OTTAWA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Canada will raise the limit on damages that victims claim for nuclear accidents to 650 million Canadian dollars (617 million U. S. dollars), a large increase from the original amount of 75 million, local media reported Friday.

    But that number, contained in a government bill before parliament, is still much less than the amounts in some other countries and has led to criticism from some environmental groups, The Globe and Mail newspaper said.

    Reactors in the U.S. have a call on about 10 billion U. S. dollars to cover accidents, Japan has about 1.4 billion and Germany has unlimited liability.

    Greenpeace issued a report this week saying the money is far from enough even if an accident happens in one of the nuclear stations located in isolated regions.

    Shawn-Patrick Stensil, a spokesman for the group, said the new compensation limit is "definitely not" adequate and would be quickly used up by those with claims from a major incident.

    But Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt defended the new limit, saying the figure was in line with international standards and was a fair compromise balancing "the needs of victims with society's interest in nuclear development."

    An e-mailed response from the Natural Resources Department said it based the liability limit in part on its estimates of the effects of the "worst case foreseeable nuclear incidents" likely to occur in Canada.