The roundtable discussion extensively explored the potential role of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in India’s clean energy transition by the year 2047. India faces a significant energy gap due to rising demand and ambitious carbon neutrality goals, alongside an increasing reliance on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and biogas. However, these renewables have limitations related to land usage, base-load power reliability, and intermittency, which creates a natural complementarity for nuclear power, particularly SMRs.
India’s nuclear energy sector currently contributes about 3% of the national electricity supply, with plans to increase this share to 10% by 2030 and substantially expand capacity by 2047. The country’s unique three-stage nuclear program, leveraging its vast thorium reserves, aims at long-term sustainability and energy independence. SMRs, characterized by their smaller size, modular design, and passive safety features, offer an innovative pathway to decentralize nuclear power, facilitate deployment in remote and industrial areas, reduce land footprint, and enhance energy security.
Global developments in SMR technology—led by countries such as Russia, China, and the United States—show promising operational models, including floating reactors. India aims to build 50 SMRs domestically and export another 50 internationally over the next decade, signaling a major policy shift that includes potential private sector participation, regulatory reforms, and new nuclear liability frameworks.
Nevertheless, challenges remain. These include public perception issues tied to nuclear safety and radiation fears, stringent regulatory and safeguards regimes, civil liability concerns, and the technical complexities of fuel enrichment and supply chain management. There is also a need for clearer policies regarding the integration of private industry in reactor construction and operation, alongside efforts to modularize and standardize reactor designs to reduce costs and construction timelines.
Speakers emphasized the importance of managing public perception through transparency and education, drawing lessons from international examples where nuclear power plants are more publicly accessible and understood. They also highlighted the necessity of collaboration between government, industry, and research institutions to accelerate the SMR roadmap, overcome regulatory hurdles, and ensure robust safety and non-proliferation measures.
The discussion concluded on a cautiously optimistic note, recognizing SMRs as a technically feasible and strategically important component for India’s clean energy future, with the caveat that significant policy, regulatory, and societal challenges must be addressed for successful implementation.