The government on Tuesday announced that small component suppliers in the nuclear energy sector will not have “obligation” if there is any liability, a step which comes as a huge relief to the industr
The government on Tuesday announced that small component suppliers in the nuclear energy sector will not have “obligation” if there is any liability, a step which comes as a huge relief to the industry.
However, at the same time it said that major suppliers, for instance companies building the reactors, will not be absolved if there is such an eventuality. India is also looking at approaching foreign market as the domestic banks are not equipped to grant huge amounts of loan required to build an atomic reactor.
“Suppliers (who) are involved whether it is Indian or theirs (foreign)... then we will mention it in the contract that they will have no obligation (in case of any liability) as ultimately it is we who are designing, fabricating, constructing, commissioning,” Department of Atomic Energy secretary Shekhar Basu said while speaking at a nuclear energy conclave organised by the India Energy Forum.
“Indian reactors are designed, fabricated, quality-assured, erected, commissioned under our supervision. So, there is no point in calling somebody else a supplier. Because whatever he has supplied and whatever he has made is as per our requirement. So, we are responsible for that and this has to come in the document by which we will be doing the purchase or get the item fabricated,” he said.
Mr Basu, who is also the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, however, added that companies building the reactor will not be absolved under this.
“On the foreign front, suppliers have to take the insurance of Rs 1,500 crore. I am told, for five years it is not much and it is around Rs 50-70 crores. Its a small fraction in comparison to the cost of the reactors and if you are taking multiple reactors, the cost remains the same,” he added.
The decision comes as a major relief to small suppliers, mostly Indian companies, which had been complaining about the stringent provisions of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act 2010, which held suppliers responsible in case of any accident.
