.
