nuclear-news

Conflict of interest in India’s nuclear regulation

 In India, all Indian nuclear plants are in the public sector and so are the agencies that exercise regulatory functions and promotional responsibilities. In this situation, conflict of interest between regulation and promotion is inevitable.

How Fukushima is relevant to Kudankulam, THE HINDU, T. N. SRINIVASAN, T. S. GOPI RETHINARAJ, SURYA SETHI, 8 March 12, “……REGULATORY INDEPENDENCE The Fukushima accident highlighted the need for the independence of regulators from plant operators. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has long been criticised for being subservient to DAE, the promoting organisation for nuclear power.

After Fukushima, the establishment of a truly independent regulator has been promised.
Currently, institutional deficiencies are structurally inbuilt and hard to eliminate. If they remain, the credibility and autonomy of the regulator cannot be ensured. Historically, nuclear policymaking in India was not transparent and involved only a handful of people in the
government.

The DAE has exploited this arrangement. Unfortunately, the
political leadership left the operational aspects of nuclear affairs
entirely to DAE without creating any institutional mechanism for
independent technical and policy advice on civilian as well as
military aspects.

A glaring example of DAE’s misuse of the Atomic Energy Act to escape
the scrutiny of regulator and courts over public safety concerns came
in the wake of the still unpublished 1996 AERB report. The report is
believed to have exposed how DAE had turned regulation into a farce
because of the cosy arrangement between the regulators and the
regulated. In India, all Indian nuclear plants are in the public
sector and so are the agencies that exercise regulatory functions and
promotional responsibilities. In this situation, conflict of interest
between regulation and promotion is inevitable. Their separation and
the creation of a statutory body for regulation are essential …..”
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2971209.ece?homepage=true

March 8, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties