Discuss how international sanctions following India's 1974 nuclear test shaped the trajectory of indigenous nuclear technology development. Should India now import foreign reactor technology, or consolidate its cost advantage?

Q. Discuss how international sanctions following India's 1974 nuclear test shaped the trajectory of indigenous nuclear technology development. Should India now import foreign reactor technology, or consolidate its cost advantage? (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India's 1974 test invited technology-denial regimes that shut off reactor and fuel imports. Rather than ending the programme, this compulsion redirected it inward — a legacy that should now guide, but not constrain, the Nuclear Energy Mission.

How sanctions shaped the trajectory - Forced indigenisation of design and manufacture: the DAE–industry partnership scaled domestic PHWRs to 700 MW units, with full indigenisation achieved in major reactor components and fuel assemblies [1]. - Closed fuel cycle imperative: denied enriched fuel, India persisted with the three-stage programme; the indigenous PFBR at Kalpakkam attained first criticality on 6 April 2026, taking India into stage two [2]. - A domestic vendor base: capability now supports fleet-mode construction of ten 700 MW PHWRs [1]. - The cost: isolation slowed scale — installed capacity remains only about 8,180 MW, a small share of the power mix [3].

The case for importing reactor technology - Bridges the gap to 22,480 MW by 2031-32 and 100 GW by 2047 [3]. - Brings large light-water reactors, advanced fuel technology and external capital. - The SHANTI Act, 2025, replacing the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and CLND Act, 2010, licensing private and joint-venture entry, capping liability and giving AERB statutory status, has removed the old legal barriers to partnership [4].

The case for consolidating indigenous capability - Post-2008 import negotiations largely stalled on cost; the indigenous PHWR is proven, cheaper and fully supply-secure [1]. - The ₹20,000 crore SMR programme, targeting at least five indigenous SMRs by 2033, offers a domestic scaling route [3]. - Cost leadership creates export potential and preserves strategic autonomy.

India's realistic path is consolidation with calibrated openness: the indigenous PHWR–SMR fleet as the mainstay, with selective import of technology only where it fills a genuine capability gap under safeguards. Sanctions turned constraint into competence; the task now is to convert that competence into scale, serving energy security, SDG-7 and the net-zero-2070 pledge.

(~325 words)

Sources: 1. NPCIL's Indigenous 700 MW PHWR at Rawatbhata reaches full power — PIB — indigenisation of 700 MW PHWR components and fuel; fleet-mode programme 2. Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam attains First Criticality — PIB — PFBR criticality, 6 April 2026; entry into stage two 3. Nuclear Power in Union Budget 2025-26 — PIB — 8,180 MW present capacity, 22,480 MW by 2031-32, 100 GW by 2047, ₹20,000 crore SMR outlay 4. The SHANTI Bill, 2025 — PRS Legislative Research — replacement of the 1962 and 2010 Acts, private licensing, liability caps, statutory AERB