Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP)
New India Assurance (NA) is all set to insure the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) with global partnership.
New India Assurance (NA) will soon complete the process of property cover (insurance) for units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP). This nuclear power plant is located in Tamil Nadu.
There are two types of insurance cover in a nuclear plant:
- Property cover and liability cover for a nuclear plant in India is always covered by the Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP). It is constituted by general insurers.
- Its management is in the hands of the state-owned General Insurance Corporation (GIC). INIP provides insurance to cover liability prescribed under the Civil Liability Act, 2010 (or CLND Act) for nuclear damage.
- The CLND Act was legitimized with a view to provide quick compensation in case of a nuclear accident. It provides immediate compensation to victims for damages caused by a nuclear accident through a no-fault liability arrangement.
- The Act facilitated India to join the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Accidents (CSC) as a party.
Salient Features of the CLND Act:
- It is a mechanism to define exclusive jurisdictional competence and provide compensation.
- It transfers the liability to the operator in the event of a nuclear accident.
- Operator here means- the Central Government or any authority or corporation established by it or a Government company which has been granted a license in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act, 1962
- However, it limits the operator’s liability in terms of total compensation amount and timing.
- It ensures mandatory coverage by the operator through financial protection or insurance.
About Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC)
- CSC was established in the year 1997. It establishes a worldwide liability system to increase the amount of compensation available to victims in the event of a nuclear accident.
- Under this, a country that is a party to the 1983 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability or the 1980 Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the field of atomic energy can become a party to the CSC.
- A country that is not a party to any of these conventions may become a party to the CSC only if it has incorporated the provisions of the CSC and its annexes into its national law on nuclear liability.
- India signed the CSC in the year 2010 on the basis of the CLND Act, as India is not a party to the Vienna or Paris conventions.
Source – The Hindu
