India Inks Key Atomic Liability Agreement from GSN Daily News

India yesterday signed a key international agreement that spells out liability norms for atomic energy incidents, a move that was requested by the United States to speed implementation of the 2008 U.S.-Indian nuclear trade pact, Reuters reported (see GSN, Oct. 25).
An Indian diplomat inked the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Washington had called on New Delhi to sign the multilateral agreement to assuage the concerns of U.S. nuclear materials suppliers worried by new Indian legislation that permits lawsuits in certain cases against providers following an atomic accident. Traditionally, only the operators of nuclear plants have been held liable for incidents.
Some in India worry that signing the international liability accord would weaken the domestic Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill. A number of others, though, believe it will reassure nuclear firms and lead to increased foreign investment in the South Asian state's burgeoning atomic energy market.
However, "the CSC is silent on the right to recourse or on the limitations," argued Indian political analyst Praful Biwai. "By itself the CSC does not help American companies."
"So the Americans won't be very happy and will continue to press for some exceptions (in the domestic law)."
A Vienna-based Indian envoy said inking the international liability pact -- which has not yet entered into force -- fell under a series of promises the Indian government made to Washington during trade negotiations. Under the 2008 atomic pact, the Bush administration agreed to permit U.S. nuclear firms to export their technology and materials to nuclear-armed India, which in return agreed to open up its civilian atomic sites to IAEA monitoring.
The Obama administration lauded New Delhi's decision on the international convention.
"It is a very positive step to assure that international standards apply, and U.S. companies will have a level playing field to compete," Undersecretary of State William Burns said at a news briefing (Reuters, Oct. 27).
To date, four nations -- Argentina, Morocco, Romania and the United States -- have ratified the CSC pact. With India's action yesterday, 14 countries have signed the convention, according to an IAEA release. In order to enter into force, the pact must be ratified by a minimum of five nations with at least 400,000 units of "installed nuclear capacity," the release states (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Oct. 27). More at:
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101028_3964.php