["India has quietly skirted this provision [of nuclear liability] with Russia by insuring Moscow's reactors without, in effect, charging any premiums -- resulting in Indian taxpayers bearing the entire cost of any potential damages because of the liability law." That's something entirely new! The issue is how credible?
The Koodankuam reactors 1 & 2 remained very much outside the purview of the said liability Act, as these were (deemed to be) supplied under an agreement signed between India and (still existing "Socialist") USSR. (That's why Prakash Karat, in a great show of logical gymnastics, supported the supply of Koodankulam 1 & 2 but refused to do so for any subsequent Koodankulam reactors. Anyway, that's just an aside.) The last time we had heard of Koodankulam 3 & 4 is this: "Russia too is reported to have communicated an "in principle" nod to the Indian nuclear liability law, ***paving the way for signing a contract for the setting up the third and fourth units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project*** [emphasis added]." That means the "contract" is yet to be signed. As regards insurance in the context of liability Act: <http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nuclear-liability-centre-asks-gic-to-work-on-insurance-plan-for-reactors/498960-3.html>. What, however, is more important that there is again keen anticipation of the liability Act being tweaked. (If weak-kneed Manmohan had failed, the macho man Modi will deliver!) Of course, this is not the first time such expectation are being aired. But we've got to be on our toes.] http://www.telegraphindia.com/1141017/jsp/nation/story_18935579.jsp#.VEEHx3DYaYI.gmail Private firms to join US nuke talks CHARU SUDAN KASTURI *New Delhi, Oct. 16: *India and the US are for the first time inducting private nuclear firms in diplomatic talks on the controversial liability law, offering the clearest hint yet of Delhi's new flexibility on resolving a dispute critical to bilateral ties. The inclusion of Indian manufacturers in the talks with the US signals a previously unseen recognition from Delhi that its liability law may need amending because it hurts not just foreign companies but domestic firms too. Indian firms such as Larsen and Toubro, involved in manufacturing nuclear components, have, like their foreign counterparts, been critical of the country's liability regime, far more stringent on suppliers than any other international nuclear safety law. The government has so far refused to even contemplate tweaking India's laws amid fears of allegations of capitulating to overseas pressure. The decision to include private nuclear firms from both countries in the talks was taken during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Washington, said senior officials from both countries who independently detailed key elements of the plan to *The Telegraph*. "We see this as a definite, significant move forward on solving this problem that has basically kept the Indo-US nuclear deal stillborn," a US official said. "After years, we're possibly finally headed in the right direction." The dispute revolves around provisions -- in India's 2010 nuclear liability law -- that effectively expose nuclear suppliers to unlimited damages in the event of an accident. India has quietly skirted this provision with Russia by insuring Moscow's reactors without, in effect, charging any premiums -- resulting in Indian taxpayers bearing the entire cost of any potential damages because of the liability law. But while that slightly underhand strategy worked with Russia -- where the nuclear agency is publicly owned -- finding a similar solution without tweaking the liability law is a lot harder with the US. American nuclear firms Westinghouse and General Electric, which are interested in selling reactors to India, are privately owned, and depend on credit ratings that in turn hinge on their publicly known exposure to accident damages. Any move by the government to agree to amend even widely accepted flaws in the liability law is, however, a political risk. Opposition parties are likely to portray the move as the Modi government buckling under US pressure. The new round of talks presents a way out. These will not be called bilateral negotiations, but the deliberations of an expert "group", officials said, a formulation that will allow the panel's recommendations to appear bipartisan, raising their political acceptability, especially in India. Officials from the ministry of external affairs, the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and private Indian firms like L&T will be the Indian members on the panel. The US will be represented by officials from the state department, the department of energy, Westinghouse and GE. Modi had hinted at his personal desire to achieve a breakthrough in talks that have stalled over India's liability law in New York, where he met Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE. "The Prime Minister told the GE CEO that he had a personal interest in breaking the logjam because one of the nuclear plants is coming up in his home state Gujarat," an official present at the meeting between Modi and Immelt said. Mithi Virdi in Gujarat is one of the sites picked by Westinghouse to set up what would be India's single largest nuclear power plant -- if the dispute is resolved. The panel, officials said, will be set up this month and will meet by early November. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
