Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act

The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 aims to cater to the civil requirements for victims of those who were affected due to nuclear disasters. This act ensures apt compensation as a helping hand for the victims.

What is the aim of the Nuclear Damage Act?

The aim of Nuclear Damage Act is to provide a helping hand to the victims of nuclear damage or disaster in terms of compensation or other means.

Is there any rule to amend the Act?

No, there is no proposal to amend the Act.

This topic holds relevance for various competitive exams as well as for IAS Exam.

The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 seeks to create a mechanism for compensating victims of nuclear damage arising from a nuclear incident.

Key Features Nuclear Damage Act, 2010

• It fixes liability for nuclear damage and specifies procedures for compensating victims.
• The Bill fixes no-fault liability on operators and gives them a right of recourse against certain persons. It caps the liability of the operator at Rs 500 crore.  For damage exceeding this amount, and up to 300 million SDR, the central government will be liable.
• All operators (except the central government) need to take insurance or provide financial security to cover their liability.
• For facilities owned by the government, the entire liability up to 300 million SDR will be borne by the government.
• The Bill specifies who can claim compensation and the authorities who will assess and award compensation for nuclear damage.

What is CSC?

Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) is an important strategy aimed at building an effective worldwide liability regime and to enhance the supply of the compensation available to the victims of nuclear accidents.

A state has to comply with the norms and annexure of the CSC and abide by its rules to become an eminent part of it.

Therefore, the state should check all the norms of the act before planning to become a part of it.

Given below are a few relevant links to prepare for the upcoming competitive exams or UPSC Civil services exam comprehensively –

How Does CLND Act affect average Indians?

The act of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage was passed in 2010 with its focus on setting liabilities on suppliers in case of a nuclear accident. However, it has acted as a bone of contention in moving ahead with the India-US civil nuclear agreement deal signed in 2008.

The CLND Act affect the Indians in the following manner –

1. The CNLD law capped all the liabilities to 300 million Special Drawing Rights or Rs 2610 crore. Now, in case of Nuclear damage government will be liable to additional Rs 1110 crores. Thus, the government will end up spending the Indian taxpayers’ money which should be the suppliers’ liability.
2. The capped amount of Rs 2610 will not be sufficient in case of a Nuclear accident as we have seen in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The potential victims will suffer due to this.
3. Section 17 of CNLD acts specify that the right to the recourse of an operator is not mandatory but merely an enabling clause. This it will prohibit operators to sue suppliers. Thus overall it will make victims more vulnerable to potential accidents.
4. The suppliers will be paying a nominal premium to the ‘Nuclear Insurance Pool’, hence this cost will be added in the total cost of building a nuclear plant and thus will finally have to bear by Indian consumers.
5. Section 46 prevents the Indian victims from moving to a foreign court. It also prohibits from claiming compensation under other laws.

The above details would help candidates prepare for UPSC 2023.

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