The future of India’s nuclear power

The new SHANTI law adopted, where is India’s civil nuclear power headed?

- SUDHEER PAL SINGH

With the new nuclear energy law, Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI), finally coming into force, India has taken the first step to join the modern age of nuclear power generation and commerce.

In this, it will be helped by provisions that seek to strike a balance between a stable and predictable investment environment and a strong regulatory regime cementing safety and security of critical infrastructure and their operations.

‘That basic framework in place, what would the country’s nuclear power sector look like in the years to come? How soon before nuclear technology starts playing the hoped-for decisive role in boosting nuclear power generation capacity from a meagre 8.7 Gigawatts (Gw) at present to 100 Gw by 2047?

Experts say the enactment of the SHANTI aw is a landmark development for nuclear energy in India. It gives the country a single harmonised law for nuclear power in place of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA), 2010.

‘This essentially means nuclear power will now be open to participants beyond the central government and its entities through the introduction of a transparent licensing framework, supported by an independent regulatory architecture to enable efficient governance and competitive determination of tariffs.