Legal aspects of handling and disposal of nuclear waste – an Indian perspective

Abstract

India's rise as a global power has made it an extremely lucrative market, especially in the field of nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is often painted as a ‘clean’ energy option, and therefore a solution to climate change. Splitting the atom doesn't produce greenhouse gases, but the nuclear fuel cycle is far from clean: it produces radioactive waste that pollutes the environment for generations. As the most populous democracy in the world, India's energy needs far exceed its current capacity and to achieve this, the Government of India intends to draw twenty-five percent of its energy from nuclear power by the year 2050. This plan includes 20,000 MW of installed capacity from nuclear energy by 2020, and 63,000 MW by 2032. There are currently twenty operational nuclear power reactors in India, across six states. They contribute less than three per cent of the country's total energy generation, yet radioactively pollute at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle: from mining and milling to reprocessing or disposal. There is no long-term radioactive waste disposal policy in India. India is one of the few countries in the world that is expanding its nuclear power sector at an enormous rate. Seven more nuclear reactors of 4800 MW installed capacity are under construction. At least thirty-six new nuclear reactors are planned or proposed. A critical subset of any country's nuclear safety approach is its radioactive waste management, in particular management of High Level Waste.