The state-owned General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) ? the sole official reinsurer? has mobilised support of almost $78 million from local general insurers for the proposed nuclear pool, which will provide cover to the existing as well as new nuclear plants in the country.
Considering that the Nuclear Civil Liability Bill provides for a cover of $320 million for operator liability for each event and each plant, GIC Re is seeking the cover for the rest (around $242 million) of the amount from overseas nuclear pools, including China Nuclear Insurance Pool.
?We have started the process of setting up India’s Nuclear Pool, which will have participation from the local players. The next step is the inspection of the nuclear plants. This has taken time as there are still reservations about allowing inspection of nuclear plants by outsiders,” said Yogesh Lohiya, CMD, GIC Re.
GIC Re is the founder manager and administrator for the proposed nuclear pool. The government has accepted the responsibility of acting as the insurer of last resort for up to $300 million. The balance will be passed on to the Convention for Supplementary Compensation, if India becomes a member. GIC Re organised an international seminar on Inspection of Nuclear Power Plants on Tuesday, which saw participation by officials from China, UK and Russia nuclear pools. B Purniah, head, international division, Department of Atomic Energy, maintained that the government was willing to allow outside inspection of country’s nuclear plants.
Dispelling fears that sharing of confidential data on nuclear plants can impact national security, Mark Tetley, MD, Nuclear Risk Insurers ? the nuclear pool of the UK? said that nuclear pools are bound by the confidentiality clause. ?All 26 nuclear pools located all over the world have been sharing data with each other for so many years. There hasn’t been any instance of any breach of the confidentiality clause by any entity,” said Tetley.
GIC Re officials claimed that there would be no security implications of dealing with the China Nuclear Pool.
The proposed pool will cover material damage and the civil liability arising out of any harm to the hot and cold zones of nuclear plants. The cover limit for both property damage and third-party liability will be decided on the basis of several factors. The pool will also cover business interruption risks.
Currently, Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) is in talks with other state-owned companies like NTPC, BHEL and domestic private players like Reliance, L&T, GVK Power, GMR Energy for setting up nuclear plants.
It is expected that the country will see an investment of $27 billion on 18-20 nuclear plants over next 15 years.