CURRENT AFFAIRS | 18 JUNE 2026
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is finalising a set of rules under the newly enacted SHANTI Act to ensure that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) face the same rigorous safety and licensing requirements that govern large conventional reactors. The move signals that India’s nuclear regulator intends to hold next-generation, factory-built reactors to a uniform safety bar even as the sector opens to fresh players. SMRs — typically in the 30 to 300 megawatt-electric (MWe) range — are being promoted as a safer, decarbonising source of round-the-clock low-carbon power for energy-intensive industries such as steel, aluminium and cement that cannot easily rely on intermittent renewables.
The headline reform, however, is structural. The SHANTI Act, which received Presidential assent on December 21, 2025, effectively allows private-sector participation in setting up nuclear facilities. This is a profound break from the past. Under the existing framework built on the Atomic Energy Act 1962, nuclear power generation was a near-monopoly of the State, with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) the only entity permitted to build and operate nuclear plants. By cracking open that monopoly, the SHANTI Act positions India to scale its nuclear capacity faster, drawing in private capital and, potentially, foreign technology partners to build a domestic SMR ecosystem.
The reform is gated, not unconditional. Any company seeking a licence must tie up with a recognised technology provider, and the regulator monitors compliance annually rather than treating the licence as a one-time clearance. The AERB, constituted in 1983 under the Atomic Energy Act, remains the gatekeeper for safety, siting and operational standards. Layered over this is the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010, India’s answer to the legal vacuum exposed by the Bhopal gas tragedy: it channels primary liability to the operator while controversially preserving a right of recourse against suppliers in cases of defective equipment — a provision that has long deterred foreign vendors. How private SMR operators interact with this liability regime will be a defining legal question.
For a CLAT aspirant, the SHANTI Act is a rich case study in the law of state monopolies and their dismantling. It connects to the Atomic Energy Act 1962, to the role of expert regulators like the AERB, to the civil-liability framework of 2010, and to India’s broader energy-transition and strategic-autonomy goals. It also resonates with the 2008 India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement and the subsequent Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver, which ended India’s nuclear isolation despite its non-signatory status under the NPT. Together these strands show how a single legislative reform can reshape an entire sector long sealed off from private and foreign participation.
Nuclear energy in India is governed by the Atomic Energy Act 1962, which historically reserved nuclear power generation for the State through NPCIL. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), constituted in 1983 under that Act, is the safety and licensing regulator. The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 channels primary liability to the operator while retaining supplier recourse for defective equipment. The SHANTI Act 2025 (Presidential assent December 21, 2025) permits private-sector participation, a structural departure from the earlier state monopoly.
Regulatory-law and energy themes increasingly feature in CLAT Current Affairs. Expect MCQs on which Act historically gave the State a nuclear monopoly, the role and founding year of the AERB, the operator-liability principle under the 2010 Act, and the significance of the SHANTI Act in allowing private players. Legal Reasoning may test the recourse-against-supplier clause and how it shapes liability.
| Reform | SHANTI Act allows private participation in nuclear facilities |
| Presidential assent | December 21, 2025 |
| SMR capacity range | 30 to 300 MWe; factory-built, modular |
| Regulator | Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), constituted 1983 |
| Earlier monopoly | Atomic Energy Act 1962 reserved nuclear power for the State (NPCIL) |
| Liability law | Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 — operator liability + supplier recourse |
“SMR = Small, Modular, Reactor; AERB = Atomic Energy’s Regulatory Body; SHANTI = private players allowed.” Remember the chain: SMRs are small and modular, the AERB (since 1983) licenses them, and the SHANTI Act (2025) ends the State’s monopoly by admitting private operators.
Why This Matters for CLAT: The SHANTI Act lets you practise the analytical move of identifying a state monopoly (Atomic Energy Act 1962), the expert regulator that polices it (AERB), the liability regime around it (the 2010 Act), and the reform that dismantles it. That four-part reading — power, regulator, liability, reform — is exactly how CLAT 2027 expects you to dissect a sectoral-law current-affairs passage.
Practice Quiz — 10 CLAT-Style Questions
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