nuclear-news

USA companies want to sell nuclear to India, but not be liable for accidents

The crux of the issue is: Who will be held responsible in case there is an accident at a plant that is set up by foreign investors?

US may press India to amend nuclear legislation, Business Standard   New Delhi November 02, 2011,  Friendly, but blunt. That will be the tone of the message from the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to India.

When NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko comes here later this month to meet with his counterparts in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, he would say that this country’s civil nuclear liability law would not pass muster in the US. For, as sourcesnote, it would require to be substantially amended if New Delhi hopes to get business from the US.
The US has discussed the law — The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 — with France and Russia. These are the other two countries with whom India wants to do business in nuclear power….
The crux of the issue is: Who will be held responsible in case there is an accident at a plant that is set up by foreign investors?
While the Bill fixes liability for nuclear damage, specifies procedures for compensating victims and fixes no-fault liability on operators by giving them a right of recourse against certain persons, it also contains the right of recourse against the supplier (Clause
17). This is neither compliant with the CSC, nor acceptable to foreign
companies.

American investors are wary of coming to India, faced with a law that
permits open-ended liability of suppliers. Further, they are fearful
of the court cases that might result as a consequence of an
accident…
France, for instance, is not raising the issue actively and publicly
with India, but its domestic law protects suppliers from liability in
case of an accident….
To tide over the problem temporarily, Russia and France have suggested
Early Works Agreements: Investments made before work on the actual
plant starts.

But directors on the boards of US companies engaged in civil nuclear
power business will be wary of committing millions of dollars in
projects that might not be sustainable for lack of an enabling legal
set up, these sources warned.

If nothing works out, they say, India should reconcile itself to
amending the Act itself to provide protection to both operators and
suppliers “after the 2014 general elections”….
http://business-standard.com/india/news/us-may-press-india-to-amend-nuclear-legislation/454276/

November 2, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics international, USA