Latest news with #CivilLiabilityforNuclearDamage
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
India plans overhaul of atomic energy laws to attract private investment, address supplier liability
India is considering a total recast of laws governing atomic energy, including the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, said people familiar with the matter. In particular, the revamp will seek to address the open-ended liability of suppliers under the current law as the Centre seeks to rope in private investment. India aims to expand its nuclear energy capacity to 35-40 GW by 2035 and 100 GW by 2047. Policymakers are of the view that the laws require changes if the target is to be met. India currently has 22 operating reactors, with an installed capacity of 6,780 MW. 'Instead of multiple piecemeal changes, there is a thinking that the laws be rewritten completely,' said one of the persons cited. The Atomic Energy and CLND Acts were introduced in the context of a state-owned nuclear thrust. Now, however, 'The idea is to encourage private sector participation and not discourage it,' the person added. The liability law, envisaged as a safeguard against fallout after any accident, has been a long-standing concern of potential investors. A more viable framework Currently, Section 6(1) of the CLND Act caps the total liability for each nuclear incident at 300 million special drawing rights, a reserve asset defined by the International Monetary Fund and equivalent currently to ₹3,700 crore. Section 6(2) sets the operator's maximum liability at ₹1,500 crore. But suppliers' worries stem from Section 17, which allows for a potentially large liability. This states that the operator will have recourse to liability claims where 'the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employee, which includes supply of equipment or material with latent defects of substandard services.' This imposes unlimited liability on a supplier, said one of the persons cited. 'A supplier may be sourcing or subcontracting various inputs from other suppliers,' the person said. 'Besides, a plant has several components and so liability cannot be that of a single supplier.' According to ongoing deliberations, the liability of a supplier to a nuclear operator would be capped at a certain defined value. Some liability beyond that amount would likely be assumed by the government, said a third person. Draft in making A nuclear fund could be created as proposed in the current CLND, but with a more defined contribution from the operator that could be based on each unit of power generated. 'Hectic drafting exercise is on, along with discussions,' the person said. 'These would also be discussed with stakeholders before being put up for the Cabinet nod.' The government is keen to get the legislation through the Parliament in the current calendar year, he added. An inter-ministerial committee is firming up changes to the framework. The proposed recast would also take into account global best practices and conventions to which India is a signatory. While India has signed the Convention of Supplementary Compensation (CSC), it's yet to ratify the accord.>
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Nuke law recast expected to cap supplier liability
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A More Viable Framework Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Draft in Making India is considering a total recast of laws governing atomic energy , including the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, said people familiar with the matter. In particular, the revamp will seek to address the open-ended liability of suppliers under the current law as the Centre seeks to rope in private aims to expand its nuclear energy capacity to 35-40 GW by 2035 and 100 GW by 2047. Policymakers are of the view that the laws require changes if the target is to be met. India currently has 22 operating reactors, with an installed capacity of 6,780 MW. 'Instead of multiple piecemeal changes, there is a thinking that the laws be rewritten completely,' said one of the persons Atomic Energy and CLND Acts were introduced in the context of a state-owned nuclear thrust. Now, however, 'The idea is to encourage private sector participation and not discourage it,' the person liability law, envisaged as a safeguard against fallout after any accident, has been a long-standing concern of potential Section 6(1) of the CLND Act caps the total liability for each nuclear incident at 300 million special drawing rights, a reserve asset defined by the International Monetary Fund and equivalent currently to Rs 3,700 6(2) sets the operator's maximum liability at Rs 1,500 suppliers' worries stem from Section 17, which allows for a potentially large liability. This states that the operator will have recourse to liability claims where 'the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employee, which includes supply of equipment or material with latent defects of substandard services.'This imposes unlimited liability on a supplier, said one of the persons cited.'A supplier may be sourcing or subcontracting various inputs from other suppliers,' the person said. 'Besides, a plant has several components and so liability cannot be that of a single supplier.'According to ongoing deliberations, the liability of a supplier to a nuclear operator would be capped at a certain defined value. Some liability beyond that amount would likely be assumed by the government, said a third person.A nuclear fund could be created as proposed in the current CLND, but with a more defined contribution from the operator that could be based on each unit of power generated.'Hectic drafting exercise is on, along with discussions,' the person said. 'These would also be discussed with stakeholders before being put up for the Cabinet nod.' The government is keen to get the legislation through the Parliament in the current calendar year, he added. An inter-ministerial committee is firming up changes to the proposed recast would also take into account global best practices and conventions to which India is a signatory. While India has signed the Convention of Supplementary Compensation (CSC), it's yet to ratify the accord.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Nuke law recast expected to cap supplier liability
India is considering a total recast of laws governing atomic energy , including the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, said people familiar with the matter. In particular, the revamp will seek to address the open-ended liability of suppliers under the current law as the Centre seeks to rope in private investment. India aims to expand its nuclear energy capacity to 35-40 GW by 2035 and 100 GW by 2047. Policymakers are of the view that the laws require changes if the target is to be met. India currently has 22 operating reactors, with an installed capacity of 6,780 MW. 'Instead of multiple piecemeal changes, there is a thinking that the laws be rewritten completely,' said one of the persons cited. The Atomic Energy and CLND Acts were introduced in the context of a state-owned nuclear thrust. Now, however, 'The idea is to encourage private sector participation and not discourage it,' the person added. The liability law, envisaged as a safeguard against fallout after any accident, has been a long-standing concern of potential investors. A More Viable Framework Currently, Section 6(1) of the CLND Act caps the total liability for each nuclear incident at 300 million special drawing rights, a reserve asset defined by the International Monetary Fund and equivalent currently to Rs 3,700 crore. Section 6(2) sets the operator's maximum liability at Rs 1,500 crore. But suppliers' worries stem from Section 17, which allows for a potentially large liability. This states that the operator will have recourse to liability claims where 'the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employee, which includes supply of equipment or material with latent defects of substandard services.' This imposes unlimited liability on a supplier, said one of the persons cited. 'A supplier may be sourcing or subcontracting various inputs from other suppliers,' the person said. 'Besides, a plant has several components and so liability cannot be that of a single supplier.' According to ongoing deliberations, the liability of a supplier to a nuclear operator would be capped at a certain defined value. Some liability beyond that amount would likely be assumed by the government, said a third person. Draft in Making A nuclear fund could be created as proposed in the current CLND, but with a more defined contribution from the operator that could be based on each unit of power generated. 'Hectic drafting exercise is on, along with discussions,' the person said. 'These would also be discussed with stakeholders before being put up for the Cabinet nod.' The government is keen to get the legislation through the Parliament in the current calendar year, he added. An inter-ministerial committee is firming up changes to the framework. The proposed recast would also take into account global best practices and conventions to which India is a signatory. While India has signed the Convention of Supplementary Compensation (CSC), it's yet to ratify the accord.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Customised insurance in works for nuclear plants
India has started working on a specific insurance product for nuclear power plants as it looks to sharply expand commercial production of nuclear energy to 100 GW by 2047 from 8 GW currently. Such a product is critical to the government's decision to open the nuclear energy sector to private investment while covering nuclear incident risks. A dedicated team of experts under the guidance of stakeholder ministries have initiated talks with insurance companies and sector regulator Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for designing the product, a senior government official, aware of the deliberations, told ET. "Design of the insurance cover would be a key element for the development of the sector," the official said, adding the details are being worked out. The discussions are at a preliminary stage, he said, though noting that the new product is likely to prescribe a higher amount of operator's liability. It is also expected insurers could be allowed greater inspection access to nuclear power plants, the official said. The discussions are running parallel to those on changes to the Atomic Energy Act and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act . Robust insurance and risk management framework would be a key pillar of the proposed changes to the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her February budget speech that the two Acts would be amended to allow entry of private sector into nuclear energy. The Centre had in 2015 set up the India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) with General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC-re), and several other local insurers with a capacity of ₹1,500 crore to provide insurance to cover the liability under Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act 2010, both for operators as well as suppliers. A retired official of an insurance company said there is a need to relook the existing insurance pool (INIP) as it had failed to take off because of truncated coverage. "There were issues with accessibility to nuclear plants also, which needs to be addressed to firm up a comprehensive insurance cover for the sector," the official said.
