nuclear-news

USA nuclear companies up against India’s Nuclear Liability Law

India-U.S. Nuclear Growth May See More Delays, WSJ, By ERIC YEP MUMBAI – U.S.-based companies hoping to cash in on India’s plans to increase its number of nuclear reactors could face more delays despite the government’s efforts to bring the country’s liability rules for nuclear accidents in line with global norms.

U.S. companies had expected big contracts to flow from India’s nuclear expansion after a New Delhi-Washington agreement in 2005 and a subsequent waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group on the transfer of nuclear technology to India.

But last year India’s parliament passed a liability law making both equipment suppliers and reactor operators liable to accident compensation claims, stalling the entry of companies like GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Westinghouse Electric Co.

The government is unlikely to make changes to that law, which it plans to formally implement when Parliament meets in December.

“I don’t see a possibility of a change [in the law] in the near future,” Ravi Grover, principal adviser in the country’s Department of Atomic Energy, said recently…..

t’s still unclear whether India ratifying the CSC will be enough to convince companies to push into the Indian market.

Mr. Grover of the D.A.E. was noncommittal when asked if the rules accommodate the concerns of foreign suppliers. “Rules have to be framed within the ambit of the Act [Nuclear Liability Act], which has been passed by the parliament.”

There is no way that suppliers like Westinghouse will operate in the absence of nuclear liability protection, Gary T. Urquhart, vice president at Westinghouse Electric said. “We will operate only in countries that have that type of legal system in place.”

Officials from GE Hitachi declined to comment…..

Officials close to the talks say a major hurdle lies in the lawyers advising U.S. companies, who insist on a change in the law itself….

October 4, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India, USA