SYED SULTAN MOHIDDIN argues against the passage of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, appeals to the right-thinking people to mobilise public opinion against it, and calls upon the Manmohan Singh government to dump the Bill.
This cartoon was published by The Hindu on March 16. Just a day before, the UPA government, at the last minute, had deferred the introduction of the “Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010” in the Lok Sabha. While depicting the event in his artistic work, the cartoonist has left it to the imagination of the readers – whether it was a tactical retreat by the government owing to a stiff opposition by various political parties – or was it a belated realisation – that it is difficult to push through the Bill in its present form. Given the pressure exerted by the U.S. administration on the Manmohan Singh government to pass the Bill without delay, it remains to be seen how long the UPA government could hold up the American demands.
The U.S. had made a precondition that India must remove all liabilities on its nuclear equipment suppliers by passing a suitable legislation in its Parliament…before it delivers on its promises in the India-U.S. Nuclear Deal. This bill was meant to address specific American concerns, by providing immunity to American nuclear plant suppliers from any victim-related litigation in the event of a nuclear accident.
The opposition to the Bill at this stage is related more to the contents of the Bill rather than the need for such legislation. The Left parties have lambasted the Manmohan Singh government for its attempt to transfer the responsibility of compensating the potential victims of a nuclear disaster – from the supplier (in this case, the American companies) to the operator (Nuclear Power Corporation of India) and the Indian government and eventually, to the taxpayers in India.
The Bill was an outcome of the Manmohan Singh government’s commitment to the United States to purchase 10,000 MWe reactors. Dr. Manmohan Singh seems to be very anxious to discharge the hidden agenda by enacting the Bill, before he meets President Obama in April this year. The Prime Minister in his ecstasy of the newfound love with the United States is unmindful to the fact that, the proposed Bill safeguards the interests of the United States at the expense of the safety of the Indian people. What is more shocking is the way the UPA government is kneeling down to the U.S. dictates. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Robert Blake had the audacity to say that “…we are hoping to see action on nuclear liability legislation that would reduce liability for American companies and allow them to invest in India.” The American nuclear power plant manufacturing companies like General Electric, Areva, Westinghouse, and Rosatom Corp, have been eyeing the Rs.60,000-crore plus market in India for the next 5-10 years.
WHAT THE BILL SAYS?
● The Government of India, after receiving the nuclear reactors supplied by the U.S. companies, will operate them through its “operator” – the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The financial liability for a nuclear accident will be capped at only 300 million SDRs (Rs.2142.85 crore). Out of this, the liability of NPCIL to compensate the victims is limited to Rs.500 crore. The difference between the two, i.e. Rs.2,142.85 and Rs.500 crore, of about Rs.1,642 crore – is the government’s share of liability. Beyond this, the affected people will not get any compensation for either loss of life, health or damages to property or environment.
How preposterous! The Bhopal settlement of $470 million (Rs.2,152 crore) reached between the central government and Union Carbide Corp following the 1984 disaster and accepted by the Supreme Court had proven to be totally inadequate. A nuclear accident would be much more disastrous than the Bhopal gas leak. After the nuclear accident in Three Mile Island in 1979, it had cost $ 1 billion for cleaning up operations that lasted 14 years. At today’s price, a similar disaster might cost more than $ 5 billion for “clean up” alone. Therefore capping the liability to just about Rs.2200 is nonsensical. The US equivalent law (Price Anderson Act) to our proposed CLNDB lays down $10 billion (around Rs.70,000 crore) as the maximum liability. In Germany, the liability for a nuclear accident is “limitless”.
● The supplier (American companies), even if guilty of a nuclear accident, will be immune from any victim-initiated civil suit or criminal proceedings in India or abroad. Even if there was a manufacturing defect that would cause a nuclear accident affecting the lives of lakhs of people, there would be no liability for the supplier. The Bill not only allows US companies to go scot-free in case of a nuclear mishap but also uses Indian taxpayers’ money to pay for the damages. This is nothing but a huge hidden subsidy to the U.S. equipment suppliers at the expense of people’s money.
● Indian courts will have no role to play since all nuclear damage claims will be dealt with by a “Nuclear damage Claims Commissioner” whose verdict will be “final” and cannot be appealed in any court. This Bill seeks to bypass even the Supreme Court judgements which have clearly laid down that – in case of accidents in plants engaged in hazardous activities that pose potential threat to the health and safety of persons, such enterprises owe an absolute and non-delegable duty to sufficiently compensate the victims. On the contrary, the proposed Bill seeks to limit the liability. It also compromised on the right of a citizen to go to court for adequate compensation.
● All compensation claims will be “time barred” after 10 years, i.e., they cannot be claimed after 10 years. This is bizarre…because, in any nuclear accident the after effects could be seen for generations to come. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, even six decades after the nuclear attack people are suffering with genetic defects.
The Russians and the French are doing nuclear business with India without demanding this kind of legislation. The Manmohan Singh government lacks the gumption to say to the Americans that – the interests of one-billion Indians cannot be jeopardised to safeguard the U.S. nuclear industry. All the right-thinking people in the country should mobilise public opinion against the Bill, until the UPA government dumps the idea of passing this harmful piece of legislation.