Shanti Bill, 2025
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025
A Layman’s Guide to What’s Happening
Bharat, a name which flames up pride in the hearts of billions of people. Bharat, a nation which flames up fear among hundreds of nations. Bharat is a goddess which provides shelter to billions of people.
Preface
As we all know, our nation has always been in the race for nuclear wealth and has never had its back up against the wall; however, undeniably, there were some lacking and some shortcomings since the nuclear race had started; therefore, we are not being awarded the first position in this race. Nations like the USA, Russia, China, and France are way ahead. Our government has tried many methods in order to improve our nuclear condition, and the most recent of those efforts is the Shanti Bill, 2025.
A Snapshot Showing the Nuclear Share Among the World
Shanti Bill, 2025: In Layman Terms
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Act, 2025 (Shanti) blows the older legislations like the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, 2010, out of the water and unifies the nuclear production scene.
Key Changes Introduced by the Bill
- The welcoming of private players in the industry, both national and international, but with regulatory oversights, means many important functions like the management of spent fuel would still be wholly under the control of the central government, thus killing the Atomic Energy Act, 1962’s main theme.
- Removing the liability from both the operator and the supplier to the operator only; however, limiting the operator’s liability to only Rs. 3000 crore, and if any damage caused demands an amount greater than that, the government shall pay it on the operator’s behalf.
- Grants formal statutory recognition to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to strengthen regulatory independence and authority.
- Sets up new and better redressal method for grievances.
A Giant Leap Forward?
On the surface this bill might look like what exactly the industry needs, but one has to keep in mind if our country is even ready for the jump it is about to make. Why this question arises is because of our government’s past record of redressal method.
Are civilians completely relaxed with our redressal systems? Many cases to this day are pending even after having so much media coverage about them, even after trying to solve the problem by the government this issue still prevails.
This bill does give statutory recognition to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and sets up a new legal framework for redressal, but so did the Mediation Act, 2023, and we all know that there is no realised relief by the public. People still cry out the same cry.
What if this turns out like the Bhopal Gas Leak, 1984 incident which led to the change in industrial laws in India and how the CEO then Warren Anderson never faced a trial in India.
What the Nation Would Want
Strength of the Redressal System
The redressal system can India bear the consequence of any tragedy and give justice to the harmed or would it go pending like any other case? The government shall improve the legal infrastructure so that the justice can be provided.
Our government shall know that doing justice is simply not enough and our citizens shall also see the justice happening in order to actually do justice to the “Shanti” in Shanti Bill, 2025.
Concerns Regarding Liability Cap
Capping the liability to a certain amount rather than adjusting it according to the damage done only gives full power to the rich ones, therefore this cap shall be removed and even if the government is to keep the cap there must be adjustments with regards to the inflation rate every year.
Supplier’s Liability and the Polluter Pays Principle
Removing the supplier’s liability completely would violate the Polluter Pays Principle. Any supply of faulty equipment by the supplier would put the blame on the operator. This could also result in the weakening of moral compasses of the suppliers in the industry and mistakes like this could be proved lethal to many lives.
Therefore, the bill’s decision of putting lives of many innocent people to the mercy of morality of some suppliers is simply not fair.
| Principle | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Polluter Pays Principle | The commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment. |
Source: https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-polluter-pays-principle/
Foreign Players and Self-Reliance
Straight away opening the paths of foreign players in a very crucial industry would not be good for business for our Indian players since the international parties would come in with very high capitals as compared to our Indian parties.
This would not make our country very self-dependent and would force our Indian players to find a field outside their comfort zone, so our government shall give the first priority to our own people.
Conclusion
Nuclear energy is one the most cleanest energy and would do wonders in terms of sustainable development and investing in this industry would clearly be very benefitting for our future generations and even for our current world scenario where nuclear energy is also seen as a symbol of power and dominance over other nations.
Therefore, it is only natural that our government aims to improve the nuclear conditions of our country by making new legislations. However, this great leap shall not turn into a rushed jump because it might make the situation worse than what we have at our hands.
Bharat should work on its legal framework and be very quick with any changes required to be made and as per the current bill. It is a well required reform; however, it is not all black and white, so our government shall keep it under review if there is any other deeper concern apart from what we have discussed in this article.
It is not only the duty of our government but as the citizens of this country we all should be equally aware of what we want, since the government is nothing without people and is useless if the wellbeing of its citizens is not the priority.
Written By: Rakshit Sharma, law student and the views presented in this article are personal.
