Provides for civil liability for nuclear damage and compensation to victims of a nuclear incident, appointment of Claims Commissioner, establishment of Nuclear Damage Claims Commission.
Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010
[Act 38 of 2010] [21st September, 2010]
An Act to provide for civil liability for nuclear damage and prompt compensation to the victims of a nuclear incident through a no-fault liability regime channelling liability to the operator, appointment of Claims Commissioner, establishment of Nuclear Damage Claims Commission for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows—
Statement of Objects and Reasons.—The nuclear industry in India is growing and as a result of the steps taken particularly in the recent period, it is expected to form an important part of the energy-mix of the country. While making the design, and during construction and operation of nuclear power plants every care is taken to ensure safety of the plant, public and the environment. However, in the unlikely event of a nuclear incident or accident, there may be damage to individuals, property and environment on a large scale. The geographical scope of damage caused by a nuclear accident may not be confined to national boundaries and it may have trans-boundary effects. In such an event, it is desirable that protection is accorded to victims of such incident or accident by a third party liability regime. It is necessary to give compensation to persons if they suffer nuclear damage as a result of a nuclear incident and therefore it is important to make provision to ensure clarity of liability and the requirement to pay compensation.
2. At present, the nuclear power plants and facilities in India are owned by the Central Government or its Public Sector Undertakings. Therefore, any incident or accident that happens in these installations, and the liability issues arising therefrom, are the responsibility of the Central Government. This, however, leaves any trans-boundary liability to uncertainty. There is also a need to address the issue of nuclear liability during transport of nuclear material.
| Other Contents of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 |
|---|
| Sections 1 to 5 Sections 6 to 18 Sections 19 to 38 Sections 39 to 49 |
3. At the international level there are four instruments for nuclear liability, i.e., the 1960 Paris Convention, 1963 Vienna Convention, 1997 Protocol to amend Vienna Convention and 1997 Convention on Supplementary Compensation for nuclear damage. Convention on Supplementary Compensation was developed under the auspices of International Atomic Energy Agency and which deal with nuclear liability. It provides for treaty relations among all countries that accept the basic principles of nuclear liability law and an international fund to compensate nuclear damage in the event of nuclear incident. The said Convention on Supplementary Compensation envisages a two tier system with respect to the amount of compensation, e.g., Installation State to ensure availability of the amount of compensation (at least 30 million Special Drawing Rights), and International Fund for which all contracting parties are obliged to contribute the amount based on a formula for calculation of contribution.
4. Convention on Supplementary Compensation is a free standing instrument open to all countries. It offers a country the means to become part of the global regime without having to become a member of the Paris Convention or the Vienna Convention. However, all countries party to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation are expected to abide by the basic principles of the nuclear liability law. For this reason, the Convention on Supplementary Compensation sets out a number of rules, which are consistent with the general principles of both the Paris Convention and the Vienna Convention. Any State willing to join the Convention on Supplementary Compensation will have to ensure that its national legislation is consistent with the provisions laid down in the Annex to Convention on Supplementary Compensation.
5. Many countries which are engaged in nuclear power generation are having their own legislations and some of them are parties to one or other international regimes.
6. India is not a party to any of the nuclear liability conventions mentioned above. Indian nuclear industry has been developed within the context of a domestic framework established by the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. There is no provision in the said Act about the nuclear liability or compensation for nuclear damage due to nuclear accident or incident and no other law deals with nuclear liability for nuclear damage in the event of nuclear incident.
7. It is, therefore, considered necessary to enact a legislation which provides for nuclear liability that might arise due to a nuclear incident and also on the necessity of joining an appropriate international liability regime.
8. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
Chapter I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent, application and commencement.
1. Short title, extent, application and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It also applies to nuclear damage suffered—
(a) in or over the maritime areas beyond the territorial waters of India;
(b) in or over the exclusive economic zone of India as referred to in Section 7 of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (80 of 1976);
(c) on board or by a ship registered in India under Section 22 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958), or under any other law for the time being in force;
(d) on board or by an aircraft registered in India under clause (d) of sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934) or under any other law for the time being in force;
(e) on or by an artificial island, installation or structure under the jurisdiction of India.
(4) It applies only to the nuclear installation owned or controlled by the Central Government either by itself or through any authority or corporation established by it or a Government company.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, “Government Company” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (bb) of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962).
(5) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act, and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.
2. Definitions.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Commission appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 20;
(b) “Claims Commissioner” means the Claims Commissioner appointed under sub-section (2) of Section 9;
(c) “Commission” means the Nuclear Damage Claims Commission established under Section 19;
(d) “environment” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (a) of Section 2 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986);
(e) “Member” means a Member of the Commission appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 20;
(f) “Notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette and the term “notify” shall be construed accordingly;
(g) “Nuclear damage” means—
(i) loss of life or personal injury (including immediate and long term health impact) to a person; or
(ii) loss of, or damage to, property,
caused by or arising out of a nuclear incident, and includes each of the following to the extent notified by the Central Government;
(iii) any economic loss, arising from the loss or damage referred to in sub-clauses (i) or (ii) and not included in the claims made under those sub-clauses, if incurred by a person entitled to claim such loss or damage;
(iv) costs of measures of reinstatement of impaired environment caused by a nuclear incident, unless such impairment is insignificant, if such measures are actually taken or to be taken and not included in the claims made under sub-clause (ii);
(v) loss of income derived from an economic interest in any use or enjoyment of the environment, incurred as a result of a significant impairment of that environment caused by a nuclear incident, and not included in the claims under sub-clause (ii);
(vi) the costs of preventive measures, and further loss or damage caused by such measures;
(vii) any other economic loss, other than the one caused by impairment of the environment referred to in sub-clauses (iv) and (v), insofar as it is permitted by the general law on civil liability in force in India and not claimed under any such law,
in the case of sub-clauses (i) to (v) and (vii) above, to the extent the loss or damage arises out of, or results from, ionizing radiation emitted by any source of radiation inside a nuclear installation, or emitted from nuclear fuel or radioactive products or waste in, or of, nuclear material coming from, originating in, or sent to, a nuclear installation, whether so arising from the radioactive properties of such matter, or from a combination of radioactive properties with toxic, explosive or other hazardous properties of such matter;
(h) “nuclear fuel” means any material which is capable of producing energy by a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission;
(i) “nuclear incident” means any occurrence or series of occurrences having the same origin which causes nuclear damage or, but only with respect to preventive measures, creates a grave and imminent threat of causing such damage;
(j) “nuclear installation” means—
(A) any nuclear reactor other than one with which a means of transport is equipped for use as a source of power, whether for propulsion thereof or for any other purpose;
(B) any facility using nuclear fuel for the production of nuclear material, or any facility for the processing of nuclear material, including re-processing of irradiated nuclear fuel; and
(C) any facility where nuclear material is stored (other than storage incidental to the carriage of such material);
Explanation.—For the purpose of this clause, several nuclear installations of one operator which are located at the same site shall be considered as a single nuclear installation;
(k) “nuclear material” means and includes—
(i) nuclear fuel (other than natural uranium or depleted uranium) capable of producing energy by a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission outside a nuclear reactor, either by itself or in combination with some other material; and
(ii) radioactive products or waste;
(l) “nuclear reactor” means any structure containing nuclear fuel in such an arrangement that a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission can occur therein without an additional source of neutrons;
(m) “operator”, in relation to a nuclear installation, means the Central Government or any authority or corporation established by it or a Government company who has been granted a licence pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962) for the operation of that installation;
(n) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(o) “preventive measures” means any reasonable measures taken by a person after a nuclear incident has occurred to prevent or minimise damage referred to in sub-clauses (i) to (v) and (vii) of clause (f), subject to the approval of the Central Government;
(p) “radioactive products or waste” means any radioactive material produced in, or any material made radioactive by exposure to, the radiation incidental to the production or utilisation of nuclear fuel, but does not include radioisotopes which have reached the final stage of fabrication so as to be usable for any scientific, medical, agricultural, commercial or industrial purpose;
(q) “Special Drawing Rights” means Special Drawing Rights as determined by the International Monetary Fund.
Chapter II
LIABILITY FOR NUCLEAR DAMAGE
3. Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to notify nuclear incident.
3. Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to notify nuclear incident.—(1) The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board constituted under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962), shall, within a period of fifteen days from the date of occurrence of a nuclear incident, notify such nuclear incident:
Provided that where the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board is satisfied that the gravity of threat and risk involved in a nuclear incident is insignificant, it shall not be required to notify such nuclear incident.
(2) The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board shall, immediately after the notification under sub-section (1) is issued, cause wide publicity to be given to the occurrence of such nuclear incident, in such manner as it may deem fit.
4. Liability of operator.
4. Liability of operator.—(1) The operator of the nuclear installation shall be liable for nuclear damage caused by a nuclear incident—
(a) in that nuclear installation; or
(b) involving nuclear material coming from, or originating in, that nuclear installation and occurring before—
(i) the liability for nuclear incident involving such nuclear material has been assumed, pursuant to a written agreement, by another operator; or
(ii) another operator has taken charge of such nuclear material; or
(iii) the person duly authorised to operate a nuclear reactor has taken charge of the nuclear material intended to be used in that reactor with which means of transport is equipped for use as a source of power, whether for propulsion thereof or for any other purpose; or
(iv) such nuclear material has been unloaded from the means of transport by which it was sent to a person within the territory of a foreign State; or
(c) involving nuclear material sent to that nuclear installation and occurring after—
(i) the liability for nuclear incident involving such nuclear material has been transferred to that operator, pursuant to a written agreement, by the operator of another nuclear installation; or
(ii) that operator has taken charge of such nuclear material; or
(iii) that operator has taken charge of such nuclear material from a person operating a nuclear reactor with which a means of transport is equipped for use as a source of power, whether for propulsion thereof or for any other purpose; or
(iv) such nuclear material has been loaded, with the written consent of that operator, on the means of transport by which it is to be carried from the territory of a foreign State.
(2) Where more than one operator is liable for nuclear damage, the liability of the operator so involved shall, insofar as the damage attributable to each operator is not separable, be joint and several:
Provided that the total liability of such operators shall not exceed the extent of liability specified under sub-section (2) of Section 6.
(3) Where several nuclear installations of one and the same operator are involved in a nuclear incident, such operator shall, in respect of each such nuclear installation, be liable to the extent of liability specified under sub-section (2) of Section 6.
(4) The liability of the operator of the nuclear installation shall be strict and shall be based on the principle of no-fault liability.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—
(a) where nuclear damage is caused by a nuclear incident occurring in a nuclear installation on account of temporary storage of material-in-transit in such installation, the person responsible for transit of such material shall be deemed to be the operator;
(b) where a nuclear damage is caused as a result of nuclear incident during the transportation of nuclear material, the consignor shall be deemed to be the operator;
(c) where any written agreement has been entered into between the consignor and the consignee or, as the case may be, the consignor and the carrier of nuclear material, the person liable for any nuclear damage under such agreement shall be deemed to be the operator;
(d) where both nuclear damage and damage other than nuclear damage have been caused by a nuclear incident or, jointly by a nuclear incident and one or more other occurrences, such other damage shall, to the extent it is not separable from the nuclear damage, be deemed to be a nuclear damage caused by such nuclear incident.
5. Operator not liable in certain circumstances.
5. Operator not liable in certain circumstances.—(1) An operator shall not be liable for any nuclear damage where such damage is caused by a nuclear incident directly due to—
(i) a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character; or
(ii) an act of armed conflict, hostility, civil war, insurrection or terrorism.
(2) An operator shall not be liable for any nuclear damage caused to—
(i) the nuclear installation itself and any other nuclear installation including a nuclear installation under construction, on the site where such installation is located; and
(ii) to any property on the same site which is used or to be used in connection with any such installation; or
(iii) to the means of transport upon which the nuclear material involved was carried at the time of nuclear incident:
Provided that any compensation liable to be paid by an operator for a nuclear damage shall not have the effect of reducing the amount of his liability in respect of any other claim for damage under any other law for the time being in force.
(3) Where any nuclear damage is suffered by a person on account of his own negligence or from his own acts of commission or omission, the operator shall not be liable to such person.
[disclaimer]
