{"id":66670,"date":"2026-02-13T18:22:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=66670"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:23:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T12:53:38","slug":"shanti-act-nuclear-liability-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-02-2026\/shanti-act-nuclear-liability-india","title":{"rendered":"SHANTI Act and the Nuclear Liability Debate in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus:&nbsp; GS3\/ Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing of Advancement of Nuclear Technology for India) Act 2025, have triggered concerns regarding safety standards, victim compensation, and long-term energy strategy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Traditionally, nuclear power plants in India have been owned and operated only by state-owned <strong>Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL)<\/strong> and its fully-owned subsidiary <strong>Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The SHANTI Act opens the nuclear power sector to private entities and alters the liability framework under the<strong> Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA), 2010.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key provisions of the SHANTI Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Revamp of the Nuclear Liability Regime: <\/strong>The Act indemnifies nuclear suppliers by channeling liability for any accident to the operator. <strong>It omits the \u201cright of recourse\u201d<\/strong> that allows operators to sue suppliers for accidents caused by defective equipment.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Act also omits <strong>Clause 46 <\/strong>of the CLNDA, which allowed victims to invoke other laws, including criminal laws, to seek remedies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Act provides a legislative framework<\/strong> for the <strong>Atomic Energy Regulatory Board <\/strong>but limits the Board\u2019s independence by stipulating that its members will be selected by a committee constituted by the <strong>Atomic Energy Commission.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Exemption for Certain Activities: <\/strong>Allows exemption from a license for limited activities like research, development, and innovation-related work.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulation of Non-Power Applications:<\/strong> Provides a regulatory framework for the use of nuclear and radiation technologies in health care, agriculture, industry, research, and other peaceful applications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"cfdee8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"676\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-63.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-66675\" style=\"--dominant-color: #cfdee8; width:569px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-63.png 676w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-63-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns raised over SHANTI Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The indemnification of suppliers is one of the most <strong>contentious aspects<\/strong> of the Act.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster<\/strong> exposed weaknesses in reactor containment design and emergency preparedness.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Chernobyl disaster<\/strong> involved structural design flaws, including a positive power coefficient and inadequate emergency shutdown systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Three Mile Island <\/strong>accident revealed significant control room design failures and communication lapses by suppliers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Issue of Moral Hazard: <\/strong>Protecting agents from the consequences of their actions creates a \u201cmoral hazard\u201d and encourages them to take greater risks.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Act indemnifies operators for accidents caused by <strong>\u201ca grave natural disaster\u201d<\/strong>, reversing India\u2019s<strong> \u201cabsolute liability\u201d<\/strong> framework for hazardous industries. This reduces the industry\u2019s incentive to establish resilient plants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enhance <strong>transparency and public consultation in site selection<\/strong>, environmental clearance, and safety audits to build community trust and reduce project delays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build <strong>climate-resilient nuclear infrastructure<\/strong> by mandating higher safety benchmarks against extreme natural disasters, especially in light of lessons from the <strong>Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Establish a robust nuclear insurance pool with adequate sovereign backing to ensure swift and fair compensation in case of accidents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/a-case-against-the-shanti-act-explained\/article70623943.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing of Advancement of Nuclear Technology for India) Act 2025, have triggered concerns regarding safety standards, victim compensation, and long-term energy strategy. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Traditionally, nuclear power plants in India have been owned and operated only by state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and its fully-owned subsidiary Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI). <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The SHANTI Act opens the nuclear power sector to private entities and alters the liability framework under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA), 2010. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-02-2026\/shanti-act-nuclear-liability-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66670"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66679,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66670\/revisions\/66679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}