On Tuesday, construction work on units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu began with the first concrete pouring into the foundation plate of the reactor building. The project, to be achieved at an outlay of Rs 49,621 crore, was launched by K N Vyas, Atomic Energy Commission chairman and DAE secretary, in the presence of Alexey Likhachev, DG, RosatomGlobal and SK Sharma, Chairman and Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) through video-conference. KNPP involves six units of light water reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each. It has been established in technical cooperation with the Russian Federation. The project is being executed in three phases of 2x1000 MW each. The development of units 5 and 6 is anticipated to complete in 66 and 75 months, respectively. Construction of these two units will be implemented by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Limited, which is involved in the ongoing construction of units 3 and 4 that are nearly half complete. On completion of all these projects, the six units will provide 6000MW of clean energy to the country in the latter half of 2027, making it the biggest power-producing complex in India. Works to be conducted by L&T at Rs 2,305 crore comprise the construction of the reactor auxiliary, reactor, turbine and diesel generator buildings and safety structures. While KNPP was reliant on Russia for every element used in the first two reactors (units 1 and 2), it is determined that about 36% of the components used in units 5 and 6 will be fabricated in India. The chairman expressed confidence that the reactors at KNPP will place India among the frontrunners of nuclear energy-producing countries globally. It will also make a significant contribution to the growth of Tamil Nadu, he added. He termed the construction of KNPP reactors a stellar example of Indo–Russian strategic cooperation, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Satish Kumar Sharma, Chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said that units 1 and 2 have produced more than 57.4 billion units of carbon-free green energy since they were commissioned. While global warming is a matter of concern, KNPP plays a significant role in producing green energy. Image Source Also read: Construction of Kudankulam reactors to begin soon Also read: L&T lowest bidder for Kudankulam plant construction