In the context of India's Net-Zero target by 2070, assess the role that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Micro Modular Reactors (MMRs) can play alongside renewables in India's energy transition.

Q. In the context of India's Net-Zero target by 2070, assess the role that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Micro Modular Reactors (MMRs) can play alongside renewables in India's energy transition. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India's Net-Zero-2070 pathway needs firm, low-carbon power to back a renewables-led grid. SMRs (up to 300 MW) and MMRs (typically sub-10 MW) offer exactly this, and the Union Budget 2025-26's Nuclear Energy Mission has made them a formal pillar of the transition [1].

Complementarity with renewables - Firm clean baseload: near-zero operational emissions with round-the-clock output, offsetting solar-wind intermittency and easing the storage burden. - Hard-to-abate industry: 220 MW Bharat Small Reactors are offered for captive use by steel, aluminium and other metals industries [2]. - Green hydrogen linkage: BARC's HTGR (up to 5 MWth) supplies high-temperature process heat for hydrogen, reinforcing the National Green Hydrogen Mission [3]. - Siting flexibility: modular units suit remote, grid-weak and industrial locations where large plants are unviable.

The enabling ecosystem - ₹20,000 crore allocation; at least five indigenous SMRs by 2033 and 100 GWe nuclear by 2047 [1]. - Indigenous designs — BSMR-200 and SMR-55 — under development at BARC [3]. - The SHANTI Act, 2025, replacing the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and CLNDA, 2010, permits private and foreign participation and caps operator liability, removing the old supplier-liability deterrent [4]. - Private capital is responding: the Fairwood Nuclear–SK Securities agreement (June 2026) for SMR/MMR project development and financing [5].

Limits to that role - Long gestation — first units only around 2033, so little contribution to 2030 NDC milestones. - Cost per MW remains above utility-scale solar; viability depends on serial, factory-style manufacture. - Fuel supply, spent-fuel management and specialised manpower remain bottlenecks. - Public acceptance and siting concerns persist after Kudankulam-type experiences.

SMRs and MMRs are therefore best assessed not as substitutes for renewables but as their stabiliser — supplying the firm, dispatchable clean power that solar, wind and storage alone cannot yet guarantee. Timely regulatory operationalisation, indigenous supply-chain scale-up and transparent safety communication will decide the outcome. Delivered on schedule, they can anchor the firm-power leg of India's Viksit Bharat 2047 and Net-Zero 2070 commitments.

(~325 words)

Sources: 1. A Nuclear Energy Mission for Research & Development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) will be set up: Budget 2025-26 — PIB — ₹20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission, five SMRs by 2033, 100 GWe by 2047 2. NPCIL Invites Proposals for Setting Up 220 MW Bharat Small Reactors (BSR) for Captive Use — PIB — BSR RFP for captive power in hard-to-abate industries 3. A New Chapter in India's Nuclear Journey — PIB Factsheet — BSMR-200, SMR-55 and HTGR (5 MWth) for hydrogen generation 4. President Murmu gives assent to SHANTI Bill — News Services Division, All India Radio — SHANTI Act, 2025 enabling private/foreign participation and revised liability regime 5. Fairwood, SK Securities sign small reactor project pact — The Hindu, 4 June 2026 — private-sector financing tie-up for SMR/MMR development in India