Page 36 - The Insurance Times September 2022

companies to underwrite exposures arising out of the passage of Civil Liability of
Current scenario of
Nuclear Damage Act, (CLNDA) 2010. The Pool provides capacity for Insurance
Nuclear power plants
Coverage to Operators and Suppliers for any nuclear liability towards third party
under CLNDA 2010. insurance
Insurer New India Assurance (NIA) has
Nuclear Plant Insurance issued an insurance policy covering the
India's first insurance policy covering public liability to an atomic power plant Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd
operator was issued to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). The total (NPCIL). The public sector insurer
premium came around Rs. 100 crore for a risk cover of Rs. 1,500 crore. The covered the NPCIL's 21 nuclear plants
policy complies with all the provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage for a premium of US$14.8m. The new
Act (CLND). The insurance policy was issued by the country's largest non-life policy was issued on May 26. Previously,
insurer New India Assurance Company Ltd. The policy covered the liability towards NIA provided property insurance for
public as a consequence of any nuclear accident in the plants covered under the cold and hot zones separately. New
policy and also the right of recourse of NPCIL against equipment suppliers. India Assurance issued the policy for
the all the existing plants of NPCIL. It
The insurance coverage was for all the NPCIL's plants- like a floater cover. The will cover the hot zones for these
policy complied with all the provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage plants. There will be a separate cover
Act (CLND). The pool provides capacity for insurance coverage to operators and for suppliers. There are 21 existing
suppliers for any nuclear liability towards third party. It will also provide the risk nuclear plants in India, with five more
transfer mechanism to the operators and suppliers to meet their obligations to be launched. NPCIL currently
under the CLND Act, 2010. generates 4,750 MW of nuclear
power, and the power firm aims to
triple the output by 2022. A recent
Nuclear Power Plants in India 2021- Planned Projects
incident at Kakrapara Atomic Power
Power Plant Location Operator Type Total Capacity Station led to shutting down of one of
(MW) the plant's units due to leakage of
Kaiga Karnataka NPCIL IPHWR-700 1,400 coolant water. This led to increased
interest in nuclear liability insurance,
Jaitapur Maharashtra NPCIL EPR 9,900
echoing larger incidents such as
Kovvada Andhra Pradesh NPCIL AP1000 6,600
Chernobyl and Fukushima in other
Kavali Andhra Pradesh NPCIL VVER 6000
countries.
Gorakhpur Haryana NPCIL IPHWR-700 2,800
The main suppliers' of policy under INIP
Mahi Rajasthan NPCIL IPHWR-700 2,800
Banswara is 'Nuclear Supplier's Insurance Policy
(Right to Recourse only under the
Chutka Madhya Pradesh NPCIL IPHWR-700 1,400
CLND Act)' ("NSIP") and it provides
Kudankulam Tamil Nadu NPCIL VVER-1000 2,000
coverage for the supplier's liability
Unit 5- 6
under Section 17(a) and/or (b) under
Madras Tamil Nadu BHAVINI FBR 1,200 the CLND Act. While the terms of NSIP
Tarapur Maharashtra AHWR 300 are not available in public domain,
based on some publicly available
Total 33,000
information the main concern of
suppliers inter alia relate to the fact
India's nuclear power could provide a reliable solution to India's power
that a supplier can avail a policy under
demand as against wind and solar that is not available round the clock. This
NSIP only once the operator has
could further lead to a reduction in India's contribution to global Green House
availed a policy for the nuclear power
Gases (GHG) which stood at 6.55%, with energy sector contributing a little
plant under the operator's policy i.e.,
over two-third towards it. India's current nuclear power capacity of 6,790 MW
Nuclear Operator's Liability (CLND Act)
is expected to increase to 22,480 MW by 2031. This in turn is going to assist
Insurance Policy ("NOLIP").
the country in meeting zero energy targets along with other clean energy
Importantly, NOLIP needs to remain in
sources.
36 The Insurance Times, September 2022