NEW DELHI, Sep 23: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads this week to the US on his maiden trip to the country after assuming office, the visit is unlikely to bring any major breakthrough in the nuclear energy sector as the Government is yet to find a solution to the liability issue.
Government sources said that apart from the Section 17(a), (b) and (c), US has raised queries over Clause 46 of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010, which could pose a new hindrance.
International as well as domestic suppliers are already wary of the Right to Recourse, but a leading domestic supplier recently also raised the issue of Clause 46. It said that insurance cover has to be taken for this clause along with Clause 17, which talks about Right to Recourse against the suppliers.
Section 46 of CLND Act says that, “The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force, and nothing contained herein shall exempt the operator from any proceedings which might, apart from this Act, be instituted against such operator.”
Sources also pointed out that it is not the first time that the US has drawn attention to the said clause, although India has not been able to resolve the issue.
“In India, any law that comes near Section 46 is the tort law. But it is unclear as to how much damage can be sought under this as the law is yet to be codified. The flip side is that the law is very stringent in the US, but not in India.
“At least, under the Right to Recourse, the insurance is limited to Rs 1500 crore, but in this case, it does not speak of any limit. More importantly, people as well as the judiciary have become more active and this may create an hindrance,” said a senior Government official.
To seek a solution to the liability issue, the Department of Atomic Energy and Ministry of Finance held a meeting and it was decided that the General Insurance Company should come up with an “insurance” product in this regard, but it is unlikely that a solution will be sought on the issue, sources added.
With suppliers raising concerns over certain aspects of the Nuclear Liability Act, DAE has decided to look into these worries to weed out “unnecessary liability”.
DAE had also formed two committees to find a middle path on the controversial issue keeping in mind the concerns of foreign firms and the Indian Atomic Industrial Forum (IAIF), of which NPCIL and companies that manufacture components for nuclear power plants are a part.
Last year, when the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the US, the two countries had reached the first commercial agreement on civilian nuclear power.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric of the US entered into an early contract to carry out a preliminary safety analysis for the proposed nuclear power plant at Chhaya Mithi Virdi in Gujarat. (PTI)
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