Vladimir Vorobyov, head of quality and safety laboratory of WWER Department of Nuclear Reactor Institute of Kurchatov Institute

– We must do our best to strengthen Russian-Indian cooperation

The Russian-Indian nuclear cooperation is actively developing. Certain work under Kudankulam project was started as far back as 1987–1989. The designer was Kyiv Atomenergoproekt and my colleagues and I were invited to meet with the Indians on the matter. Then the talks were stopped for well-known reasons but the Indians did not give up and finally got the project underway.  

The Indians are building Kudankulam independently under our supervision. This may lead to certain delays but I think that this is not a big problem. By doing everything themselves the Indians are acquiring unique experience, which will certainly help them in their further programs. By 2025 the Indian Government is planning to build 40GW of new nuclear reactors.

I respect the commitment of the Indians to cooperate with Russia and to adopt its technologies. And I think that, on our part, we must do our best to strengthen and develop this cooperation.