Indian government to ratify Convention on Supplier Compensation (CSC) at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna
Q. India is set to ratify the Vienna convention on supplementary compensation (CSC) for nuclear damage. It states that- Published on 09 Feb 16a. Nuclear reactor manufacturers are responsible for any accidents happening
b. Nuclear reactor operators are responsible for any accidents happening
c. Nuclear reactor parts suppliers are responsible for any accidents happening
d. Uranium suppliers are responsible for any accidents happening
ANSWER: Nuclear reactor operators are responsible for any accidents happening
- 2010 domestic liability law that makes equipment suppliers accountable for accidents and not the plant operators, as is the global norm had kept investors away.
- Although a national law alone, in conformity with established international norms, would have been sufficient to assure international suppliers, because of the additional benefits conferred by the CSC to its members, India has chosen to adhere to this convention.
- The CSC will give India access to international funding, beyond those available through national resources, to pay for damages in the event of a nuclear accident.
- The CSC is a free standing international nuclear liability regime supplementing/complementing two other international nuclear liability regimes – the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (Vienna Convention), and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy (Paris Convention).
- After the agreement between India and the United States in 2008 on civilian nuclear cooperation, Delhi had to put in place a nuclear liability regime as per international norms. Until then, it was simply assumed that any nuclear accident in India would be compensated for by the government.
- However, India’s nuclear liability law ran afoul of international custom of making the operator solely responsible financially for any accident. A few days after the 2010 Civil Liabilities for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) was passed, India signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC). This convention provided additional funds to victims in case the damage from a nuclear accident is more than the national liability cap. However, the CSC also demands that the operator be the sole entity held responsible for a nuclear mishap and is thus in contradiction to Indian law.
