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US firms push for India to cover nuke accidents

This legislation specifies that legal jurisdiction in the event of an accident will lie within India. US nuclear firms close in on Indian market  Business Standard Ajai Shukla / New Delhi December 11, 2009, Stakes in India’s nuclear power generation programme are among the highest in the world………. Since $4-5 billion (Rs 18,670-23,340 crore) will be needed to set up each nuclear reactor, capital costs alone add up to $200-250 billion (Rs 9,33,600-11,67,000 crore). Then there are fuel costs, nuclear waste disposal, reprocessing, consultants & advisors and, of course, the financial market aspects of raising all that money.

For the Russian and French state-owned nuclear power industries, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver that followed the US-India nuclear deal opened the doors to the Indian market. But America’s private corporations — including GE-Hitachi and Westinghouse, the technology source for two-thirds of the world’s operating nuclear reactors — are still held back by US laws.

And so, even as Russia and India signed an agreement last week on Co-operation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Moscow, an American delegation of 50 top executives from that country’s leading nuclear suppliers began a six-day visit to India.

Three steps to business
Just three steps remain to be taken before they can commence business with India: An Indo-US agreement on reprocessing nuclear fuel; a Part 810 Assurance that India must provide for safeguarding technology; and an Indian liability law to cater for nuclear accidents……………The final step remains the enactment of a Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, which has been passed by India’s Union Cabinet and will be introduced in Parliament during the winter session………………

This legislation specifies that legal jurisdiction in the event of an accident will lie within India. The domestic liability bill forms the first tier of compensation, which is handled in-country.

US nuclear firms close in on Indian market

December 11, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, radiation, radioactive