India Opens Doors For Nuclear Inspection

New nuclear liability conventions under consideration

In a policy shift, India has decided to throw open its two nuclear power reactors at Kakrapar in Gujarat for inspection by international experts.

The two reactors will be opened up in November for visits by members of the Tokyo-based World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).

This follows an earlier move by Indias Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) to subject its new 500 mw reactor design to peer review by safety experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

These efforts in increased transparency are seen as Indias response to both western and local criticism that the country is operating obsolete reactors .

 

Opening up the plants or subjecting the design for peer review has nothing to do with the IAEA convention on safety of nuclear plants which India has signed but not ratified, says NPC managing director Yelleswarapu Sivaram Prasad. NPC designs, builds and operates the countrys nuclear power stations.

Meanwhile, reports from Vienna say India will consider two international treaties regulating the liability and compensation for accidents in civilian nuclear facilities before taking a final decision on joining them.

Of the nations gathered in Vienna for a high-level conference organised by the IAEA, 80 voted in favour of a protocol to amend the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and a new treaty setting up a global fund to compensate victims of nuclear accidents.

An Indian official said New Delhi would consider both the conventions. Our scientists will study them to analyse if the compensation amounts mentioned are low or high. The final decision will be taken by the cabinet, he said.

The weekend vote capped seven years of negotiations to make operators of nuclear facilities responsible for a large array of damage inflicted by nuclear accidents and increase compensation for victims.

However, environmental group Greenpeace, the only international non-governmental organisation (NGO) allowed to attend the conference, said the amount of over $800 million to be made available as compensation a slight improvement from the present level is still too little considering the damage a nuclear accident could cause.

The new Supplementary Funding Convention (SFC) will set up a global fund of an extra 300 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to which member states have to contribute. Countries with nuclear plants have to pay according to their nuclear power generation at the rate of 300 SDRs per mega watt. Half the fund amount is meant for compensation outside the borders of the country of nuclear accident, but claims have to be brought before 10 years from the date of the accident.

Sixty-four countries voted for the liability convention, New Zealand voted against it while Turkey and Saudi Arabia abstained. The voting pattern on the SFC was similar. The two instruments, along with a convention dealing with radioactive waste and spent fuel management, which was finalised a week earlier, will open for signature by countries later this month when the IAEA holds its annual general conference here.

The amendment to the Vienna Convention takes effect three months after five nations have ratified it while the SFC will enter into force three months after ratification by five countries, with a minimum of 400,000 mw power generation capacity.

Neither India nor Pakistan has ratified the Vienna Convention. Nor has any other Asian country, except the Philippines. Diplomats and IAEA officials hope the revised version of the Vienna Convention and the SFC will attract more countries.

The amendments to the Vienna Convention seek to expand the scope of its application and increase the liability amount. It still holds the operator of a nuclear plant liable for any accident, something that has come in for flak from experts who want to see the mostly West-based nuclear reactor building firms also to be responsible.

The amendment however increases the limit the operator can be held liable from five million dollars (at present rates about $45 million) to 300 million special drawing rights or SDRs (about $420 million). But it still excludes the operator from any claims if the accident was caused by some natural disaster, terrorist attack or civil war.

The amendment also seeks to increase the deadline for seeking compensation from 10 to 30 years from the date of the accident. But operators are liable to pay for just loss of life, personal injury and damage to property and many remain sceptical of whether the clause of environmental and other new damage identified would work in practice. Compensation for such damage is left to a court to decide on.

Such new damage include harm to the environment and the costs of preventive measures, said Simon Carroll, a Greenpeace expert at the conference. Greenpeace was allowed to participate in the experts group meetings and then in the conference, but just as an observer.

Military nuclear facilities have also been kept beyond the purview of the protocol, something India has repeatedly criticised. How can you talk about concern for human safety and then exclude military installations? asked one Indian diplomat. Carroll too raised this in his speech to the conference.

The protocol and its clauses are valid for damages wherever they occur. But a signatory can restrict its application by denying compensation to countries which have nuclear power plants but have not ratified the protocol from compensation.