Cabinet nod for bill to set up independent nuclear regulator

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) Indian Government Tuesday
approved a bill that would give more powers to the country's
nuclear regulator by making it a statutory body.
The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, okayed the Nuclear Safety And Regulatory
Authority Bill that would grant the regulator greater
independence.
The bill, once passed by Parliament, would pave way for
setting up an Authority that would subsume the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB).
The AERB was set up through an Executive Order in 1983
and reports to the Atomic Energy Commission.
Strong demands were made for setting up an "independent"
nuclear regulator in the run up to the signing of the Civil
Nuclear Agreement with the US.
The bill seeks to give the proposed Nuclear Regulatory
Authority of India full power to stop construction work and
also order a shut down of an operating nuclear plant.
It is also proposed that the NRAI order cannot be
challenged in a court of law.
Government plans to raise nuclear power capacity to
63,000 MW by 2032 from the present 4,780 MW.
The Authority is expected to comprise persons of eminence
from nuclear, social, engineering, environment and finance
areas.
The bill envisages government funding for the regulatory
authority.
Government had decided to fast track setting up of the
NRAI in the backdrop of the Fukushima nuclear accident.