Prior to President Obama’s visit to New Delhi, India plans to sign a critical international agreement that defines the terms of liability and compensation in the event of an atomic accident, says the Indian Express newspaper. The CSC or Convention on the Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, has been the subject of intense negotiations in the last few weeks between Delhi, Washington, Vienna (where the the International Atomic Energy Agency is based) .
In a September 2008 letter of intent, India told the U.S. it would sign the CSC. The Hindu reports that American nuclear suppliers had insisted on this because they said the existing Indian and international law would leave them exposed to potentially unlimited claims for damages by Indian victims in the event of a nuclear accident involving U.S.-supplied reactors. The CSC includes draft national law that signatories are supposed to model their domestic legislation on. India says its new liability law conforms to the CSC but American officials say the Indian provisions on the nuclear operator’s right of recourse against a supplier (Section 17(b) and Section 46) in the event of an accident don’t conform to CSC recommendations.n
