Operating nuclear plants was ‘lifetime commitment’: Experts
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025, is to help India raise its installed nuclear power capacity from the existing 8.7 gigawatt (GW) to 100 GW by 2047
360° Perspective Analysis
Deep-dive into Geography, Polity, Economy, History, Environment & Social dimensions — AI-powered, on-demand
Context
The Government of India has enacted the , marking a historic paradigm shift by opening the historically guarded civil nuclear sector to private and foreign investment. This legislation aims to rapidly scale India's installed nuclear power capacity from the current 8.7 GW to an ambitious 100 GW by 2047, aligning with the country's clean energy goals. However, former regulators have cautioned that such privatization must be strictly regulated, requiring long-term financial and safety commitments to manage complex challenges like radioactive waste, liability claims, and the ultimate decommissioning of power plants.
UPSC Perspectives
Polity & Governance
The enactment of the fundamentally overhauls India's nuclear governance architecture by replacing the restrictive and the . Historically, India maintained a strict state monopoly over nuclear power, which severely bottlenecked capacity addition due to limited public capital. The new legislative framework successfully separates safety oversight from project licensing by finally granting independent statutory status to the . To attract global and private investment, the Act rationalizes the complex liability regime by removing controversial supplier liability clauses and capping operator liability at ₹3,000 crore for large reactors, with a tiered structure for smaller plants per incident, aligning India with global norms. While private companies can now build and operate reactors, the government retains sovereign control, explicitly preventing entities inimical to national security from acquiring operating licenses. For UPSC Mains, this represents a classic case of regulatory modernization, demonstrating how the state can balance the ease of doing business with strict national security oversight.
Economic
Scaling India's nuclear capacity from 8.7 GW to 100 GW requires massive capital mobilization and technological infusion that state-owned entities like cannot achieve alone. By permitting private Indian companies and joint ventures to build and operate projects in civilian nuclear projects, the government aims to unlock blended finance, establish joint ventures, and facilitate international technology transfers. Nuclear energy is economically critical because it provides uninterrupted baseload power, unlike intermittent renewable sources like solar or wind, making it the ideal energy source for emerging power-hungry sectors like artificial intelligence, data centers, and semiconductor manufacturing. The law also establishes a robust to ensure that victim compensation is financially secured without deterring private vendors and international suppliers. This market transition is a vital component of India's macroeconomic strategy to ensure long-term energy security and achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. Aspirants should link this economic shift to the recent Union Budget's ₹20,000 crore allocation for developing indigenous , which offer significantly lower upfront capital costs and faster deployment timelines.
Environmental & Safety
Despite its extremely low carbon footprint, nuclear energy poses severe intergenerational environmental risks, encapsulated perfectly by the experts' warning of a "lifetime commitment". Private operators entering the sector must legally demonstrate robust financial security to handle the entire nuclear lifecycle, which includes highly specialized nuclear waste management and the incredibly expensive process of decommissioning aged radioactive plants. The primary environmental concern is preventing latent technical failures that could potentially cascade into Fukushima-scale radiological disasters. Under the new law, the primary responsibility for safety and emergency preparedness shifts squarely to the private licensee, necessitating transparent reporting, rigorous peer reviews, and strict independent inspections. Maintaining absolute environmental compliance is critical, as any radiation leak would instantly destroy public trust and permanently derail the 100 GW expansion target. Ultimately, the success of this privatization drive hinges on the state's institutional capacity to enforce strict environmental safeguards while safely managing the spent fuel generated by these new commercial reactors.