Examine how the SHANTI Bill, 2025 addresses India's energy security imperatives while balancing concerns of nuclear safety and victim compensation. What further legislative safeguards are needed?

Q. Examine how the SHANTI Bill, 2025 addresses India's energy security imperatives while balancing concerns of nuclear safety and victim compensation. What further legislative safeguards are needed? (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India's installed nuclear capacity stands at nearly 9 GW against a target of 100 GW by 2047 [2]. The SHANTI Bill, 2025, replacing the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, seeks to close this gap by ending the state monopoly — a shift that carries real trade-offs on safety and compensation.

Addressing energy security - Ends NPCIL's monopoly: private Indian companies, joint ventures and foreign entities may now build, own, operate and decommission nuclear plants, unlocking capital the state alone cannot mobilise [2]. - Complements the Nuclear Energy Mission, with ₹20,000 crore allocated in Budget 2025-26 for design and deployment of Small Modular Reactors [3]. - Removal of supplier liability aligns India with international nuclear liability conventions, reviving stalled foreign supplier interest [1]. - Low-carbon baseload capacity directly supports India's net-zero 2070 and non-fossil capacity commitments [3].

Safeguarding safety - Grants the AERB statutory recognition within the parent law for the first time, ending its dependence on a 1983 executive notification [1]. - Strategic activities remain State-reserved — enrichment, heavy water production and management of spent fuel beyond on-site storage — confining private entry to power generation [2]. - However, licensing power rests with the Central Government, not the regulator, and AERB appointments still route through the executive — diluting genuine independence [1].

Victim compensation concerns - Operator liability is now capped by plant capacity, and supplier liability withdrawn; a catastrophic event could exhaust the cap, leaving victims dependent on state relief [1].

Further safeguards needed - Statutory, collegium-based appointment and separate budget line for AERB. - Periodic, inflation-indexed revision of the liability cap, with a mandatory insurance pool. - A narrow right of recourse preserved for wilfully supplied defective equipment. - Annual safety reports laid before Parliament and a standing committee review of subordinate rules.

SHANTI is a necessary structural reform, converting nuclear energy from a state preserve into a national mission. Its promise, however, will be realised only if regulatory autonomy and victim compensation are strengthened in the rules framed under it — ensuring growth that honours the right to life under Article 21.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. PRS Legislative Research — Bill Summary, SHANTI Bill, 2025 — replacement of the 1962 and 2010 Acts, AERB statutory status, capped operator liability and removal of supplier liability, central licensing 2. PIB — "Rajya Sabha passes SHANTI Bill 2025, after it was passed by Lok Sabha" — end of NPCIL monopoly, private/foreign entry, State-reserved activities, ~9 GW capacity and 100 GW by 2047 target 3. PIB — "A Nuclear Energy Mission for Research & Development of Small Modular Reactors will be set up: Budget 2025-26" — ₹20,000 crore SMR outlay and clean-energy transition objective