MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. The second unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, which is the largest nuclear plant in India and the flagship project of technology and energy cooperation between the two countries, will be transferred to the 18-month fuel cycle, CEO of Rosatom corporation Alexey Likhachev said on the air with Rossiya-24 television.

"The first unit of Kudankulam [power plant] has already been transferred from the 12-month to the 18-month fuel cycle. This is more tolerant, more efficient fuel. The second unit is being transferred now," Likhachev said.

The subsequent units for the nuclear power plant in India will function under the 18-month fuel cycle "from the first minutes," the chief executive said. This will increase the installed capacity utilization ratio and provide an even greater economic effect, Likhachev said.

The topic related to the interaction in the nuclear sphere is the key one for the Russian-Indian cooperation, Likhachev said. "These are the most capital intensive projects of our interaction, and the most inspiring projects," he stressed.

Russia and India also collaborate in issues related to the fourth generation of nuclear power plants, the chief executive said. "Fast-neutron reactors, fuel cycle closing - this is also the subject matter of our understandings," he noted.

Russia and India are expanding cooperation in non-energy technologies also, Likhachev said. "These are the supply of isotopes, radiopharmaceuticals, and the work of research reactors. Looking-forward areas, such as thermonuclear synthesis, are also the subject matter for the dialogue," he noted.