The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India, an infrastructure project and institution for power generation located in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu. Its origin lies in an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) signed on November 20, 1988, between India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev. The project was intended to boost India's energy production and achieve energy self-sufficiency, but it was delayed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was revived on June 21, 1998, with construction formally beginning on March 31, 2002.
The plant operates using Russian-designed VVER-1000/V-412 model Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The mechanism involves a collaboration between the owner and operator, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), and the Russian state company Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom). Each operational reactor unit has a gross electrical capacity of 1,000 MW. Unit 1 began commercial operation on December 31, 2014, and Unit 2 followed on March 31, 2017.
KKNPP is connected to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which oversees India's nuclear policy. A critical legal connection is the issue of supplier liability, which was a major point of discussion under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. The project is currently undergoing expansion, with Units 3 and 4 having begun construction on June 29, 2017, and Units 5 and 6 starting construction in 2021, aiming for a total capacity of 6,000 MW from six units. A significant recent change is the proposed SHANTI Act, 2025, which aims to repeal and replace both the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, creating a unified legal framework for nuclear energy governance.