OREANDA-NEWS. On 4th December 2015 the personnel of Kudankulam NPP started loading nuclear fuel into the reactor of the first unit.   For the first time this process was performed jointly by the Indian and the Russian  specialists.   The fuel loading was performed in automatic mode with technical assistance of representatives of ASE Group of Companies.  

Fuel loading into the reactor commenced after a successful completion of the first year of the unit operation and the first scheduled preventive repair and fuel reloading.   Upon completion of the scheduled preventive maintenance, reports were prepared and submitted to АЕRВ, the Indian regulatory authority, for review.

“Upon the results of the review of reports, АЕRВ issued a permit for fuel loading into the reactor of Unit 1.  After the completion of all the required measures, Kudankulam NPP Power Unit No 1 will be connected to the Indian electrical grid”, said Andrey Lebedev, Vice-President for projects in South Asia.  

Kudankulam NPP is being constructed in India within the framework of Russian-Indian agreement dated 20 November 1988 and amendment thereto dated 21 June 1998.
Location: Tamil Nadu state
Reactor type: VVER -1000, 4 power units (with the possibility of extension)
General designer is Atomenergoproekt JSC
Technical assistance is provided by ASE JSC  
The Customer is Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) .

АSE Group of Companies was established within the framework of development of Rosatom engineering division, by uniting three leading companies of the industry: NIAEP JSC, ASE JSC and Atomenergoproekt JSC.

ASE is one of the world leaders in nuclear power engineering and holds over 30% of the global NPP construction market.

 The Group has representative offices, branch offices and operational offices in 15 countries around the world, with almost 80% of its portfolio coming from projects abroad.  

ASE also provides services in the field of construction of facilities for RAW and SNF management, thermal power plants as well as a full range of EPC, EPC(M) and PMC services for any complex engineering facilities.  
ASE has developed and widely uses Multi-D innovative project management system for construction of complex engineering facilities which enables to effectively manage such parameters as the budget, the construction period and the quality.   The company CEO is Valery I. Limarenko, PhD in economics.