'We stand ready for joint energy innovation and R&D': US welcomes India's SHANTI Bill

The United States has welcomed India's newly enacted SHANTI Bill, saying it sees the legislation as an opening for closer cooperation on energy security and civil nuclear engagement, including joint research and innovation. "We welcome India's new #SHANTIBill, a step towards a stronger energy security partnership and peaceful civil nuclear cooperation," the US Embassy in India said on Monday.

It added that Washington is ready to deepen technical collaboration. "The United States stands ready to undertake joint innovation and R&D in the energy sector."

On Saturday, President Droupadi Murmu granted assent to the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, which was passed by Parliament during the Winter Session. 

The SHANTI Bill marks a major overhaul of India's civil nuclear framework. It subsumes all laws dealing with the sector and opens it up for participation by private players. The legislation repeals the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 — provisions that had long been cited as hurdles to the growth of the civil nuclear industry in India.

Under the new law, private companies and joint ventures can build, own, operate and decommission nuclear power plants under a licence from the government. 

At the same time, the Bill draws clear red lines, stating that uranium and thorium mining, enrichment, isotopic separation, reprocessing of spent fuel, high-level radioactive waste management and heavy water production will remain exclusively with the central government or government-owned entities.

The legislation allows private companies to take part in plant operations, power generation, equipment manufacturing and selected activities such as the fabrication of nuclear fuel. This includes conversion, refining and enrichment of uranium-235 up to prescribed threshold values, as well as the production, use, processing or disposal of other notified substances.

All activities involving radiation exposure will continue to require prior safety authorisation from the regulatory authority, the law states.