Compensation for Nuclear Victim
Compensation for Nuclear Victim
Section 6(1) of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act prescribes that the maximum amount of liability in respect of each nuclear incident shall be the rupee equivalent of three hundred million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Considering the value of 1 SDR as about Rs.87, three hundred million SDRs are equivalent to about Rs.2610 crore. Section 6(2) of the Act lays down that the operator’s maximum liability shall be Rs.1500 crore. In case the total liability exceeds 1500 crore, as per Section 7 (1) (a) of the CLND Act, this gap of Rs.1110 crore will be bridged by the Central Government. Beyond Rs. 2610 crore, India will be able to access international funds under the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) once it is a party to that Convention.
For damages exceeding the operators liability of Rs.1500 crore, and in accordance with section 7 (2) of the CLND Act, the government has initiated steps to establish a “Nuclear Liability Fund” by charging such amount of levy from the operators, in such manner, as may be prescribed.
For damages exceeding the operators liability of Rs.1500 crore, and in accordance with section 7 (2) of the CLND Act, the government has initiated steps to establish a “Nuclear Liability Fund” by charging such amount of levy from the operators, in such manner, as may be prescribed.
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Training for Atomic Officials
A structured training programme for training the plant personnel on various plant procedures including Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP) for handling off-normal conditions is in place. The emergency procedures include contingencies arising out of floods, tsunamis, cyclonic storms, earthquakes and fire. Tsunamis and cyclonic storms are relevant to coastal sites and training covers these aspects for the personnel at coastal sites. The relevant training programmes on EOPs for off-normal conditions are being regularly conducted in batches for the plant personnel at all the nuclear power plants. Regular retraining on these topics is also imparted to the operations personnel, as a part of the licensing process. During the last three years and the current year so far, 692 training programmes have been conducted at nuclear power stations in the country.
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Thorium Based Reactors
For the large growing population of our country, it is important to have a vision of energy independence, implying the necessity for meeting the energy demands using indigenous resources to the maximum extent. With this perspective, utilisation of very large resources of Thorium available in the country has been envisioned as an important element of the Indian nuclear power programme.
On account of non-existence of any fissile isotope in naturally occurring Thorium (unlike that existing in Uranium), commercial utilisation of Thorium, on a significant scale, can begin only when abundant supply of either Uranium or Plutonium resources are available. Upon the launch, followed by a significant growth of a thorium based nuclear programme in this manner, it could be possible to maintain the achieved level (without much further growth) of nuclear power programme with thorium alone, without additional demands on uranium or plutonium resources. Therefore, considering the meager domestic uranium resources in the country, it is feasible to start a significant commercial level Thorium based reactor programme in our country only after an adequate inventory of Plutonium becomes available from our Fast Breeder Reactors, comprising the second stage of Indian nuclear power programme. Accordingly, the utilisation of Thorium, as a practically inexhaustible energy source, has been contemplated during the third stage of the Indian nuclear programme, which can be reached after a few decades.
At present, the interest of the foreign countries in Thorium based nuclear power is generally limited to utilisation of Thorium for disposal of Plutonium obtained after reprocessing of spent fuel from current generation nuclear power plants. From this perspective, the Indian vision of speedily maximising the potential of plutonium received from spent nuclear fuel through FBRs, followed by Thorium based energy systems, is different with respect to some ongoing initiatives that are seen in some parts of the world. Currently, India is one of the leading countries with well-advanced thorium utilisation technologies, developed indigenously.
On account of no emission of green house gases in the generation of electricity using nuclear power, nuclear power is one of the cleanest forms of large scale electricity generation. Thorium based power generation also would, therefore, qualify for treatment as a clean source of energy.
The 300 Mwe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) being developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will serve as a technology demonstrator for the Thorium fuel cycle technologies. This reactor has been included in the XII Five Year Plan for initiation of activities towards its construction. The reactor, being the first of its kind is likely to take about ten years for completion of its construction.
On account of non-existence of any fissile isotope in naturally occurring Thorium (unlike that existing in Uranium), commercial utilisation of Thorium, on a significant scale, can begin only when abundant supply of either Uranium or Plutonium resources are available. Upon the launch, followed by a significant growth of a thorium based nuclear programme in this manner, it could be possible to maintain the achieved level (without much further growth) of nuclear power programme with thorium alone, without additional demands on uranium or plutonium resources. Therefore, considering the meager domestic uranium resources in the country, it is feasible to start a significant commercial level Thorium based reactor programme in our country only after an adequate inventory of Plutonium becomes available from our Fast Breeder Reactors, comprising the second stage of Indian nuclear power programme. Accordingly, the utilisation of Thorium, as a practically inexhaustible energy source, has been contemplated during the third stage of the Indian nuclear programme, which can be reached after a few decades.
At present, the interest of the foreign countries in Thorium based nuclear power is generally limited to utilisation of Thorium for disposal of Plutonium obtained after reprocessing of spent fuel from current generation nuclear power plants. From this perspective, the Indian vision of speedily maximising the potential of plutonium received from spent nuclear fuel through FBRs, followed by Thorium based energy systems, is different with respect to some ongoing initiatives that are seen in some parts of the world. Currently, India is one of the leading countries with well-advanced thorium utilisation technologies, developed indigenously.
On account of no emission of green house gases in the generation of electricity using nuclear power, nuclear power is one of the cleanest forms of large scale electricity generation. Thorium based power generation also would, therefore, qualify for treatment as a clean source of energy.
The 300 Mwe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) being developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will serve as a technology demonstrator for the Thorium fuel cycle technologies. This reactor has been included in the XII Five Year Plan for initiation of activities towards its construction. The reactor, being the first of its kind is likely to take about ten years for completion of its construction.
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