The nuclear liability bill, which seeks to cap the liability of foreign nuclear suppliers to a meager amount of Rupees 500 Crore in case of nuclear accidents, is in trouble in the Indian Parliament. Keeping in mind the comprehensive clean-up requirements in case of an accident, the actual liabilities may be over 1000 times more than the amount specified in the bill.
It means if things work out safely, the companies will sell nuclear materials and equipments and make money, and if some thing goes wrong, the Indian tax payers will have to bear the huge cost of cleaning up and take responsibility for the expensive medical management of the exposed population for long period of time.
Now that in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, it is very relevant that appropriate legislation with proper clauses should be in place to allow fastening of unlimited liability on the suppliers and operators of the plants who were responsible for disasters causing large scale area contamination and casualties to large number of persons. The laws should clearly address issues such as proper monetary compensation for the victims, pay for the clean-up of the contaminated areas and ensure installation of fail-safe safety systems to avoid major nuclear accidents.
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