Kakodkar said that in the proposed amendment “the AERB will be made a statutory body that draws its strengths from the Act itself” and hopes that “AERB will find a clear and specific mention in the new law”.

In the changed paradigm of tomorrow where several private players may be operating nuclear power plants, “the effort is to make AERB a higher level body”, said Kakodkar. An essential requirement which will help allay fears, if any, of lax safety standards around Indian nuclear installations.

According to Dr S K Sharma, chairman of AERB, all matters of the board, including submission of annual reports, recommendations and orders, get reported to the AEC. It is this umbilical link to the very officials the AERB is supposed to regulate which gives an impression that the board is not independent in its functioning.

Confirming this, former AERB chairman Dr A Goplakrishnan said: “There is no doubt that the AERB is subservient to the AEC. India needs to rapidly move towards a more transparent regulatory system.”