In the second part of a three-part series, Manoj Kumar and Lydia Powell, in an Observer Research Foundation study, discuss at length the various loopholes in the Nuclear Liability Bill, whose amended version was recently passed by the Lok Sabha.
Former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board chairman Dr A Gopalakrishnan makes a case against the nuclear liability bill.
Pitching for enactment of a law to fix civil damages caused by nuclear accidents, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee said neither the Indian Environmental Protection Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, nor the Indian Atomic Energy Act had provisions for damages caused due to war or radioactivity.
The government is understood to be considering changes in the nuclear liability bill, including a proposal to drop a crucial clause that would compel a foreign nuclear supplier to provide for compensation in case of accidents due to wilful action or gross negligence.
One of the biggest myths being propagated is that nuclear cooperation with the US is the answer to India's energy crisis, which in any case would not see the light of the day before 2016. Also Indian Parliament and citizens have been kept in dark about the cost of electricity from foreign-built nuclear power reactors.
In a significant message to the business lobby in Washington, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill.The move will encourage the nuclear power plant manufacturing companies, which have been eyeing the Rs 60,000-crore plus market in India, for the next 5-10 years. According to sources, the government will fix the civil liability at approximately Rs 2,400 crore for the manufacturers.
"India has ratified Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) but its provisions have not been complied with. It is yet to ratify ILO's Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 which is concerning Prevention and Control of Occupational Hazards caused by Carcinogenic Substances.
The US said on Wednesday that the Indian Parliament needed to act upon the "critical" nuclear liability bill to take forward the Indo-American nuclear deal, which had reached "almost the finishing line".
While terming the Nuclear Liability Bill as beneficial for the country's atomic power generation, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said it wanted the bill to be vetted by a select committee of all parties before it is introduced in Parliament as it has several loopholes.
India's Civil Nuclear Liability Bill will not have an immediate adverse impact on Indo-Russian cooperation in atomic power generation, but Russian contractors would not like to see safety issues raise their project costs. Director for the Centre of Energy and Security Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Nuclear Club magazine Anton Khlopkov said the legislation passed by the Indian Parliament "is raising concerns in Russia".
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bhopal tragedy have brought back into focus the issue of industrial accidents, contractual liabilities and questions of operator liability, notes Manoj Kumar and Lydia Powell in an Observer Research Foundation study, which will be published in a three-part series. Here goes the first part:
Ending months of wrangling between treasury benches and the opposition, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the civil nuclear liability bill after government dropped the contentious provision of 'intent' in the case of accident adopting a Bharatiya Janata Party amendment, paving the way for nuclear commerce with the world.
After agreeing with the Congress on changes in the Nuclear Liability Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday opposed an amendment carried out in the final report of the Standing Committee, saying it dilutes provisions relating to supplier's obligations in case of an accident. The party has made it clear that if the government does not drop its proposed amendment, which it considers as harmful, it would itself move an amendment.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's meeting with BJP top brass L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Tuesday ended on a positive note with both sides reaching a consensus on most issues in the draft bill.The Parliamentary Standing Committee finalised its report on Nuclear Liability Bill. The Compensation cap raised from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,500 crore.
The Parliamentary committee examining the controversial nuclear liability bill is expediting work to enable submission of its report to the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session that begins on July 26.
The United States has said that India is committed to the Nuclear Liabilities Bill and it was up to the United Progressive Alliance government to figure out how to move forward in the wake of the Opposition's objections to some aspects of the controversial legislation.The stalled bill, whose passage in Parliament is a must, is a crucial step for the full implementation of the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
Paving the way for India to have nuclear commerce with the world, Parliament on Monday adopted a nuclear liability bill with the government insisting that the compensation package for victims matches that of the United States and it was still open to accommodate some suggestions.
Bowing to pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties, government on Friday dropped a controversial addition in the civil nuclear liability bill which the Opposition said diluted the liability of suppliers for accidents caused by their negligence.
The clause 17 (b) proposes that the operator would have legal recourse if a nuclear accident results from the "willful act or gross negligence on the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services, or of his employee."
The government refuted the charge that the Nuclear Liability Bill was being brought under foreign pressure and said it is willing to refer the measure to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for scrutiny on Thursday.
While the cap on liability is lower than in several other countries, few producers, including those in India, will supply nuclear power equipment without such a bill -- raising the caps is an obvious solution.
After introducing the controversial nuclear liability bill in the Lok Sabha amid opposition protests, the government on Friday said it hopes to bring it for consideration in the Monsoon session of Parliament.
As part of government's efforts to reach out to the Bharatiya Janata Party over the nuclear liability bill, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon met senior leaders of the main opposition party on Wednesday, to allay their apprehensions but failed to convince them.
Former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman P K Iyengar on Wednesday raised a red flag over certain provisions of the nuclear liability bill, including keeping civil courts off limits in case of a nuclear accident.
The Civil Nuclear Liability Bill is likely to come up for consideration in Parliament on Wednesday
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) told Business Standard that National Security Advisor (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon will meet top leaders of the BJP and the CPI(M) to explain the salient features of the Bill.
The much-debated Nuclear Liability Bill, crucial for operationalising the India-US civil nuclear deal, would be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 15, Minister of State for Atomic Energy Prithviraj Chavan has said.
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology T Subbirami Reddy on Friday voiced confidence that the report on the nuclear liability bill will be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, despite differences among members.
The Rs 500 crore cap in the event of an accident, proposed in the controversial nuclear liability bill, could be raised as part of government's efforts to address concerns of the opposition over the issue. Indications to this effect were given by government officials at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology and Environment on Tuesady.
United States has said it is looking at India to see what changes can be made in certain provisions in the Nuclear Liability Bill, which was recently passed by the Parliament.
Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is in-charge of Department of Atomic Energy, said the country lacks a law under which compensation could be awarded in the case of a nuclear accident.
The Nuclear Liability Bill will be taken up in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the day Parliament will resume after a three-day recess. Government sources said that the bill, to which the Union Cabinet had on Friday approved 18 changes as per the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, would be brought in the Lower House. The changes included a three-fold hike in the liability from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,500 crore.
The one message that the Congress party wants the Prime Minister's Office to take heed of, following the tumultuous first phase of this year's Budget session, is that the PMO should be more helpful in facilitating political management for the party.Despite the government bending over backwards to explain that the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages bill was a mandatory legislation -- no matter which country India wanted to engage with in is unconvinced.
The India-US nuclear deal was aimed at ending India's nuclear isolation and nuclear apartheid, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
Neither the United States government nor its powerful business lobby is likely to embrace the Indian law, which imposes unprecedented liability on the suppliers for 80 years, says TP Sreenivasan
India, on Sunday, categorically ruled out any change in the Nuclear Liability Act as a precursor to United States President Barack Obama's maiden visit to India that begins on November 5.
There is an urgent need for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the current liability regime besides a high-powered trans-disciplinary independent experts committee to study the issue, says Gopal Krishna.
Roemer also said that the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 would benefit both US and India."The passing of the bill by the Indian parliament would mean a win-win situation for both the countries", he said, while adding, "generating employment as well as giving India abundant clean energy." He said, "I am sure it is a very good story for both the countries."
Greenpeace has also launched a petition addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which the organisation claims has been signed by over 21,000 people.
The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday has not ended the problems of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
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