UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Can SHANTI Act override court on compensation for nuclear disasters, asks SC

Q1. The legislative and administrative implementation of the SHANTI Act, 2025, including licensing of nuclear installations, is handled in India by which one of the following?

  • A. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, which administers the country's non-fossil generation programmes
  • B. The Department of Atomic Energy, which piloted the legislation in Parliament
  • C. The Ministry of Power, which administers generation and transmission licensing in the country
  • D. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which grants environmental clearances to power projects

Q2. In the nuclear capacity roadmap that the SHANTI framework is intended to support, the Government has set a target of at least how many Small Modular Reactors being operational by 2033?

  • A. Three
  • B. Five
  • C. Ten
  • D. Twenty-two

Q3. Under the SHANTI Act, 2025, the graded limits on the liability of an operator for different types of nuclear installations are set out in which one of the following?

  • A. The Second Schedule to the Act, which varies the limit with the type and characteristics of the installation
  • B. The First Schedule to the Act, which lists the classes of nuclear installations requiring a licence
  • C. Rules to be framed by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board under its statutory rule-making power
  • D. A notification of the Central Government issued for each installation at the time of licensing

Q4. Consider the following statements comparing the Supreme Court's 2026 proceedings on the SHANTI Act with its earlier handling of disaster compensation: 1. In the SHANTI Act matter the Court issued a limited notice confined to specified questions, one of them being whether courts are precluded from granting fair and just compensation after a nuclear accident. 2. In March 2023, a Constitution Bench dismissed the Union Government's curative petition seeking additional compensation for the 1984 Bhopal disaster, holding that the earlier settlement could not be reopened. 3. The SHANTI Act petition was placed before a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. In the SHANTI Act matter the Court issued a limited notice confined to specified questions, one of them being whether courts are precluded from granting fair and just compensation after a nuclear accident.
  2. In March 2023, a Constitution Bench dismissed the Union Government's curative petition seeking additional compensation for the 1984 Bhopal disaster, holding that the earlier settlement could not be reopened.
  3. The SHANTI Act petition was placed before a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. In Supreme Court practice, the expression 'limited notice', as used when the Court proceeded in the SHANTI Act challenge, denotes which one of the following?

  • A. Notice issued to the respondents only on certain specified questions, leaving the remaining prayers in the petition untouched
  • B. Notice issued to only some of the several respondents arrayed in the petition, the rest being deleted from the array
  • C. Notice requiring the respondents to file their reply within an abridged period fixed by the Court in the same order
  • D. Notice accompanied by an interim order restraining the respondents from acting until the reply affidavit is filed

Q6. The Special Drawing Right, in which the overall liability ceiling for a nuclear incident is expressed, is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. An international reserve asset created and allocated by the International Monetary Fund, whose value is based on a basket of major currencies
  • B. The reserve tranche position that a member country may draw upon unconditionally from the International Monetary Fund
  • C. A concessional credit line extended by the World Bank to member countries facing balance of payments stress
  • D. The quota-linked voting share held by a member country in the decision-making organs of the International Monetary Fund

Q7. Consider the following statements about the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) and India's position with respect to it: 1. The Convention, adopted in 1997, establishes a two-tier system under which the installation State must make available at least 300 million SDR, supplemented by an international fund to which all contracting parties contribute on a formula basis. 2. India deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention in 2016. 3. The Convention entered into force in 2008, upon its ratification by the United States. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Convention, adopted in 1997, establishes a two-tier system under which the installation State must make available at least 300 million SDR, supplemented by an international fund to which all contracting parties contribute on a formula basis.
  2. India deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention in 2016.
  3. The Convention entered into force in 2008, upon its ratification by the United States.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q8. Which of the following are correctly identified as features of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's position under the SHANTI Act, 2025?

  1. Its members hold office for an initial term of three years, which may be extended by a further three years.
  2. It is conferred statutory status for the first time, having earlier functioned on the basis of executive constitution.
  3. Complaints for offences under the Act may be filed in court only by officers authorised by the Central Government or by the Board.
  4. It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 3 and 4

Q9. Which of the following statements about the two nuclear accidents commonly cited as cost benchmarks in nuclear liability debates are correctly identified?

  1. The 1986 Chernobyl accident occurred in the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union and began with a power surge during a test, followed by a prolonged graphite fire.
  2. At Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, the cores of three units melted due to decay heat after the loss of the electricity supply, the facility being operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company.
  3. Both the Chernobyl and the Fukushima Daiichi accidents were rated at Level 7, the highest level of the International Nuclear Event Scale.
  4. The reactors involved at Chernobyl were of the boiling-water type, six of which had been constructed at the site between 1971 and 1979.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 4