The government passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India bill, or SHANTI, for an administration that loves acronyms – in Parliament's winter session, which concluded Friday.
The SHANTI bill was approved via voice vote amid a walkout by most opposition lawmakers to protest something else entirely – the G RAM G bill that replaces the Congress-sponsored MNREGA, or the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
Billed as a major overhaul of India's nuclear energy sector, it is aimed at a) expanding nuclear power generation and, b) allowing more players, including private firms, to build and operate parts of the nuclear value chain – i.e., the sequence of activities, products, and services to produce nuclear energy – while ensuring strict and transparent safety and oversight at all times.
The bill was tabled in Parliament by junior Atomic Energy Minister Jitendra Singh, who described it as a legislation to "modernise India's nuclear framework, in line with contemporary technological, economic, and energy realities, while retaining and strengthening core safety, security, and regulatory safeguards that have been in place since the Atomic Energy Act, 1962".
The highlight, of course, is the opening of the sector to private firms.
India's civil nuclear sector was, till now, dominated by the government.
The bill allows private companies and joint ventures to set up and operate nuclear facilities, as also participate in other activities in the chain, including the transport of nuclear fuel.
Certain activities, however, such as uranium enrichment, will remain with the government.
From an oversight perspective, the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which carries out certain regulatory and safety functions, including developing safety guidelines for the design, construction, operation, and decommissioning of nuclear plants, has been strengthened.
It has been given statutory status, meaning it can independently enforce its own guidelines, and has the power to inspect facilities, probe accidents, and even cancel operations if needed.
An Atomic Energy Redressal Advisory Council will also be created; its purpose will be to hear appeals against the government or AERB.
Oversight under this bill will be extended also across the lifecycle of nuclear facilities, right from the design stage. That is, the government, via the AERB, will be involved even in the architectural design of all proposed facilities in the value chain, including nuclear waste management.
As a corollary, the SHANTI bill also has clear regulatory guidelines for the issue of licences.
Also included in the ambit of this bill is a reworking of compensation in cases of nuclear accidents. Previously handled by the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, the new legislation retains the 'no fault operator liability principle', i.e., negligence need not be proven, but it does have a tiered cap on operator liability, i.e., the pay outs to victims and survivors.
This ranges from Rs 100 crore to Rs 300 crore depending on the plant size.
It also denies compensation from issues arising from defective equipment or materials – a change that has been heavily discussed in political and public spaces.
The government has said the SHANTI bill ensures a "pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage” and, simultaneously, does not dilute compensation to victims or survivors. The compensation cap, it has been argued, is to encourage smaller plants and the use of newer technology, like small modular reactors, without sacrificing oversight in any way.
Overall, the SHANTI bill is supposed to promote the growth of nuclear energy in the country, the government has said, to help reach a target of generating 100 GW of power by 2047.
