In Japan the suppliers of the Fukushima nuclear power plant have now been sued, roughly 3 years after the disaster, even if they're not legally "liable" for the disaster. Quote Under the nuclear damages compensation scheme, only plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been held responsible for the crisis. Unquote
India is the only country in the world where the relevant Act has provision for supplier's "liability" via "right of recourse" (ref.: clause 17 of the Act) of the plant operator - the NPCIL, a state body. (The Act was notified in the Gazette on Dec. 22 2010 (see: < http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/regionallanguages/THE%20CIVIL%20LIABILITY%20OF%20NUCLEAR%20DAMAGE%20ACT,2010.%20(38%20OF2010).pdf>) and is in force since then.) Under pressure from the American, Russian and French governments and the designated suppliers for nuclear reactors the Act has been considerably diluted while framing the Rules. Even that has not satisfied the suppliers. Hence there is an attempt to nullify the relevant provision of the Act through "interpretation" - sought and obtained from the AG, to the effect that it is up to the operator to waive off its "right of recourse". But doubts about its legal sustainability still haunt the suppliers. As a consequence, no contract for nuclear reactors from foreign suppliers have been finalised even more than 5 years after inking the Indo-US nuclear deal and consequent waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers Group ending India's exclusion from the global nuclear market, in place since 1974 nuclear explosion and further reinforced since another round of (5) explosions in May 1978. The Act provides that the limit of the financial liability of the "operator" for a single accident is 1,500 crore rupees (ref.: clause 6 (2 *) *(*a*)). Beyond that, the Central Government will be "liable" (ref.: cl. 7 (*I*) (*a*)) for a single accident up to rupee equivalent to three hundred million SDR (ref.: cl. 6 (*I*)), which works out to just short of 3,000 crore rupees at the current rate. Given the possible catastrophic character of a nuclear accident, as amply demonstrated by Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, and also other inhibiting factors e.g. high cost, intrinsically hazardous nature caused by ionising radiation, no fail-safe method for disposal of nuclear waste, difficulties in decommissioning outlived plants etc., quite a few countries have either rejected or have decided to phase out nuclear power. At the moment, China and India remain at the forefront of nuclear power expansion programme (ref.: < http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Others/Asia-s-Nuclear-Energy-Growth/ >). Sukla On 2 February 2014 07:29, <[email protected]> wrote: > This is the precise reason why the Indian Government should not enforce > the limited liability clause . The best way out would be to avoid nuclear > plants which manmohan singh still pursues . > Kareem > Sent from BSNL with my BlackBerry(R) smartphone > ------------------------------ > *From: * Sukla Sen <[email protected]> > *Sender: * [email protected] > *Date: *Sat, 1 Feb 2014 16:04:18 +0530 > *To: *IHRO<[email protected]>; issueonline< > [email protected]>; Indian< > [email protected]>; Janshakti<[email protected]>; > sacred-illusions<[email protected]>; bahujan< > [email protected]>; mahajanapada<[email protected]>; > indiathinkersnet<[email protected]>; > [email protected]<[email protected]>; > [email protected]<[email protected]>; > [email protected]<[email protected]>; > progressive-interactions<[email protected]>; > TheBecoming<[email protected]>; Post WSFDiscuss< > [email protected]> > *ReplyTo: * [email protected] > *Subject: *[progressive interactions31183] Firms that made No. 1 plant > sued: 1,400 plaintiffs want Toshiba, GE, Hitachi blamed for meltdowns > > > http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/31/national/firms-that-made-no-1-plant-sued/#.UuwEfH4o5aQ > > > > Firms that made No. 1 plant sued > > 1,400 plaintiffs want Toshiba, GE, Hitachi blamed for meltdowns > > by Mari Yamaguchi > > AP > > > Jan 31, 2014 > Article history > > Some 1,400 people have filed a joint lawsuit against three companies that > manufactured the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, saying they should be > financially liable for damage caused by its 2011 meltdowns. > > Lawyers for the plaintiffs said that the lawsuit, filed Thursday at the > Tokyo District Court, is a landmark challenge of current regulations that > give manufacturers immunity from liability in nuclear accidents. > > Under the nuclear damages compensation scheme, only plant operator Tokyo > Electric Power Co. has been held responsible for the crisis. > > The plaintiffs, which include 38 Fukushima residents and nearly 400 others > from around the world, argue that Toshiba, GE and Hitachi failed to make > needed safety improvements to the four-decade-old reactors at the Fukushima > plant. They are seeking compensation of ¥100 each, saying the idea is to > raise awareness of the problem. > > All three companies declined comment on the lawsuit. > > Akihiro Shima, a head lawyer for the group, said the manufacturers so far > have not been held responsible "and their names are not even mentioned." > The lawsuit is intended to bring attention to the problems of the system > that is also protecting the nuclear industry around the world, he said. > > Several accident investigation reports, including one published by a > Diet-appointed panel, have generally agreed that the tsunami of March 11, > 2011, was the primary cause of the disaster, but also criticized Tepco's > underestimation of tsunami damage and collusion between regulators and the > industry. > > Fukushima No. 1 has largely been stabilized since the accident, but Tepco > continues to struggle with massive amounts of contaminated water leaks. The > decommissioning of four reactors, including three with melted cores, is > unprecedented in terms of its extent and complexity, and could take decades. > > The four reactors all started running in the 1970s. Reactor 1 was built by > GE, reactor 3 by Toshiba and reactor 4 by Hitachi. Reactor 2 was a > GE-Toshiba joint project. > > __ > -- > Peace Is Doable > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Progressive interactions" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]. > Visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/progressive-interactions. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Progressive interactions" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]. > Visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/progressive-interactions. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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