Nuclear Civil Liability..... It Is Imminent

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On April 22, the government in Rajya Sabha, came forward to enhancing the compensation to the affected because of any nuclear mishap but without any success.
The major objections to the bill are : (1). There is no liability on the part of the supplier of equipment or technology to the operator (2). Hence, the bill favours suppliers, mostly American companies. (3) The limit of Rs. 500 crores as compensation by the operator is too low and (4). The limit of 10 years for seeking compensation is too low.
Similar terms have been agreed upon by most other countries using nuclear technology except the US where the compensation amount is about 10 billion dollars contributed by the common corpus of operators. Canada and China have much lower limits compared to the bill in question.
Regarding the first objection, according to the government, agreement by the operator with the supplier can include any such clause but as the government agencies are themselves operators, the government itself may ignore it when the time comes.
Regarding favour to American companies, we are interested in passing the bill in our own interest as our needs for energy are increasing day by day without any meaningful increase in its output. About two decades ago, we decided to go for our own cryogenic engine and we have produced it. If, at that time we were serious energy requirements, we could have developed our own technology to harness thorium as a source of energy. Then there would be no need for the bill or the debate about it. We have definitely missed the bus and made a mess of the situation.
However, the limit of 10 years is really confusing. The government knows that the effects of damage caused by a nuclear disaster can be seen even two generations later. Therefore, the clause should be suitably amended. The amount of compensation may never be enough in case of any hazard because can not buy health, life and peace of mind. Besides, we cant even imagine the magnitude of disaster if it strikes. But as we know that probability of such mishap is very very low, let us hope for the best. The bill need to be passed.

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