Indian nuclear power legislation stalled

The Indian government was planning to put through legislation that would have capped liability payouts at US$ 65 million for private companies, and would limit the government’s liability to US$ 385 million and mandate that all claims be presented within 10 years. However, in the face of enormous opposition they were forced to withdraw the legislation.

US reactor builders and operators had virtually seen it as a prerequisite that liability payouts by foreign operators in the event of a nuclear disaster on Indian soil should be capped, before they entered into any agreements. Without this liability law, US firms will not get insurance cover to operate their projects in the country.

The Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008 opened the way for India’s civil nuclear power programme. Under the agreement, India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear installations and place its civil installations under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. In return, America agreed to fully co-operate with their civil nuclear programme. Since the agreement was made, French and Russian companies have already made deals to build nuclear plants in India; Vladimir Putin signed a deal in New Delhi to build up to 16 new reactors on three sites last week.

However, opposition leaders had presented the bill as an attempt to safeguard American interests at the expense of Indian citizens.

After the horrendous events in Bhopal in 1984, when the American-owned Union Carbide plant released a poisonous gas cloud which killed 8000 people and left thousands more disabled, it is perhaps unsurprising that this bill should meet such opposition. The liabilities in the Bhopal case were fixed at US$ 470 million, which is significantly higher than the US$ 65 million that this bill would have capped nuclear liabilities at.

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