Govt ready to look into genuine issues on Nuke Bill

Sagar Kulkarni
New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Indian government is ready to
"look into" any genuine and sincere issues the opposition may
raise over the Nuclear Liability Bill which it wants to be
passed urgently, failing which the entire atomic power
generation programme would be delayed.
Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is
in-charge of India's Department of Atomic Energy, said the
country lacks a law under which compensation could be awarded
in the case of a nuclear accident.
This is particularly important considering the fact that
India is gearing up for a massive expansion of its
nuclear-power sector and is in talks with US, Russia and
France for setting of their reactors here.
"They (opposition parties) have the draft Bill. Let them
suggest, we will look at it," Chavan told PTI when asked
whether the government was ready to revisit the proposed
legislation in view of stiff opposition by Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) and the Left.
The two parties had forced the government to decide
against introduction of the Bill in Lok Sabha (Lower House of
Indian Parliament) on March 15.
The Opposition parties are objecting to the compensation
cap of Rs 500 crore on the operator and allege the government
is letting the foreign suppliers off-the-hook.
BJP also apprehends that through the legislation, the
government is trying to enable foreign private companies to
enter India's nuclear market.
On behalf of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon has already met
BJP leaders to clarify any doubts regarding the Bill.
Asked the reason for the urgency to get the Bill passed
by Parliament, Chavan said "the nuclear power programme will
be delayed" if the proposed legislation is deferred.
Official sources maintained the Bill had been drafted
after careful consideration of all aspects and studying such
laws prevalent in other countries.
The government wants the Bill to be tabled in Parliament
so that any genuine and sincere issues could be addressed,
either in the Standing Committee or during the debate.
"The Bill has been drafted after careful study of global
nuclear compensation conventions. Basic principle in all these
conventions is that there is strict liability on the operator
only," they said.
Officials said the Bill also secures the nuclear power
plant operator's right to recourse if a nuclear accident has
resulted from wilful act of gross negligence on part of the
supplier of the material or equipment or his services.
The BJP has been contending that since the government
would be the operator there should be no cap on compensation.
It also wants removal of the 10-year limit within which the
victim of an accident has to make the compensation claim.
The government maintains that these cannot be changed.
On the cap issue, the officials noted that compensation
limit is even lower in China as also in France.
The Bill proposes to make the operator liable for any
nuclear damage caused in a nuclear accident. It also seeks to
cap the compensation to be paid by an operator at Rs 500
crore.
The second tier of compensation amounting to Rs 2,100
crore is to be met by the Indian government. If more
compensation is to be paid, the government can tap into an
international fund set up under the Convention on
Supplementary Compensation (CSC) under the aegis of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The passage of the Bill is a pre-requisite for India to
be part of the CSC. PTI SKU
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