U.S. nuclear suppliers remain deeply sceptical of the assurances on interpretations of civil nuclear liability provided over the weekend by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, both on Section 17 (b) and on Section 46 of the country’s liability law, according to persons close to the discussions here. Not fully evaluated One source, who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, said that although the nuclear suppliers have not been able to evaluate in their entirety the FAQ-style notes supplied by the MEA on Sunday, it was clear that in the case of India’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND) 2010 “a statutory requirement cannot be waived by contract.” In its notes the MEA suggested it was a right but not a mandatory requirement that liability be channelled to the supplier, i.e. In this case, the U.S. nuclear corporations. “A memorandum from the Indian government doesn’t bind the Indian courts or supersede the statute,” the source said. U.S. nuclear corporations also appeared not to have derived much reassurance from the MEA’s comments on Section 46, which may allow victims of a nuclear incident to sue the operator or the supplier for damages using tort law. The government had used parliamentary debates to support their case that liability under tort law did not include suppliers,citing in favour of its interpretation the fact that two amendments moved on the section in Parliament, by D. Raja and Sitaram Yechury respectively, which sought to include suppliers in this provision, were both negatived. Interpretation unclear However the analysis of that remark here appeared to question whether Parliamentary debates were definitive on this subject, and even whether the legislative interpretation was clear. A source explained to The Hindu that there were other debates in Parliament at the time, which suggested that Members of Parliament might not have understood all the ramifications Section 46 liability. Two U.S. companies GE and Westinghouse are at the forefront of nuclear business that could be negotiated once administrative arrangements between the two governments are signed. Despite President Obama and PM Modi announcing a breakthrough in nuclear negotiations, commercial transactions will only follow once the legal teams of these companies agree to go ahead to the next step. “A memorandum from the Indian government doesn’t bind the Indian courts or supersede the statute,” says a source