New Delhi: In a significant step towards boosting the country’s nuclear power programme, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has approved “major equipment construction” at Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).The permission, granted on April 30, marks a significant shift from civil construction to core plant development by allowing Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to install critical reactor components such as reactor pressure vessels, steam generators and coolant pumps.“Historic progress at Kudankulam. India’s nuclear power program has achieved another decisive milestone,” NPCIL said on the occasion.“This permission was issued after satisfactory completion of multi-level safety review of the design of the units against the safety requirements specified by AERB as well as assessment of the progress of civil construction activities so far under the earlier permission issued in April 2021 for ‘First Pour of Concrete’ (FPC),” the Department of Atomic Energy said.There are six units of pressurized water reactors of VVER design at the Kudankulam project site, which are being installed with technical cooperation from the Russian Federation. The first two units (KKNPP Units-1 and 2) have been in operation since 2013. The third and fourth units are in advanced stage of development, for which AERB had earlier issued permission for major equipment manufacturing.