India’s nuclear energy programme marked a fresh milestone as Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) initiated a critical commissioning activity at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Unit-3, bringing the reactor a step closer to operational readiness.
NPCIL on Monday, 27 April, said it has successfully commenced the ‘Spillage to Open Reactor’ process on 25 April 2026 at Unit-3 of the Kudankulam plant located in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.
The activity involves flushing and conditioning of safety systems and main coolant pipelines using light water to achieve the required cleanliness standards ahead of advanced commissioning stages.
This process also marks the beginning of individual functional testing of primary system equipment, which is a key step in preparing the reactor for eventual operation.
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The milestone was inaugurated by NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director B. C. Pathak in the presence of Mikhail Novikov, Director for Projects in India at ASE (Atomstroyexport), part of Russia’s Rosatom, underlining the continued Indo-Russian collaboration in the project.
Kudankulam remains India’s largest nuclear power station, with Units 1 and 2 already operational.
NPCIL said the two units have together generated over 121 billion units of electricity, helping avoid nearly 104 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
Once completed, Units 3 to 6 at the site are expected to take the total installed capacity at Kudankulam to 6000 MW, significantly strengthening India’s clean energy base and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
The progress at Unit-3 comes as India looks to expand its nuclear power capacity as part of its broader energy transition strategy, where nuclear energy is seen as a stable, low-carbon baseload source complementing renewable energy.
NPCIL said it continues to follow established safety, quality and environmental standards as the project advances through successive commissioning stages.
