Govt's SHANTI Bill may put citizens' lives in danger: Prashant Bhushan

The SHANTI Bill could be challenged on the ground of violating Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, alleged Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan in a press conference in Delhi

The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, passed by both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, was “unconstitutional” and an “invitation to disaster,” alleged Prashant Bhushan, advocate, Supreme Court of India.

 

He alleged that inviting private players into the nuclear space with almost zero liability may put the lives of Indian citizens in danger and that the Bill could be challenged on the ground of violating Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Article 21 guarantees protection of life and personal liberty.

 

The government introduced the Bill in Parliament to open up the Indian nuclear energy sector to private sector players, except in critical areas like uranium mining. The Bill also capped the operator’s liability in case of an incident at Rs 3,000 crore.

 

The larger aim of the government is to ramp up domestic nuclear power generation capacity from the existing 8,700 megawatt (MW) to 100,000 MW by 2047.

 

Bhushan highlighted that disposal and safe storage of the radioactive spent fuel of a nuclear plant was another major challenge. He said nuclear energy is an expensive way of generating electricity as the capital cost of solar power is almost one-third of nuclear power.

 

Speaking at the same press conference, Soumya Dutta of National Alliance of People’s Movements alleged that the absence of liability for nuclear equipment suppliers in the SHANTI Bill is a cause of concern as suppliers might not ensure the best quality products for Indian nuclear plants.

 

The SHANTI Bill 2025 proposes to repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010.