Kudankulam nuclear power plant
Kudankulam nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in India with 2 operating units totalling 2,000 MW gross. The site has 8 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | PWR | VVER V-412 | 1,000 | 2014 | |
| Unit 2 | PWR | VVER V-412 | 1,000 | 2017 | |
| Unit 3 | Under construction | PWR | VVER V-412 | 1,000 | 2027 |
| Unit 4 | Under construction | PWR | VVER V-412 | 1,000 | 2027 |
| Unit 5 | Under construction | PWR | VVER V-412 | 1,000 | 2030 |
| Unit 6 | Under construction | PWR | VVER V-412 | 1,000 | 2030 |
| Unit 7 | Announced | PWR | VVER-1200 | 1,200 | - |
| Unit 8 | Announced | PWR | VVER-1200 | 1,200 | - |
Unit by unit
Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 1
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER V-412 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,000MW |
| Net capacity | 932MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
| Construction start | 31 Mar 2002 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 13 Jul 2013 |
| Grid connection | 22 Oct 2013 |
| Commercial operation | 31 Dec 2014 |
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 2
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER V-412 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,000MW |
| Net capacity | 932MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
| Construction start | 4 Jul 2002 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 10 Jul 2016 |
| Grid connection | 29 Aug 2016 |
| Commercial operation | 31 Mar 2017 |
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 3 Under construction
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER V-412 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,000MW |
| Net capacity | 917MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
| Construction start | 29 Jun 2017 |
|---|---|
| Commercial operation | 1 Jan 2027 |
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 4 Under construction
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER V-412 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,000MW |
| Net capacity | 917MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
| Construction start | 23 Oct 2017 |
|---|---|
| Commercial operation | 1 Jan 2027 |
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 5 Under construction
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER V-412 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,000MW |
| Net capacity | 917MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
| Construction start | 29 Jun 2021 |
|---|---|
| Commercial operation | 1 Jan 2030 |
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 6 Under construction
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER V-412 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,000MW |
| Net capacity | 917MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
| Construction start | 20 Dec 2021 |
|---|---|
| Commercial operation | 1 Jan 2030 |
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 7 Announced
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER-1200 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,200MW |
| Net capacity | not disclosed |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Milestones | no dates on record |
|---|
Kudankulam nuclear power plant 8 Announced
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | VVER-1200 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,200MW |
| Net capacity | not disclosed |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Rosatom |
| Milestones | no dates on record |
|---|
Kudankulam nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Kudankulam nuclear power plant is the 1st largest of 7 operating nuclear sites in India, holding 24% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 89th of 172 worldwide.
Its operating units started up between 2014 and 2017; the median unit is 10.5 years old, younger than the median of 23.5 in India.
The 2 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 11.6 to 14.2 years (median 12.9) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 2010s is 5.9 years.
No other nuclear site with an exact position in this dataset lies within 300 km.
2 operating units are rated differently now from their design net capacities: Unit 1 +1.6% and Unit 2 +1.6%.
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 2002 | 2013 | 11.6 | 5.9 (2010s) |
| Unit 2 | 2002 | 2016 | 14.2 | 5.9 (2010s) |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Kudankulam nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Tamil Nadu, India |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 8.1689, 77.7126 |
| Elevation | about 15 mabove sea level |
| Setting | On the sea coast, 0.2 km from the water |
| Region | Southern Asia |
| Units by status | Operating: 2 Under construction: 4 Announced: 2 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India Ltd |
|---|---|
| Operators | Nuclear Power Corporation Of India |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data