India to launch construction of 19 nuclear power units within 4 years

India plans to build 19 power units at the country’s nuclear power plant with an aggregate capacity of 17,400 MW, eight of which will be built with the participation of other countries by 2017, a source close to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. India plans to build third and fourth power units at the nuclear power plant Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu State with a capacity of 1,000 MW each with Russia’s technical assistance, the nuclear power plant Mithi Virdi in Gujarat State with two power units of 1,100 MW each with the participation of the United States and Japan and the nuclear power plant Kovvada in Andhra-Pradesh State with two power units of 1,500 MW each, the nuclear power plant Jaitapur in Maharashtra State with two power units of 1,650 MW each under the French design project, the source noted. The factors, which exert a negative impact on Indian international cooperation in peaceful atom use, exist now. For instance, the law over the civil responsibility for nuclear damage was enacted in 2010. According to the law the operator of the nuclear power plant is entitled to file a lawsuit for the damage from the nuclear incident to the supplier of equipment and services in way of recourse. This factor drags out the talks on the projects involving foreign partners. Only Russia is building the nuclear power plant in India so far. The first power unit of the nuclear power plant Kudankulam is prepared for launching, the construction of the second power unit is almost finalized, the contract for the designing of the construction of third and fourth power units is about to be completed, the talks on a general framework agreement for the construction of the second line of the nuclear power plant is at its final stage.