PAR-2NDLD NUCLEAR 2LST

The Committee also recommended that the operator, which
will be Indian government entity as per the present laws,
"must secure his interest through appropriate provisions in
the contract with the supplier."
"Even though the supplier is liable to the operator as per
Clause 17(A), (B) and (C) of the Bill, the Committee
recommends that if a written contract between the operator and
the supplier provides for the right to recourse, the operator
may, after compensating the victims, exercise the right of
recourse against the supplier in accordance with the
provisions of the contract," the report said.
Agreeing with the view of experts who deposed before it,
the Committee noted that the compensation, which has been
capped at Rs 500 crore in the original bill, "seems to be
inadequate" keeping in view the disastrous effects of a
nuclear incident and the consequent loss or injury to life,
damage to property, economic loss and cost of measures for
reinstatement of the damages to the environment.
"The Committee, after considering the issue feels that the
principle of no fault/strict liability of the operator should
be explicitly stated in the Bill and the amount of liability
of the operator should be Rs 1500 crore," the report said.
It felt that a lower amount may result in the operator
marginalising the issue of safety and security of the nuclear
power plant, which may lead to an accident.
"Since the operator holds a no-fault liability and is
being held responsible for a nuclear incident, the Committee
is of the opinion that it should bear a substantial cost of
payment of compensation for the nuclear incident," it said.
It observed that the definition of the term 'operator' as
provided in Clause 2(1) of the Bill is "not clear".
The Committee recommended that the clause may be modified
as "Operator, in relation to a nuclear installation, means the
person designated by the Central government as per Section
3(A) of the Atomic Energy act, 1962 as the operator of that
installation."
It wants modification of Clause 6(1) of the Bill which
talks about the limit of liability in respect of each nuclear
incident.
Clause 6(1) in the original bill says "the maximum amount
of liability in respect of each nuclear incident shall be the
rupee equivalent of three hundred million Special Drawing
Rights'.
With regard to appointment of Chairperson and members of
the Nuclear Damage Claims Commission (NDCC), the Committee
said it should not be done by the committee of bureaucrats as
provided in the bill but by the central government by "any
other credible mechanism".
It also recommended that the victims shall have right to
appeal to the High Court and Supreme Court of they are not
satisfied with the award given by the Claims Commissioner or
Nuclear Damage Claims Commission. PTI SKU
KAB


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