The Government has appointed a group of experts to work out a model for providing insurance cover to existing and new nuclear power plants, as part of its measures to address the concerns regarding liability law issues.

The Government is working towards forming a nuclear insurance pool to cover the nuclear facilities, involving General Insurance Company and New India Insurance.

“We are on the way to find a solution (to liability law concerns). We will be putting in place a mechanism to cover the risk (for nuclear units) through insurance,” R K Sinha, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, told media persons after flagging off the world’s second largest gamma ray telescope to Ladakh, where it will be installed.

The Rs 45-crore telescope, built by Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and designed by BARC, will be operational by early 2016 at Ladakh, which will be used to study the sources of cosmic rays in the universe.

He said the group of experts will be coming out with a model for the risk coverage from mathematical and financial perspectives.

The Department of Atomic Energy is pursing the issue with the Ministry of Finance, Nuclear Power Corporation and insurance companies.

Jaitapur plant:

On the Jaitapur nuclear power plant, Sinha said the department is clear that the cost of power from the plant in Maharashtra should not be more than Rs 6.50 per unit.

The project is caught in an impasse with the French suppliers Areva on the pricing issue, with the latter indicating the price to be about Rs 9 a unit. Price negotiations with Areva have been on for the last two years.

Sinha said a team from Areva had come to India to hold talks with the Nuclear Power Corporation authorities on June 5. It was conveyed to the French team that the department was clear that the power cost should not exceed Rs 6.50, taking into account escalation costs and foreign exchange rates.

Atomic Energy Act

The Government has initiated a move to tweak the existing Atomic Energy Act to pave the way for joint ventures between NPCIL and other public sector firms such as NTPC, Coal India and GAIL in nuclear power.

Currently, the Act provides that only government undertakings can take up nuclear-related activities. It does not recognise joint ventures between state-owned firms as a government undertaking.

“A slight tweaking of the Act is needed for such joint ventures in nuclear power production. A draft Bill is prepared and will come up before the Cabinet,” Sinha said.

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