Private Players in Nuclear Power: AERB Says Safety Rules Will Not Be Diluted
The Chairperson of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), India's nuclear safety regulator, said that the entry of private companies into nuclear power will bring no compromise on safety.
The AERB will give new players an "enabling environment" (clear, supportive rules and processes), but will not dilute any safety or regulatory requirement.
The remarks matter because the SHANTI Act, 2025 has opened nuclear power generation to private companies for the first time, and the Union government has made a policy decision to welcome them.
The same law has given the AERB a statutory (law-based) status, so it now regulates both government and private operators under one safety licence system.
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board is India's nuclear safety watchdog. It makes sure that nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel facilities and machines that use radiation (like hospital X-ray and cancer-treatment machines) are built and run safely. Its job is to protect workers, the public and the environment from harmful radiation. No nuclear plant can be built, started or run without its permission.
As private companies prepare to build reactors, the AERB is the single safety gate every one of them must pass. Its chairperson's assurance means the same staged licensing and inspection rules that apply to government plants will apply to private ones.
SHANTI Act, 2025: Opening India's Nuclear Power Sector
The SHANTI Act, 2025 is India's new main law for nuclear energy. SHANTI stands for Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India. It replaced two older laws: the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. Its biggest change is that private Indian companies can now build, own and run nuclear power plants, which earlier only government companies could do.
The SHANTI Act is the reason private players are entering the sector, and it is also the law that makes the AERB their regulator. The AERB chairperson's remarks show how the regulator plans to balance the Act's two goals: faster growth of nuclear power and no weakening of safety.
- Regulator: Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), set up on 15 November 1983 under Section 27 of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962
- Statutory status for AERB: SHANTI Act, 2025
- SHANTI Act: passed by Parliament on 18 December 2025; President's assent on 20 December 2025
- Laws repealed: Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010
- Operator liability: graded cap of ₹100 crore to ₹3,000 crore (earlier flat ₹1,500 crore)
- AERB licensing stages: siting, construction, commissioning, operation, decommissioning