NPCIL says no sensitive data breach at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project
Chennai, July 16
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said there had been no breach of sensitive data at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, stating that the information reportedly available in the public domain pertains only to conventional infrastructure and has no connection with nuclear safety or nuclear security systems.
In a statement issued by Executive Director (Corporate Communications) Prateek Agarwal, NPCIL said the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project's common service facilities, known as the Balance of Plant package, had been awarded to Reliance Infrastructure Limited through a public tender process.
According to the statement, the scope of the contract covers engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of common service facilities that are conventional in nature and are typically found in thermal power plants and other process industries.
NPCIL stressed that these systems are not related to nuclear safety or nuclear security. The corporation said that, as part of the public tendering process, it had provided indicative drawings and technical specifications to bidders. Based on these inputs and project requirements, Reliance Infrastructure prepared detailed engineering drawings in consultation with the respective original equipment manufacturers.
NPCIL said the designs submitted by Reliance Infrastructure were reviewed by the corporation and accepted only after ensuring that they met all technical specifications.
The statement came amid reports that engineering-related project files linked to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project had been accessed following a cyber incident involving infrastructure associated with a contractor.
NPCIL reiterated that the documents in question relate only to conventional Balance of Plant facilities and do not concern reactor operations, nuclear safety systems or any sensitive security infrastructure.
Reliance Infrastructure had secured the contract in 2018 for infrastructure works related to Kudankulam Units 3 and 4, which are currently under construction.
Investigations into the reported cyber incident are being carried out by NPCIL and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
Kudankulam currently operates two 1,000 MW Russian-designed VVER reactors, while four additional units are under construction. Once completed, the project is expected to become India's largest nuclear power park with a total installed capacity of 6,000 MW.
— IANS
Reader Comments
While the reassurance is welcome, I'm concerned about how such 'conventional infrastructure' documents ended up in public domain in the first place. If Balance of Plant drawings can be leaked, what about tomorrow? NPCIL should review their data sharing protocols with all contractors, not just Reliance. Better safe than sorry when it comes to nuclear security.
As someone from Tamil Nadu, I can tell you locals have always had concerns about Kudankulam safety. This incident, even if minor, doesn't help build trust. The project is crucial for our energy needs - Tamil Nadu gets significant power from it - but transparency is key. NPCIL should hold a public briefing in Tirunelveli district to allay fears.
This is exactly why India should develop indigenous nuclear technology instead of relying on Russian designs. When foreign partners handle so much, data sharing becomes inevitable. Atmanirbhar Bharat in nuclear energy is not just a slogan - it's a security necessity. Kudos to NPCIL for quick response though. 👏
The real story here is that even 'conventional' infrastructure drawings of a nuclear plant are sensitive. Imagine if someone used these to plan sabotage of cooling systems or power supply - that could still impact safety indirectly. NPCIL needs to tighten their definition of what's 'sensitive'. Also, why is Reliance's cybersecurity being questioned again? They had the Mumbai power outage issue too. 🧐
As an engineer who worked on conventional power plants, I can confirm Balance of Plant includes pumps, piping, valves, cooling towers - nothing classified. But the optics are bad. Kudankulam already faced protests.
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