Russia seeks risk reinsurance for unit 3 and 4 of KKNPP

Reinsurance of unit 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant (KKNPP) could be a possible solution to overcome the hurdles posed by nuclear liability issue, Russia today said.
"The nuclear liability issue can only be resolved by an insurance pool. This pool can possibly provide reinsurance to the reactors," V I Limarenko, director NIAEP-ASE, the construction arm of Rosatom, Russia's nuclear energy corporation that is building KKNPP, told reporters.
He was speaking at the sidelines of Atomexpo 2014 international nuclear energy conference here.
"This can happen just as insurance companies in Western countries double insure the entity. Such examples are prevalent in the shipping industry," said another Rosatom official.

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is already pursuing the matter with the Ministry of Finance for creation of the pool after no single insurance company, including the General Insurance Company, was able to provide financial cover to the nuclear plants considering the huge monetary requirement.
Under the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010, compensation of up to Rs 1500 crore will have to be paid in case of a mishap involving a nuclear plant.

At present, India has 20 nuclear plants and their number is expected to grow as the industry expands.
This could also pave way for insuring big-ticket projects like Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) where French firm Areva is constructing 6 EPR reactors of 1650 MW each as also future atomic energy programmes.

Interestingly, in Canada, the nuclear liability law caps liability to a certain extent and when that threshold is reached the government takes the responsibility of the remaining liability.
DAE and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) had approached GIC for insurance. However, the public sector undertaking has said it does not have the capacity to insure the reactors in view of the high cost and also the number of reactors involved.