The SHANTI Bill, 2025 marks a structural transformation of India's nuclear energy sector. Critically examine its provisions relating to private participation, regulatory independence of AERB, and nuclear liability, highlighting the trade-offs involved.

Q. The SHANTI Bill, 2025 marks a structural transformation of India's nuclear energy sector. Critically examine its provisions relating to private participation, regulatory independence of AERB, and nuclear liability, highlighting the trade-offs involved. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

India's installed nuclear capacity stands near 9 GW against a target of 100 GW by 2047 [3]. By repealing the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 and consolidating them into a single statute [2], the SHANTI Bill replaces state monopoly with a licensed-entry regime — enabling, but not free of risk.

Private participation: capital versus control - Non-government entities — Indian companies, joint ventures and approved individuals — may now build, own and operate reactors and undertake nuclear fuel activities [1], unlocking capital and technology that NPCIL alone cannot mobilise. - Strategic safeguards retained: mines of atomic minerals and trade in prescribed substances stay under government control [1], insulating the weapons and thorium programme. - Trade-off: a commercial operator's profit motive can strain safety culture, making regulatory capacity, not equity limits, the real safeguard.

AERB: statutory, but not fully insulated - First-ever statutory recognition for the AERB, with a chairperson, a full-time member and up to seven part-time members chosen through a search-cum-selection committee [1] — ending four decades of purely executive existence. - Trade-off: all members are appointed by the Central Government, which simultaneously grants licences [1]. The promoter-regulator overlap is narrowed, not eliminated.

Liability: predictability versus compensation - The flat ₹1,500 crore operator cap gives way to a graded structure of ₹100–3,000 crore keyed to installation type, with the government meeting liability beyond the cap [1] — restoring supplier confidence stalled since 2010. - Trade-off: a lower floor for smaller reactors risks under-compensating victims, and the residual burden shifts to the exchequer, i.e. the taxpayer.

The Bill correctly trades monopoly for scale, but its promise rests on execution. Fixed tenure and independent funding for the AERB, periodic indexation of liability caps, and transparent licensing disclosures would align the reform with both energy security and the Article 21 right to a safe environment.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. PRS Legislative Research — SHANTI Bill, 2025 (Bill Summary) — permitted private activities, reserved government control, AERB composition and appointment, graded ₹100–3,000 crore liability replacing the flat ₹1,500 crore cap, central licensing authority 2. PIB — The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025 — repeal of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and CLNDA, 2010 into a single statute 3. PIB — Rajya Sabha passes SHANTI Bill 2025, after it was passed by Lok Sabha — present ~9 GW capacity and the 100 GW-by-2047 target