India has ratified the Convention of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), marking an important step in addressing matters related to civil nuclear liabilities. India’s Permanent Representative in Vienna Rajiva Misra, yesterday handed over the Instrument of Ratification to Juan Carlos Lentijo, the head of nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Convention will now come into force for India on 4th of May this year. The objective of the CSC is to establish a worldwide liability regime and to increase the amount of compensation available to the victims of nuclear accidents.
Clauses under India’s Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act were major impediments in the progress of building reactors with US in India. India had signed the CSC in 2010 but had not submitted it to the IAEA.