April 03, 2010, Saturday,
from 2 pm to 6 pm
Ashirwad, St Marks Road, Bangalore.
The nuclear liability bill, scheduled to be tabled in the current parliament session but deferred at the last minute, represents a real danger to democracy in India. Unfortunately, there has been very little public debate on this controversial bill. The voice of the people of India, whose health, well-being and civil rights will be directly compromised should the bill go through, is largely silent. The single voice that dominates is that of the nuclear lobby, impatient to have the bill, the only remaining hurdle in the path of opening up India’s multi-billion nuclear market, passed. The opposition parties have opposed the bill mainly on the grounds of national sovereignty and costing; as a result, critical issues remain hidden.
India plans to increase its installed capacity of nuclear power by 60,000 to 80,000 MW by the year 2030. Although it will meet only about 5 % of the country’s projected energy needs, nuclear power generation will receive subsidies to the tune of $ 100 billion from the government, that is, from taxpayers like us. There are also profits worth $175 billion waiting to be made. The nuclear liability bill is the outcome of active lobbying by private nuclear operators who are eyeing this profitable market but equally interested in an escape route in the event of a nuclear leak or accident. Should such an event occur, the bill seeks to cap the liability amount the operator must pay at a paltry $ 450 million. The beginning of the era of privatisation in nuclear power generation!
The dreams of such quantum leaps in nuclear power capacity are associated with a greatly increased risk of nuclear accidents from cost-cutting and profit maximization moves by private operators. Given the profit margin however, it’s not at all surprising that dangerous myths about nuclear power are rapidly gaining ground, that it’s a cheap, clean, climate-friendly and safe energy option. The lessons from tragedies like Bhopal and Chernobyl are consigned to the trashcan of history! Ironically the cap amount being proposed, $450 million, is even lower than the amount awarded in the Bhopal Gas case in 1989, which was a gross under-assessment of liability at that time. Today, twenty years later, and given that a nuclear disaster would potentially dwarf the effects of the Bhopal disaster, the nuclear liability cap is truly a slap on the face of people of this country.
The nuclear liability bill undermines the very basis of Indian democracy. It violates the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle and the ‘Precautionary Principle’, and so, as the former Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee, has pointed out, violates the Right to Life as enshrined in Article 21 of the constitution. The bill also goes against significant Supreme Court judgements which have ruled that hazardous and dangerous industries owe an ‘absolute and non-delegable’ duty to the community to ensure safety.
The ‘community’ in the case of the nuclear industry is exceptionally large because of the widespread, long-term, and generational impact of radioactive contamination of air, soil and water. The nuclear liability bill ensures that the clean up costs and the health burden of a nuclear leak or accident, even if we were to simplistically assume that these can ever be properly calculated, would have to be borne by the government. Essentially, therefore, the bill seeks to shift the financial burden to the taxpayer, that is, from the perpetrators of the crime to the victim.
An outrage is being proposed to be committed in our name; an outrage whose price we, as tax payers and citizens, will be left to pay. There is no doubt that the nuclear liability bill must be vigorously opposed and the nuclear energy option itself thrown open to public debate. In order to do so however it is very important to bring the real issues to the public arena.
As a first step, we invite you to participate in a campaign meeting that will bring together democratic rights organizations, women’s organisations, students, and many other sections of society to collectively understand and discuss the issues of nuclear energy and liability. The programme schedule is as follows:
1. Statement of solidarity from Dr Helen Caldicott, physician, author and speaker on the medical hazards of the nuclear age
2. “Nuclear Energy and Liability: Who profits, Who pays?” – Shri Nagesh Hegde, former editor of Prajavani
3. “Liability Issues in the Bhopal Gas Disaster” – Madhumita Dutta, Corporate Accountability Desk, Chennai,
followed by a 4 min. film on Bhopal.
4. “Civil Liability and a Criminal Bill” – Leo Saldanha, Environment Support Group.
Discussion Contributions and Campaign Planning
* Chandan Rao,CSSE
* YG Murlidhar,CREAT
* Karuna Raina,Greenpeace
The meeting will be held on Saturday, April 03, 2010, from 2 pm to 6 pm at Ashirwad, St Marks Road, Bangalore. Please pass the word around. We greatly look forward to your participation!
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PUCL – Bangalore, Alternative Law Forum, Environment Support Group, Green Peace, Hasiru Usiru, Samvada, Sangama, Mara, Pedestrian Pictures
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Alternative Law Forum
122/4 Infantry Road
Opposite Infantry Wedding House
Bangalore 560001
Phone 22868757/22865757
