Opposition slams ‘oligarchisation’ of nuclear energy, raises serious safety, liability concerns

The Rajya Sabha witnessed a sharp debate on the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 (SHANTI) on Thursday, with several Opposition members raising concerns over safety and liability of privatising nuclear energy.During the discussion, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh recalled India’s rich history in atomic energy and emphasised that key developments in the sector began decades before 2014.Taking a dig at the BJP-led Union Government’s penchant for acronyms and flashy legislative titles, he said scientific and institutional progress in the sector predates the current administration.Ramesh noted that the first atomic energy legislation was passed on April 6, 1948, followed by the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission on August 15, 1948, with Dr Homi Bhabha as chairman and K S Krishnan and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar as members reporting directly to the Prime Minister.He highlighted the creation of Indian Rare Earths Limited in 1950 and the Department of Atomic Energy in 1954, alongside the National Symposium on the Peaceful Application of Nuclear Energy, where Bhabha outlined the three-phase nuclear power programme.”Dr. Homi Bhabha outlined three phases: uranium, plutonium-thorium, and thorium-uranium. Today, we have mastered the first phase, but we are stuck in the second phase…We have a fourth of the world’s thorium reserves, we are a uranium-deficient, thorium-rich country,” the Congress MP said. He further quoted Dr Anil Kakodkar to note that India “should use thorium in the first phase as well, to leapfrog to the third phase.””If we want energy security, we should use thorium reserves…We should take into account what our scientists are saying, instead of relying on what private companies from outside say,” he said.



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