Amid a massive political uproar, the Government on Thursday unsuccessfully sought to alley fears about a reported move to sign an agreement between India and a US-based company by diluting provision of the Civil Nuclear liability Act passed by Parliament.
The clarification from the Department of Atomic Energy (DEA) and Union Ministers failed to pacify the Opposition, which feared that the move could be a gift to the United States ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meeting with US President Barack Obama on September 27.
The DAE asserted that any contract signed will be fully consistent with Indian law. DAE also said Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd (NPCIl), the Indian operator, will enter into a preliminary contract with America’s Westinghouse only with the approval of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Government here.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid too claimed the Government was bound by the rules framed in Parliament and it would not take any decision that is against national interest.
According to a leaked note for Cabinet Committee on Security, there is a proposal to sign a ‘Preliminary Contract’ between NPCIl and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) to buy six 1000 MW nuclear reactors at a cost of USD 15.16 million for a power plant to be set up at Chayya-Mithivirdi in Gujarat.nuclear sovereignty
The CCS note comes following an opinion rendered by Attorney General GE Vahanvati in which he is learnt to have said that it is up to the nuclear plant operator --- in this case NPCIl --- to invoke section 17 of the Civil liability for Nuclear Disaster Act regarding liability of suppliers in case of a mishap.
The Opposition is up in arms over this. “The UPA Government is proceeding to allow US companies to install nuclear reactors in the country on their own terms. Nation is concerned about these media reports. The Prime Minister must clarify and make a statement on the actual status,” BJP chief Rajnath Singh said in Guwahati.
The BJP also described as “worrisome” the news reports and alleged the PM has allowed this to give a gift to American companies during his forthcoming visit to the US. BJP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad claimed the move could compromise the importance of Section 17(b) of the Nuclear liability Act passed by Parliament, which specifically fixes the responsibility of the manufacturer of nuclear reactors and provides for their liability in the event of an accident involving design or manufacturing fault.
“By this, the whole liability of the manufacturer is sought to be compromised and the entire mandate of Parliament is being disobeyed,” Prasad said.
left parties also warned the Government that it would commit an “illegal act” if it tried to dilute the Civil Nuclear liability Act. “If the Government wants to succumb to US pressures (to clinch a deal), I am afraid they will be shown as having done an illegal act which will be against the interests of the country,” CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.
He alleged that effort of the Manmohan Singh Government was to dilute the Civil Nuclear liability Act to exempt US suppliers of reactors from the liability clause and claimed it would be an illegal attempt to bypass the law passed by Parliament. “The Americans want to sell the reactors on their terms but they will have to abide by the laws of this country,” he said.
Maintaining that the opinion of the Attorney General on the matter was “an interpretation of the law which does not hold”, Karat also claimed the move may compromise the Section 17 of the Nuclear liability Act.
CPI National Secretary D Raja accused the Government of becoming “a real suspect” on the nuclear deal and liability issues, saying, “The government is consciously going ahead to satisfy the US and dilute the laid-down law and now that has been exposed.”
Raja also sought a clarification from the Prime Minister on the issue, saying “he took the risk of left support withdrawal” to sign the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The CPI leader said linking the accord with Russia on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant with the proposed deal with the US firm Westinghouse “is itself a manipulative move as the Kudankulam deal was struck much before the liability Act was passed by Parliament.”
Salman Khurshid, however, refuted reports and said the Government would go by the mandate of Parliament on the issue. He said the Government, which is bound by the rules framed in Parliament, would not take any decision which is against national interest.
“laws are framed by Parliament and nobody can overrule it. Then, how the government canIJ This is impossible. The government would do according to the law of the land and not take any decision which is against the nation’s interest,” Khurshid said.
Khurshid said the Indo-US civil nuclear deal had been signed but it does not mean that a commercial agreement should also be signed. “The US has done enough for us and we should also reciprocate but that does not mean we will sign a deal just to make someone happy,” he said.