PARLIAMENT QUESTION: DEPLOYMENT OF SMALL MODULAR REACTORS

India has launched the Nuclear Energy Mission (NEM) with a target of 100 GWe nuclear power by 2047 and the development of five indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is leading the indigenous design and development of SMRs like BSMR-200, SMR-55, and HTGCR, leveraging domestic industry capabilities and materials like ApuRVA. The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025, has been enacted to enable private sector participation, grant statutory status to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for stringent oversight, and reform the liability regime. A budgetary provision of Rs. 20,000 crore has been allocated for NEM, with initial sites approved for these demonstration SMRs in Tarapur, Maharashtra, and BARC, Vizag.