Russia gives in-principle nod on India’s nuclear liability law

June 12, 2014

Russia has in principle agreed on Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010 with India. This paves the way for signing a contract for unit 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in July, 2014. In April, 2014, a General Framework Agreement was inked between India and Russia on unit 3 and 4 after overcoming the initial hurdles of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010.
The agreement which was expected to be signed in October 2013 during the then Indian PM Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia, as Moscow raised objection over some clauses of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act. India has built Units 1 and 2 of Tamil Nadu-based Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) with the help of Russian assistance at the cost of Rs 17,200 crore. The Unit 1 of the KKNPP has attained 100% capacity of 1000 MW while the second unit should start generating power from this year.
Because of high costs, insuring the nuclear power plants is a challenging task as there is no single governmental insurance company in the country that can insure these installations with such hefty costs. The Department of Atomic Energy has asked the Ministry of Finance to set up a Nuclear Insurance Pool after the General Insurance Company was unable to insure Nuclear Power Plants.

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