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India’s watchdog gives green light to construction of second stage of nuclear power plant

MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. India’s Atomic Energy Board (AERB) has granted a permit for "the first pour of concrete of Kudankulam Nuclear Power projects (3 and 4), the AERB said in a press release.

The corresponding decision was made on June 19.

Earlier head of AtomStroyExport (ASE), Valery Limarenko said that Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom is ready to start first pour of concrete for the units of the second line in late June-early July. ASE is part of Rosatom.

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Putin vows to continue sharing nuclear industry know-how with India

The Kudankulam NPP is being built with Russia's technical assistance under the inter-governmental agreement signed in 1988. In 2014, Russia and India signed a general framework agreement for construction of the second stage, including the third and fourth units of the power plant. The plan is to put the units into service in 2021-2022. Also, the parties reached an agreement in December 2014 to construct at least 12 nuclear power units in India.

The first and second power units of Kudankulam (the first stage) have already been commissioned.

On June 1, an intergovernmental agreement was signed on construction of the third line of the nuclear plant (the fifth and sixth units).

Rosatom plans to sign the main contracts for the implementation of these works in the coming month.

In total, Rosatom plans to build at least 12 nuclear power units in India.

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Russia ready for Ukraine talks, but not with Zelensky — Lavrov

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Sergey Ryabkov said the US seeks to maintain military superiority in a great variety of areas

Ukrainian drone damages energy infrastructure in Russia’s Kaluga Region

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Top stories from the Russian press on Friday, April 19th

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The Russian foreign minister also described Armenia and Russia as more than formal allies

FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan