The government has formed committees with members from the Department of Atomic Energy, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, NITI Aayog, and Ministry of Law and Justice.
Their task is to discuss amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA).
The goal is to allow private companies to participate in building and operating future nuclear reactors.
The plan to amend these laws was first mentioned in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech.
Nuclear commerce with Western companies has been slow despite the 2008 Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.
Western nuclear companies find certain clauses in the CLNDA unacceptable because they impose high liability on suppliers, conflicting with the international Convention for Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC).
These liability clauses were added in 2012 after heated debates in Parliament, where the opposition accused the government of favoring Western companies.
The committees will also review issues like waste management, fuel sourcing, handling, decommissioning, and security safeguards.
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