Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Shri Prithviraj Chavan has asserted that the Civil Liability for Nuclear Bill 2010 was prepared based on set of internationally accepted principles in the civil liability jurisprudence. Speaking at an interactive meeting with industry captains at Indian Merchants’ Chambers (IMC) in Mumbai this morning, Shri Chavan tried to allay fear that the liability imposed in case of nuclear accidents would deter industry from investing in the nuclear energy sector. The Union Minister asserted that the victims in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy had to run from pillar to post because there was no legislation at that time.
Shri Chavan said the compensation related problems, as they happened in Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, would not be repeated. He said the government would appoint a Commissioner in small compensation related cases and a Commission in case of large accident related compensations. Moreover, litigation would not be allowed so that the compensation process can be given immediately. Shri Chavan said that though the amount of compensation could be any amount but the liability of the operator would be limited to a maximum of 1500 crore or $300 mn. As per international convention, Rs. 2100 crore would be taken through Special Drawing Rights (SDR) while the government would pay the compensation amount over and above this amount. He said the operator could claim insurance amount from suppliers after having paid the victims.
Shri Chavan allayed the impression that the bill has been brought to accommodate interests of American Companies saying that the government was talking to four companies viz French Areva, Russian, and two Japanese companies, GE-Hitachi and Westinghouse so the question of appeasing to interests of US-based companies did not arise. The minister also clarified that the operator of nuclear power projects would be government - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Indian private companies could be minority stakeholders whereas the foreign companies would be taken as suppliers only.
Shri Chavan also said that the government operator would not award any turnkey projects; rather it would source components from suppliers, both Indian and Foreign. The design for the projects would have to be approved by national regulator and NPCIL. He also clarified that the government operator would not be able to claim sovereign immunity in case of a nuclear accident. Moreover, the government and private suppliers would be treated on the same footing. The Union Minister said that the suppliers would have to ensure that the cost of the electrical power was equal to the power produced from conventional energy sources.
Highlighting the process of passing the bill in Parliament, Shri Chavan said that this bill had economic, technical, legal and political angles. He said the government did not have majority in the upper house and hence consensus had to be built among the parties in the coalition and also with opposition parties. He said that this bill offered a template for other bills especially finance sector related and land acquisition bills, which are before Parliament.
Stressing the importance of nuclear energy, the Union Minister asserted that if were to sustain the current rate of growth then the present installed capacity of 1,64,000 MW needed to be quadrupled by 2030. He said the nuclear energy along with hydel and solar energy had zero carbon foot print, which was in keeping with environment related concerns all over the world. He said that the nuclear energy was seeing a kind of renaissance the world over and there have been no accidents in last 25 years.