Deal on 2 new reactors in Kudankulam unlikely during PM's tour

Legal hitches appear to have cropped up in the plans to set up two new reactors in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) and a commercial agreement on it is unlikely to be signed at the Annual Summit between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin here tomorrow.
Government sources said all issues except one on the liability clause is yet to be resolved and lawyers on both sides are working on it.
"In any case it (agreement) won't be signed during the visit because it is a commercial agreement between NPCIL and Rosatom. They would like to do it separately," they said.

Russia, with whose collaboration the KNPP has been set up, is opposed to the project coming under the ambit of the Nuclear Civil Liability Law of India and wants it to be covered under the Inter-governmental agreement on the issue.
India has tried to assuage Russian concerns by making proposals on the liability limiting it to suppliers default in cases of equipment failure in the event of an accident.
Public sector General Insurance Corporation has been asked to work on details of the quantum of insurance and the premium including for the suppliers.
The sources said the deal on setting up Units 3 and 4 to be supplied by Russia is "close" to signing but for one aspect.

"It (deal) is very close. We have settled most of the issues except one. It is now with the lawyers. The lawyers of both sides have to clear it. So we are waiting for them to actually tell us," the sources said.