Mumbai, August 25: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday gave its nod to the civil nuclear liability bill after 18 amendments were made to the proposed atomic law that triples the liability cap on an operator in case of an accident to Rs.1,500 crore from Rs.500 crore.
The legislation was cleared by the lower house after the government removed the word “intent” and amended a controversial clause stating that the operator will have the right to recourse in case of a nuclear accident if it was the consequence of an “act of supplier or his employees done with the intent to cause nuclear damage”.
Moving the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said the government has taken on board the amendments proposed by the opposition parties to the civil nuclear liability bill. The proposed law is critical for India’s nuclear deals with various countries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday assured parliament that the civil nuclear liability bill did not compromise India’s interests and urged that the measure be adopted unanimously.
The prime minister told the Lok Sabha that his government was doing everything possible to strengthen safety norms for the operation of nuclear plants.
Pitching strongly for greater use of nuclear energy, he said that he shared the opposition’s concern over nuclear safety.
“We will do everything to strengthen the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Board. The concern over safety is one I share with the opposition,” Manmohan Singh said.
Saying that India wished to use nuclear energy in a major way, the prime minister urged the house to pass the nuclear liability bill unanimously.
—-Agencies