India ratifies key international convention on nuclear accident compensation

India ratifies key international convention on nuclear accident compensation

The ratification makes India part of a global legal regime that has established a standard for compensation of victims in the event of a nuclear accident

Clearing the decks for US and other foreign companies to invest in its potentially vast nuclear energy market, India ratified an international convention on nuclear energy accident liability, seen as the final piece in its efforts to address a major concern of foreign nuclear suppliers.

Clearing the decks for US and other foreign companies to invest in its potentially vast nuclear energy market, India ratified an international convention on nuclear energy accident liability, seen as the final piece in its efforts to address a major concern of foreign nuclear suppliers.

A statement from the Indian foreign ministry late on Thursday said India has submitted the Instrument of Ratification of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for Nuclear Damage to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This makes India part of a global legal regime that has established a standard for compensation of victims in the event of a nuclear accident.

Ambassador and permanent representative of India to the United Nations (Vienna), Rajiva Misra, handed over the Instrument of Ratification to acting director general of IAEA Juan Carlos Lentijo in Vienna on Thursday, a statement said.

International nuclear reactor makers such as General Electric have been reluctant to set up plants in India because of a 2010 domestic liability law that makes equipment suppliers accountable for accidents and not the plant operators, as is the global norm.

Last year, India launched an insurance pool with a liability cap of Rs.1,500 crore ($225 million) to cover the suppliers’ risk of potential liability.

“This marks a conclusive step in the addressing of issues related to civil nuclear liability in India,” the foreign ministry said after the document was handed to IAEA in Vienna.

India has signed a preliminary “early works agreement” with US equipment manufacturer Westinghouse Electric Co. Llc in 2013, following the conclusion of the landmark India-US nuclear agreement in 2008 that gave India the opportunity to enter the global nuclear scene after a gap of 34 years. But no US company has been willing to invest in India’s nuclear power market for fear of the liability clause in its domestic law.

India has plans to construct many nuclear power plants to fuel its economic growth. The size of the Indian nuclear power market is estimated at $150 billion by various accounts.

Russia is building six reactors in southern India and is in talks for another six.

During the just concluded visit by French president Francois Hollande, India and France signed a reworked pact to build six nuclear plants at Jaitapur in Mahararashtra.