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usiness
Today
The Resource Centre
Date: 14/09/2014 Page
No: 20 Location:
Main
Circulation: 185000
Edition: National
F O U S N u c l e ar P o w e r
Powering Up:The
Kudankulam Atomic Power
Plant
in Tamil Nadu
INDIA'S
INSTALLED
NUCLEAR
CAPACITY IS
5 780
W
Big
Liability
I n d i a i s c l o s e t o
c l i n c h i n g
i t s c i v i l n u c l e a r d e a l w i t h J a p a n ,
b u t i t s l a w o n n u c l e a r d a m a g e s r e m a i n s
a
h u r d l e
f o r
i n v e s t o r s . y
A N I L E S H S M A H A J A N
E
xternal
Affairs
Minister Sushma
Swaraj s
meeting
with her
Japanese
counterpart Fumio
Kishida
earlier this
month,
on
the
sidelines
of theASEAN
Regional
Forum
conference at Navpyidaw. Mynamar.
went
particularly
well. Kishida.
who
hails
from liroshima. wassaid to have been deeply
moved
when Swaraj
informed himthat every
year
on August 6 he
anniversary
of
the
nuclear bombing of his
city
ndia s
Parliament,
too. mournsthevictims.
As
it
happened,
one o f
the
vital
subjects
discussed
at themeeting was India'scivil
nu
clear cooperation deal
with Japan, in the mak
ing for four
years.
Negotiations
had
been
sus
pended
by Japan after the March
2011
Fukushima disaster,
but
were revived
again
late last year. Ministry officials
say they
are
hopeful, given
the
positivenote o f themeeting,
that the
deal
will be
sealed
and announced
by
the
end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
forthcoming
visit
to
Japanin early September.
A
sticking point in
the deal
had
been
Japan's
keenness
to see
India
sign
the
Non-
Proliferation
and
FissileMaterial Cutoffs
trea
ties
first
despite
the fact that the Nuclear
Suppliers' Group (NSG) had granted
India a
waiver
in
this
respect
six
years back.
(All
coun
tries.
barring the
five big nuclear powers,
are
required to sign these
treaties
before they
are
allowed to
trade
in
nuclear equipment,but
the
NSC. madeanexception
in
India's
case.)
But
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F O U S N u c l ea r
P o w e r
ALSTOM AND
AREVA
ARE
IN
TALKS WITH THE
MAHARASHTRA
GOVERNMENT
TO
SET
UP
A9,600
M W NUCLEAR
PLANT
IN
JAITAPUR
now ministry officialsseem
confident that the deal will
be
clinchedanyway.
The
pact
will
allow
Japanese
companies,
such
as Japan
Steel Works
global leader in making
components
lor nuclear
reactors o
startsupplying
such equipment
to
India.
India hopes U S
companies
making similar equipment,
such as GE
and
Westing-
house. will also
take a
cue
from their
Japanese
coun
terparts.
The
deal will
help
companies do
business
with
India
more
smoothly.
says Robinder Sachdev,
India affairs chief at
the
PS-
based
advocacy
group PS-
India Political Action
Committee.
It
willbe win-
win situation for japan and
India,
along with
the
US .
The Japan
visit
i s
part
of
a
series
of meetings Modi is
holding
with
global
leaders. Already in
July,
Modi had talks
with Russian
President
Vladimir Putin
on
the sidelines of the BRICS
summit in Brazil, during which he
invited
Putin to visit the Kudankulam nuclear plant
in
Tamil Nadu, built with Russian
assistance.
(Thecommissioningof theKudankulam plant
in
June raised
India's
nuclear power
genera
tion
capacity
to
5.780 MW.)
Australian
Prime
Minister
Tony
Abbott will be
visiting
N e w-
Delhi
later in
September,
which may
see issues
relating to
uranium
supplies from Australia
being ironed out. There is also Chinese
President Xi
Jinping's
visit
and
at
the
month-
end. Modi is off
to
Washington
to
meet PS
President Barack Obama.
In November.
Modi
in turn
will travel
to
Australia for the
(1-20
summit
inBrisbane.
Diplomatic
efforts tobolster nuclear
energy
are being made diligently,
but
there isanob
stacle in India's
regulatory
law which has
dampened global investor spirit. The
Civil
Liability for Nuclear Damage Act
sets
the
maximum compensation
that can
be
sought
from theoperator incaseof a nuclear accident
at
^500
crore
($8
3
million).
Operators arere
quired
to
take
sufficient
insurance
to
cover this
possibility, which they
maintain
makes their
pre
mium costs
unallocable.
If thecost
is
passed on. the
power generated may
be
so
expensive,compared
to
that
from conventional
coal-based thermal plants,
as
to
render
the
nuclear
plant unviable.
We have
apprised
the
government
of
our
con
cern. says
Rathin
Basu.
Chairman. Alstom India.
This affects
not
only for
eign investors, but also
Indian players. Alstom.
along with
Areva. both
French companies, is in
t a l k s
w i t h t h e
Maharashtra government
to set
up
a 9.(300
MW nu
clear plant in Jaitpur.
Ministry
officials
reveal
that three US
Secretaries.
Russian Deputy
Prime
Minister Dmitry
Rogozin, and
French Foreign Minister
Laurent
Fabius, all
o f
whom
visited
India in recent
months, also complained
about the
damages
clause being unrealistic.
However,
given
Indian memories of
the
1984Bhopal
gas
tragedy
in which 20.000
people
were killed,
the
chancesof Parliament
approving
any
dilution of
the
existing law are
slim.
Lengthy, heated debates preceded its
passing in
2010.
Theeasiest solution would
be
toamend the lawbut that isnot likelyinthe
currentscenario. saysBasu.There is specula
tion inofficial
circles
thatrules may
be
framed
to circumvent some o f the liability clauses,
moreso after U S State Department's Assistant
Secretary Nisha Biswal statement during
a
congressional testimony
which
said India
might make things easier either through a
legal
framework
or through other
frameworks
that can
help
create more
surety,
so that it
is
not
unlimited liability
as
the
companies are
rightly
concerned . We just hope
things
start
moving
inthe
right direction. says
Basu.
a n i l e s hm a h a j a n
WE
HAVE
APPRISED
THE
GOVERNMENT
OF
OUR
CONCERN... THIS
AFFECTSNOT
ONLY
FOREIGN
INVESTORS,
BUT ALSO
INDIAN
PLAYERS...
WE HOPE
THINGS START
MOVING
IN
THE
RIGHT DIRECTION
R a t h i n
B a s u ,
C h a i r m a n ,
A l s t o m
I n d i a
22
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