Government seeks stakeholder comments on nuclear rules and regulations
The government released draft regulations inviting stakeholder comments on licensing, safety, and financial-security norms for private participation in nuclear power generation.
The draft proposes a single unified license covering a project's construction, ownership, operation, and decommissioning stages, replacing the earlier fragmented, government-monopoly regime.
Companies will first need to secure an "in-principle" approval — obtainable even before a project's site or reactor technology is finalised — after which they can negotiate with technology suppliers, arrange land, and prepare infrastructure ahead of final licensing.
Any foreign reactor design used by a private developer must have a demonstrated track record of safe operation elsewhere, and mandatory financial-security arrangements are proposed to cover potential nuclear damage liability.
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is designated the primary safety oversight body under the new regime.
The SHANTI Act, 2025 and the New Nuclear Legal Framework
For the first time since Independence, India's nuclear power sector — historically a strict government monopoly — is being opened to private and foreign investment. This is enabled by a new consolidated law that replaces the two founding statutes governing atomic energy.
Key Details
- The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025 was passed by Parliament in December 2025.
- It repeals and supersedes both the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (which had reserved nuclear power generation exclusively for government-owned entities) and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLND Act), folding licensing, safety regulation, and liability provisions into a single statute.
- A key reform addresses supplier liability: the CLND Act, 2010 had created open-ended, unlimited liability exposure for equipment suppliers (a provision widely blamed for deterring foreign reactor suppliers from Indian projects post-Fukushima); the new Act caps and better defines this liability to make projects insurable.
The draft rules now open for stakeholder comment are the subordinate regulations operationalising the SHANTI Act's private-participation provisions — translating the enabling law into the licensing, safety-authorisation, and financial-security mechanics private companies will actually have to follow.
Nuclear Energy Mission and India's 100 GW-by-2047 Target
India has set an ambitious long-term target to scale up nuclear power capacity as part of its energy security and net-zero strategy.
Key Details
- The Nuclear Energy Mission was announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, targeting 100 GW of nuclear power generation capacity by 2047 (India's centenary of independence), supporting the broader national commitment to net-zero emissions by 2070.
- The Mission earmarked an outlay of roughly ₹20,000 crore for the research, design, and deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
- India aims to develop and operationalise at least five indigenous SMRs by 2033; the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is developing designs including the Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR, ~220 MW) and a smaller SMR-55 (~55 MW), besides a High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor design.
Private-sector entry through the new licensing framework is the delivery mechanism for the 100 GW target — the government has signalled it cannot fund capacity addition at this scale through public-sector utilities (NPCIL) alone, making private capital and SMR deployment central to the Mission's math.
Regulatory Architecture: AERB and Safety Authorisation
Nuclear safety regulation in India is distinct from the ownership/operational side and is designed to remain independent of the entities being regulated.
Key Details
- The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) was constituted in 1983 under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to lay down and enforce safety, radiological protection, and security standards for nuclear and radiation facilities.
- Under the new draft rules, AERB continues as the primary safety regulator even as private players enter, with mandatory "safety authorisations" required for all radiation- and nuclear-related activities regardless of who owns or operates a plant.
- Financial security instruments (insurance/guarantee mechanisms) are being introduced so operators — including new private ones — can meet potential nuclear-damage liability without threatening project viability, addressing a long-standing criticism that the CLND Act's liability regime was commercially unworkable.
The current round of stakeholder consultation is specifically on the licensing and safety rulebook AERB and the licensing authority will use to vet private applicants — a governance safeguard meant to ensure that opening the sector to profit-seeking entities does not dilute nuclear safety standards.
- SHANTI Act, 2025: passed by Lok Sabha in December 2025; repeals the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.
- Nuclear Energy Mission target: 100 GW nuclear capacity by 2047; announced in Union Budget 2025-26 with a ~₹20,000 crore SMR outlay.
- India targets at least 5 indigenous Small Modular Reactors operational by 2033.
- AERB was established in 1983 under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 as India's nuclear safety regulator.
- The draft rules propose a single unified license spanning construction, ownership, operation, and decommissioning of a nuclear project.