Periodic security assessments conducted at all nuclear power plants: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi: Periodic security assessments are conducted both internally and by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) at all nuclear power plant sites, including Kudankulam, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.External government agencies also carry out assessments of nuclear power plants, the minister said in a written reply to Congress MP Manickam Tagore B’s query in the Lok Sabha on vulnerability assessments and third-party security audits of nuclear plants.

The minister stressed that continuous monitoring and surveillance mechanisms were in place to detect and respond to cyber threats to these plants.”Appropriate preventive and protective measures, including access controls, regular security audits, vulnerability assessments, incident response mechanisms and capacity-building programmes are implemented,” Singh added.

The development has come within a month of a data breach involving electronic files linked to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu.In July, reports emerged that ransomware group World Leaks had accessed more than 19,000 highly sensitive files dating between 2016 and mid-2025.

These files were linked to the KKNPP’s engineering blueprints for control, cooling and ventilation systems, a list of vendors and suppliers supplying equipment, operational files on meeting records, etc.In a statement at the time, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), the KKNPP’s operator, had said, “The information claimed to be available in the public domain… does not relate to any nuclear safety or nuclear security-related systems or information”.