Government to table nuclear safety regulator bill in current session of parliament

The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority bill is likely to be tabled in the current session of the parliament, clearing the way for the establishment of an Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (AERA).

Dr Srikumar Banerjee, secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), told reporters in Mumbai that the AERA will subsume the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, the current regulator for the industry. The board, which has oversight powers over all the nuclear facilities in the country, however, reports to the Atomic Energy Commission, restricting its independence.

The AERA is expected to report to parliament and not to the nuclear establishment as represented by the commission.

According to Banerjee, while drafting the bill, the government had referred to similar regulators in other countries and best practices proposed in the new legislation have been drawn from them.

"The DAE has referred to the set-up of nuclear regulators across the globe while preparing the bill," said Banerjee. "We studied the regulatory set-up of the US and France, and made the proposal for the setting up of the authority."

The proposed regulator would have the power to stop construction of a nuclear facility, or even order an operating nuclear plant to shut down operations. It would also have independent research and development resources.