Centre to table nuclear regulator Bill this session

The Union government will table a bill in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament to create an independent nuclear regulatory authority.

S K Banerjee, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said the current regulator, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, would be subsumed in the proposed Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority. He was speaking to reporters after the inauguration of a special hall for nuclear power at the Nehru Science Centre (NSC). The hall is jointly developed by the NSC and the Nuclear Power Corporation.

Banerjee said, “The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has referred to the set-up of nuclear regulators across the globe while preparing the bill. We studied the regulatory set-up of the US and France, and made proposal for the setting up of the Authority.” Banerjee, however, declined to divulge further details whether the proposed regulator would report to Parliament or to the DAE.

The bill envisages the proposed regulator would have full power to stop construction work and order an operating nuclear plant to shut down operations. It also envisages government funding for the authority. Moreover, the authority would have independent research and development back-up.

Banerjee said recent surveys had revealed the presence of 60,000 tonnes of uranium in the Tummalapalli mine in Andhra Pradesh. It was earlier estimated the mine had 15,000 tonnes of reserve. Mining was expected to begin by December or early January, he said.