"There will not be nuclear deals in
India unless and until the civil nuclear liability issue is resolved.
And I am heartened that the Modi administration is beginning to come to
terms with reform of liability. That would truly open up that market to
US reactor vendors in a big way," Daniel Lipman, executive director of
Supplier Programmes at the Nuclear Energy Institute told lawmakers at a
Congressional hearing.
At the hearing of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee on "The Future of International Civilian Nuclear
Cooperation," Lipman said India has plans to put out up to 50 nuclear
reactors over the coming 30 years.
"But there are currently
agreements in place and reactor deals that have been consummated with
the Russians. At Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu) there are operating reactors of
Russian design and there is a new set of units that have just been
consummated with the Russians. Plus the French are in there," he said.
"We
need this civil nuclear liability protection. I'm certain that American
companies just will not put their companies at risk," Lipman said.
"What's
interesting, it's not just American companies that get hurt. My view
is so do Indian companies get hurt. Now, why is that? I think there are
many American companies that would like to leverage the fact that there
are English-speaking, highly technically trained, very capable engineers
and manufacturers in the country of India, but they're not going to
partner with them until this liability issue is put behind us," he
added.
"So to me, India represents phenomenal partnership
opportunity for American nuclear companies," Lipman argued at the
Congressional hearing chaired by Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Civil Liability for
Nuclear Damage Act, which enables operator of nuclear power plants in
India to seek partial compensation from suppliers in case of accidents,
is hampering projects in the country.
Suppliers of nuclear
equipment from US, Canada and other countries see the Nuclear Damage Act
as a hurdle in selling nuclear reactors to India.
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