{"id":87525,"date":"2026-02-13T11:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=87525"},"modified":"2026-02-13T11:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:17:22","slug":"the-shanti-act-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/the-shanti-act-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"The SHANTI Act and Nuclear Liability Reform in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>SHANTI Act Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SHANTI Act, recently passed in Parliament, has opened India\u2019s nuclear power sector to private players and significantly altered the nuclear liability framework.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Background of Nuclear Liability in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s nuclear liability regime was primarily governed by the <\/span><b>Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA), 2010<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act was enacted after India signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for Nuclear Damage.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its key objective was to ensure prompt compensation to victims in case of a nuclear accident while also holding responsible parties accountable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A distinctive feature of India\u2019s framework was the \u201c<\/span><b>right of recourse<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, which allowed the nuclear operator to seek compensation from suppliers if an accident occurred due to defective equipment or services.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, Section 46 of the CLNDA permitted victims to pursue remedies under other laws, including criminal law.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This structure was seen as strengthening accountability but was criticised by international suppliers who feared unlimited liability exposure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nuclear energy currently contributes only around 3% of India\u2019s electricity generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite ambitious targets, 10 GW by 2000 and 20 GW by 2020, actual capacity reached only 2.86 GW in 2000 and 6.78 GW in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High capital costs, safety concerns, and liability issues have been key constraints.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Key Features of the SHANTI Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Opening the Sector to Private Entities<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act allows private companies to operate nuclear power plants, ending the Union government\u2019s exclusive control over the sector.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This marks a structural shift in India\u2019s atomic energy governance model.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Supplier Indemnity and Removal of Right of Recourse<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act channels liability entirely to the operator and removes the operator\u2019s \u201cright of recourse\u201d against suppliers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means suppliers cannot be sued for defects in equipment, even if such defects contribute to an accident.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Liability Caps and Changes to CLNDA<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The operator\u2019s liability is capped between Rs. 100 crore (for small plants) and Rs. 3,000 crore (for large plants).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The total liability for a nuclear accident, including the Centre\u2019s contribution, is capped at 300 million Special Drawing Rights (approximately Rs. 3,900 crore).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act also omits Clause 46 of the CLNDA, thereby limiting victims\u2019 ability to seek remedies under other laws.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, it provides a legislative framework for the <\/span><b>Atomic Energy Regulatory Board<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (AERB), but its independence is limited as members are selected by a committee constituted by the Atomic Energy Commission.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Rationale Behind Supplier Indemnity<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major nuclear accidents such as <\/span><b>Three Mile Island<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1979), <\/span><b>Chornobyl<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1986), and <\/span><b>Fukushima<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2011) involved design flaws and equipment vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reports highlighted issues such as reactor design weaknesses, deficient emergency systems, and communication failures by suppliers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this historical evidence, multinational suppliers, particularly from the U.S., have consistently argued that India\u2019s liability framework discouraged investment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International nuclear liability conventions generally channel liability exclusively to operators and shield suppliers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SHANTI Act aligns India\u2019s domestic framework with these international norms by indemnifying suppliers from civil and criminal consequences.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Comparison of Liability Caps with Potential Damages<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The liability caps under the SHANTI Act are significantly lower than the economic costs of past nuclear disasters.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Fukushima accident\u2019s total cost has been estimated at around Rs. 46 lakh crore.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Belarus alone estimated losses from Chornobyl at approximately Rs. 21 lakh crore.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In contrast, India\u2019s total liability cap of around Rs. 3,900 crore is nearly a thousand times smaller than these figures.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even with additional funds from the CSC mechanism, compensation would likely cover only a fraction of actual damages in the event of a major disaster.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This raises concerns that victims may bear a substantial share of losses beyond the statutory cap.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Safety and Moral Hazard Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act introduces the concept of indemnifying operators for accidents caused by \u201cgrave natural disasters.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This departs from India\u2019s earlier \u201cabsolute liability\u201d principle for hazardous industries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such liability caps and indemnities may create a moral hazard. When operators and suppliers are insulated from full financial consequences, they may have weaker incentives to invest in maximum safety and resilience measures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given that Fukushima was triggered by a tsunami, critics argue that natural disasters cannot be treated as unforeseeable risks in nuclear plant design.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Economic and Strategic Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite contributing only a small share of electricity, nuclear energy projects involve enormous capital investments.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors in the U.S. cost about $18 billion each.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SHANTI Act potentially facilitates greater private and foreign participation in India\u2019s nuclear sector, including plans for 100 GW capacity by 2047. However, small modular reactors, often presented as the future of nuclear energy, remain largely untested and may have higher per-unit capital costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, while the Act may unlock commercial opportunities and attract foreign suppliers, it simultaneously raises questions about regulatory independence, financial risk distribution, and long-term energy viability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/a-case-against-the-shanti-act-explained\/article70623943.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SHANTI Act revises India\u2019s nuclear liability framework, reshaping safety norms and accountability in the nuclear energy sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":87535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,4336,5369,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-87525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-shanti-act","10":"tag-upsc-curren-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87525"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87551,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87525\/revisions\/87551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}