According to the plea, under the SHANTI Act, the overall liability for a nuclear incident is capped at the rupee equivalent of 300 million Special Drawing Rights, while operator liability ranges from ₹100 crore for smaller installations to ₹3,000 crore for the largest plants.
Bhushan said the Centre’s residual liability was capped at ₹4,500 crore, whereas the cost of a major nuclear accident could run into several lakh crores.
Referring to Chernobyl and Fukushima, he said nuclear accidents could leave large areas uninhabitable for decades. He argued that exempting suppliers from liability could also incentivise them to compromise on safety.
Hence, the petition has raised challenge to Section 16 of the Act for removing the operator’s earlier statutory right of recourse against suppliers.
Bhushan clarified that the petitioners were not opposing nuclear power or private participation in the sector.
He told the Court that India’s solar power potential, according to the government’s assessment, was 3,343 GW, while peak power demand was around 256 GW. He also compared the capital and generation costs of solar and nuclear power, arguing that solar offered a safer and cheaper alternative.