{"title":"A step towards establishing nuclear safety infrastructure for introduction of nuclear power programme in Bangladesh","authors":"Alak Chakraborty, K. Rahman, M. Akbar","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052043","url":null,"abstract":"The existing regulatory infrastructure for nuclear power of Bangladesh consists of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control (NSRC) Act, 1993 and NSRC Rules 1997, which was established based on the IAEA BSS 115, overlooking other Safety Standards. Bangladesh made a knowledgeable decision regarding implementation of NPP. Accordingly, the country is committed to establish an independent regulatory body with appropriate resources and empowerment to regulate the safety and security of nuclear installations. A draft ‘Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory (BAER) Act’ with input from the IAEA and vendor countries is already under consideration for approval of the government. The draft BAER Act establishes an independent ‘Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority’ for the regulation of nuclear safety, radiation protection, transportation and waste safety and the civil liability for nuclear damage. The important elements of the BAER Act have been analysed in this paper, and some critical issues are identified.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114468108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A nuclear liability framework for South Asia: formation of South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nuclear risk community","authors":"M. Mohan, K. Raju, M. Shiju","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052044","url":null,"abstract":"South Asia is one of the densely populated regions of the world. A disaster in the nature of nuclear accident in one country will have a significant impact on the life and livelihood of large population across the region. Currently, major economies in South Asia are expanding their nuclear energy programmes, and this poses a transboundary risk. The risk is aggravated by the fact that countries in South Asia are not a part of any common international nuclear liability framework, nor do they have reciprocal domestic law. This subjects the region to an uncertain liability and compensation regime. This paper explores the legal response mechanisms available in respect to state liability and compensation. The paper argues that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a regional community of South Asian countries is the appropriate institutional mechanism available to form a regional nuclear risk community.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123458934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A new world governance for nuclear safety after Fukushima","authors":"P. Reyners","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052045","url":null,"abstract":"Over several decades of operation of nuclear power plants, the world nuclear community has built progressively an international regime to govern the safety of such plants. Starting from a time when nuclear safety was generally considered as an exclusive domestic responsibility, the evolution in this direction has been slow and uneven. Accidents have had to serve as a catalyst to mitigate the resistance of more advanced nuclear countries to a greater degree of ‘internationalisation’. The disaster which struck Japan in 2011 is in this respect one more example that under the pressure of events – and that of the public opinion – law must adapt to the change of policies and nuclear law is especially reactive in this respect. The Fukushima accident has generated an emotion not experienced since Chernobyl 25 years ago. The question now is whether and how this emotion may transform itself in a real progress for the global regime of nuclear safety.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125401546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nuclear regulatory processes in India: a review of public engagement","authors":"K. Gauba","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052042","url":null,"abstract":"Public involvement is imperative in the nuclear regulatory process in India, owing to the nature of concerns arising out of processes for harnessing nuclear energy, as also the recent wave of democratic activism submerging India, evidenced by the protests against nuclear power plants in Kudankulam and Jaitapur and anti-corruption movements. India’s nuclear regulatory authority does not provide for meaningful public participation in regulatory processes; such is provided in environmental laws, which suffer from various drawbacks. A model of feasible democratic participation in Indian nuclear power generation processes, principled on the traceability of a regulatory authority’s safety judgments by various stakeholders (including the public) is proposed. These include adopting more formalised methods of voting in hearings and voluntary disclosures of information, on the initiative of public authorities themselves, as a lesson learnt from the mismanagement of the power plant at Fukushima.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132548676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public awareness and stakeholder engagement in India’s nuclear energy regulatory process","authors":"Lukasz Dariusz Mlynarkiewicz","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2013.052046","url":null,"abstract":"The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has shown that the generation of nuclear energy involves an inherent risk of failure irrespective of undertaken precautions and safety measures. Therefore, members of the public – the principal stakeholders – shall be provided with significant opportunities for their engagement in the nuclear regulatory process. In general, openness for public participation not only strengthens the legitimacy of regulatory decisions, but it also establishes trust and understanding in reference to policy-makers’ activities. This paper analyses public involvement system in the nuclear regulatory process in India. In reference to the best international practices settled by the IAEA and national authorities like the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the author recommends certain solutions for the improvement of the public participation mechanism regarding the Indian nuclear decision-making process.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125225811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A dangerous recourse? A critical relook at Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010","authors":"Arghya Sengupta, Sanhita Ambast","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048431","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048431","url":null,"abstract":"The newly created regime for civil liability for nuclear damage in India has been a fertile source of controversy. Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 and Rule 24 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules, 2011 are of particular interest, as they provide for the right of recourse, i.e. the extent to which suppliers of nuclear material can be held liable for damages caused due to a nuclear accident in India. This paper analyses the complex legal architecture relating to the right of recourse in India in the context of the Constitution, Supreme Court jurisprudence, international and comparative law, and prevailing policy rationales. On the basis of this analysis, it suggests appropriate reform to the Indian law to ensure that its provisions are sound in principle and effective in facilitating the safe, affordable and efficient supply of nuclear energy in India.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124906898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Limping legislation – viability of the Indian Nuclear Liability Act within the constitutional scheme","authors":"Tanavi Mohanty, Aayush Kumar","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048432","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048432","url":null,"abstract":"India’s launch into the international nuclear regime has been controversial with allegations of being unconstitutional being levied on its liability legislation, the Civil Liability Act. This paper proposes to argue the legality of the legislation on the parameters of Constitutional mandates in fundamental rights of life, liberty and equality. On dissection, it finds the legislation in breach of environmental principles recognised in both national and international legal regimes. The Act is hit by arbitrariness of state action in many of its provisions. Finally, the eviction of Courts from the compensatory mechanism rounds up the attack. The gravity of the issue has been examined in the matrix of imminent dangers of dealing with nuclear energy. In its last limb, the paper proposes a correction of the Act to put the law onto an effective road to implementation and suggests ways to put it into action.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"87 3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127412384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Looking Through the Prism of International Environment and Human Rights Law – International Civil Nuclear Liability Law and a Call for Indian Exceptionalism","authors":"S. Bhattacharjee","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048430","url":null,"abstract":"As the spectre of climate change and competition over fossil fuels have led energy-hungry states towards nuclear power, liability rules for nuclear damage have acquired increased significance. However, many of the core common elements of the existing international legal regimes on civil nuclear liability – channelling of liability, quantum and temporal limits, definition of harm, etc. – are not only based on outdated assumptions on the price and utility of nuclear energy, but also conflict with contemporary international environmental law principles. This gulf creates negative incentives against precautionary measures, limits compensation available for potential victims and lends artificial competitiveness to nuclear power. As a result these international regimes cannot, in their present form, serve as appropriate models for Indian attempts at institutionalisation of its liability norms.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"173 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129437626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Role of the Indian political system in shaping India’s nuclear policy","authors":"R. P. Rajagopalan, Uma Purushothaman","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048428","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048428","url":null,"abstract":"This paper attempts to examine the role played by various actors in the Indian political system in shaping the nuclear policy in India. The focus will be on the role of the parliament, political parties and prominent civil society groups in influencing the ‘nuclear debate’ and framing policy. The Indo-US civil nuclear deal and the Nuclear Liability Law are taken as case studies. While parliament had no direct say in the ratification of the nuclear deal, the government had to face a no-confidence motion in its aftermath. Similarly, the nuclear liability law was passed only after the government agreed to the demands of the parliament to hike the liability cap and also included 18 amendments suggested by the House. In this paper, we propose to delineate the capacity and influence of the key political actors in India in shaping the country’s nuclear policy.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"186 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122076397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"India’s nuclear energy architecture – global actions and local responses","authors":"S. Ganeshan","doi":"10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNUCL.2012.048429","url":null,"abstract":"Post-Fukushima, while some countries decided to shift away from nuclear energy, others like India that continue to pursue their nuclear ambitions have been facing challenges domestically – especially, local-level protests against expansion of nuclear energy. In parallel, India has made significant progress at the global front in civilian nuclear energy ties. While India has attained prominence internationally, the domestic perception of nuclear energy has been mixed resulting in delays affecting the achievement of energy security objectives – a major concern for India. In this context, the paper would comprehensively discuss the role of India’s nuclear energy architecture globally and locally to understand this contrast and its future implications for India’s nuclear energy sector. It would focus on the role of the state and influence of other stakeholders, the key domestic concerns around nuclear energy expansion, besides locating India in the global nuclear energy order post the nuclear agreements.","PeriodicalId":443808,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Nuclear Law","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116735752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}