Tag Archives: liability

Even as President Obama is insisting that BP pay for all the damage caused by its oil spill, his administration is leaning on the Indian government to render its citizens unable to claim damages from U.S. power-plant suppliers in the event of a nuclear accident. Before U.S. companies enter India's burgeoning nuclear-power market, the U.S. government is pushing for legislation limiting their liability. “The passing of the bill by Indian parliament would mean a win-win situation for both the countries, generating employment as well as giving India abundant clean energy,” U.S. Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer said. Clean is a curious word to use in this context, given that the bill is necessitated by the potentially catastrophic filthiness of nuclear power. The bill in question would indemnify foreign suppliers and make India's domestic operators responsible for the costs of nuclear disasters — though only up to a point. Domestic operators' liabilities are to be capped at about $110 million, after which the Indian government would be responsible. If damages exceed $460 million, the victims would be on their own. The Chernobyl disaster is estimated to have cost more than $250 billion. In the event of such a catastrophe, India's liability bill would put almost the entire burden on victims and taxpayers, giving suppliers and operators less incentive to ensure safety. To be sure, indemnifying suppliers and capping the liability of operators are the international norms, or else few companies would be in the nuclear business. The Price-Anderson Act, which regulates liability for nuclear accidents in the United States, also channels costs to operators and caps them at $11 billion (to be shared by the industry as a whole). That is a considerable sum, though it's arguably inadequate in light of the staggering potential costs of a nuclear calamity. Nevertheless, the law allows victims to sue for additional damages. Indians, by contrast, stand to lose this right under the proposed nuclear-liability law. Arguments over India's nuclear bill have been particularly passionate because of memories of the night in December 1984 when clouds of poison gas escaped from a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, in central India. At least 15,000 people have died as a result, and more than 100,000 have suffered permanent impairment. At the time, the Indian government estimated damages at $3.3 billion, and today, given extensive long-term effects that no one foresaw, they would be reckoned as far greater. But Union Carbide paid a settlement of only $470 million. Circumstantial evidence suggests the Reagan administration prevailed upon Indian leaders to go easy on Union Carbide. Story continues http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/28-5 added by: Stoneyroad