India to ink pact with Russia on nuclear plant reactors next week

India and Russia will next week ink a techno-commercial agreement for two more reactors at Kudankulam nuclear plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, local media reported Saturday. Both the countries have sorted out all the differences resulting from India's contentious Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act, 2010, with Moscow finally agreeing to bring the pressurized water reactors under the purview of the law, 'The Times of India' reported. The much awaited techno-commercial agreement for reactor No. 3 and 4 is likely to be signed next week, Russian sources were quoted as saying. Russia had until now maintained that the liability law, which makes suppliers of equipment financially accountable in the event of an accident, was a recent and an unnecessary invention in its civil nuclear partnership with India, the newspaper said. Unlike Kudankulam 3 and 4, the first and second Kudankulam units will function independent of the liability law, the report said. India and Russia had in 2013 signed an agreement for a 3.4 billion U.S. dollars Russian line of credit for the reactors. The cost for the two reactors is expected to be more than 7 billion U. S. dollars.