DAE to look into suppliers concerns on Nuclear Liability Act

With suppliers raising concerns over certain aspects of the Nuclear Liability Act, the Department of Atomic Energy has decided to look into these worries to weed out "unnecessary liability".

The DAE has formed two committees to find out a middle path on the controversial issue keeping in view the concerns of foreign companies and Indian Atomic Industrial Forum (IAIF), of which NPCIL and companies that manufacture components for nuclear power plants are a part.

Sources said the recommendations made by the committee could also help weed out "unnecessary liability" which may not be applicable to many suppliers.

"There is ample degree of redundancy in the liability law, which cannot be applicable to all the suppliers. So this should be approached in a scientific and rational manner," a top DAE official told PTI.

The committees will study the liability factor and take a more "scientific and rational" approach towards the issue, the official said.

"The committees will assess the probabilistic safety analysis to identify a model that will assess probabilities of particular equipment or a set of system to fail in a manner that can lead to an accident.

"Based on the study there would be a rational basis for working out an actuarial approval to decide on the quantum of liability," the official said.

One committee is studying the probabilities and will give its recommendations. It comprises four scientists- one from the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), two from the NPCIL and one from the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). The second committee comprises two scientists from NPCIL and one from the BARC. It will "peer review" the recommendations given by the first group.

"The first committee has given a set of recommendations. The second committee that is peer-reviewing the recommendations had a few queries to which responses have been submitted. Once we get a report on this, we could take a decision at the administrative level," the official added.