– After the first phase of Kudankulam Project was completed, it was decided to increase the local content in the next two units to be built at Kudankulam by Russia. What are your estimates of the local content percentage?

– The local content in the first two reactor units was below 10%, but we expect it to rise to at least 50–60% in Units 3 and 4. This is to the benefit of our two countries as we can save both costs and construction time. As a nuclear power, India will have a chance to expand its competencies in technology. Let us take our automotive industry as an example. Earlier, there were only two car brands available on the market – Fiat and Hindustan Motors. We could only dream of having a BMW or a Honda or another famous European or Asian brand. In the mid-1990s, we invited foreign car makers and established large production hubs. Today, a middle-class Indian can afford buying such a car. But foreign car makers benefited as well – it is much cheaper to produce cars in India than in their home countries.

This is why many cars are made in India and sold abroad. Now we have similar things happen in India’s nuclear industry. I hope that large nuclear equipment for vendors like Rosatom will be manufactured in India and supplied to third countries. I think this will greatly reduce nuclear construction costs all over the globe and facilitate the nuclear industry development. As we all know, the main challenge associated with nuclear energy is construction cost. Building a nuclear station has always been a costly affair. It is much cheaper though to manufacture all the machinery here in India, and nuclear vendors understand it. I think many countries will soon make the same conclusion.

– How much cost reduction will it bring?

– It depends on the project in question. Even if we achieve a 20% reduction in capital costs, the total cost of a unit will be lower. It also depends on the financing scheme applied. For instance, an advantage of working with Rosatom is that we obtain loans at a very low interest rate and thus drive down the cost of construction. By the way, electricity generated by Kudankulam Unit 1 is priced at less than 4 rupees per kilowatt hour, which is very competitive. We had never been able to quote so low if we had not raised money on such favorable terms.

– What nuclear equipment is India the best at?

– As we chose to develop our nuclear industry, we had absolutely no technology and had to start from scratch. Now we have a number of large companies operating in the country, such as Larsen & Toubro or Hindustan Construction. They have great expertise in manufacturing nuclear equipment and competencies to master new technology needed to produce all the core equipment. India has enough capacity and experience to manufacture reactor vessels, pumps, valves, pipes, heat exchangers – to mention but a few. By the way, Larsen & Toubro and Areva have established a joint venture to produce large-size nuclear equipment.

– Is there any progress in allocating new sites for Russian units?

– Indian authorities stand for a site to be allocated as soon as possible. We have had some difficulties, though. Initially, we chose Haripur in West Bengal, but had to look for another site for political reasons. We are now considering the state of Andhra Pradesh as the local government supports construction of a Russian-designed nuclear station on their territory. From what I know, there is no final decision so far, but I think that the site is likely to be in Andhra Pradesh.

– What is your opinion about the prospects for joint civil nuclear projects with Russia in third countries?

– You had better address this question to responsible officers in India’s Department of Atomic Energy. It is in their scope of competence. If you ask me as a nuclear expert, I personally think that joint projects will certainly be of mutual benefit. In fact, it is already happening. Rosatom is engaged in a nuclear construction project in Bangladesh. We have been training their nuclear staff for the last three years. I think that prospects for Indian-Russian projects are good in Asia and Africa. We could be very efficient in terms of logistics as we could deliver equipment to these regions. Our cooperation with Russia is not just friendship, but an extremely profitable business. Our countries have long been discussing collaboration in the film industry. In other words, our ties will also strengthen in culture, rather than in nuclear energy alone. I am all in favor of economic cooperation and trade between our countries.

– What do you make of Vietnam’s refusal to build a nuclear station?

– I am 100% sure that Vietnam will get back to nuclear power, and so will other countries. I have devoted all my life to nuclear and have not a single doubt that the role of nuclear will but grow all over the world. In fact, there are no ‘anti-nuclear’ countries. Sooner or later, all the countries will realize that no development is possible without nuclear energy. Some of them are still uncertain or hesitating, and some are simply unaware of nuclear energy advantages. Current living standards cannot be maintained without nuclear power. It means we only have two options, either primitive existence or nuclear energy. I opt for the latter.

– Not long ago India and Japan signed a framework agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear power. Japan had long been reluctant to do it because of India’s stance against the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The agreement is now called historic. What do you think it will bring India?

– The agreement is very important for us. Many countries have shunned nuclear cooperation with India as it was a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Unlike them, Russia has always been our reliable partner, and we take pride in it. The former IAEA Director General, Mohamed El Baradei, made once a tough statement saying that the behavior of some parties to NPT and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was inappropriate, to put it mildly. By contrast, India has never signed NPT or been an NSG member, but has always been a responsible nuclear power committed to its obligations.

– What is the public’s attitude to nuclear in India?

– There has been no nationwide anti-nuclear movement in India, and there are no opponents to nuclear among India’s political parties. Many governments and parties succeeded one another over the last 60 years, and all of them supported the national nuclear program. So, India has a positive attitude towards nuclear.