India recently modernised its national nuclear energy strategy, which now complements Namibia’s Nuclear Industrial Strategy in terms of focusing on regulatory strength, human capital, and value addition in nuclear applications. ​This development means Namibia and India can deepen collaboration on uranium supply, fuel cycle services, and socio-economic development through nuclear technologies. ​

India updated its strategy through the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill (2025), which is described as a comprehensive legislation aimed at transforming the country’s nuclear landscape to meet the demands of the 21st century. The SHANTI Bill consolidates and modernises India’s legal regime governing nuclear energy, replacing the Atomic Energy Act (1962), and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (2010), along with their subsequent amendments. 

The unified legislative framework is intended to expand the role of nuclear energy in India’s national energy mix, encourage innovation, and support non-power applications including hydrogen production, medical isotope supply, agriculture, industry, and advanced research. The legislation underpins India’s ambitious goal of achieving 100 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2047, thereby contributing significantly to the country’s decarbonisation objectives.

“Namibia recently launched Nuclear Industrial Strategy reflects a forward-looking vision that resonates strongly with India’s approach under the SHANTI Bill. Namibia, as one of the world’s leading uranium-producing countries, is seeking to move beyond the traditional role of raw material supplier by strengthening regulatory institutions, building human capital, encouraging value addition, and expanding peaceful applications of nuclear science in areas such as energy planning, healthcare, water management, and industrial development,” stated Rahul Shrivastava, High Commissioner of India to Namibia. 

In a recent Op-Ed titled “A New Dawn in India and Namibia’s Nuclear Energy Journey”, Shrivastava noted that India’s modernised nuclear framework complements the objectives in Namibia’s nuclear strategy. 

In the Op-Ed he pointed out that nuclear energy is a clean, reliable, and scalable source of power that will play a central role in India’s energy transition. 

“The SHANTI Bill provides legal clarity and regulatory predictability that enable long-term partnerships across the nuclear value chain. Together with Namibia’s strategy, it opens avenues for collaboration in uranium supply arrangements, fuel cycle services under international safeguards, skills development, research collaboration, and the application of nuclear and radiation technologies for socio-economic development,” Shrivastava pointed out. 

The High Commissioner further noted that a core objective of the SHANTI Bill is to enable meaningful private sector participation in India’s civil nuclear energy sector. 

“For the first time, private companies will be able to participate in plant operations, power generation, equipment manufacturing, and specific fuel cycle activities under strict regulatory oversight. This move is expected to attract domestic and global investment, foster competition, and accelerate the deployment of nuclear technologies,” he stated. 

Moreover, India’s new legal framework allows private enterprises and joint ventures to build, own, operate, and decommission nuclear power plants through a government licensing regime, while strategic and sensitive activities such as uranium and thorium mining, isotopic enrichment, high-level waste management, and heavy water production remain exclusively under the state’s control.

In addition, the SHANTI Bill makes provision for a civil liability regime that aligns with international benchmarks and best practices. Under this regime, operator liability is clearly defined, supported by a proposed Nuclear Liability Fund backed by the Indian government and complemented by additional international compensation through India’s participation in the Convention on Supplementary Compensation. 

Shrivastava emphasised that by removing supplier liability after careful consideration of global norms and advances in reactor safety, the SHANTI Bill seeks to facilitate international technology cooperation while maintaining rigorous safety standards.

“Such a globally aligned framework strengthens confidence among partner countries, including Namibia, and supports transparent, rules-based nuclear cooperation that places safety, security, and non-proliferation at its core,” Shrivastava stated.

The SHANTI Bill also provides a regulatory basis for the deployment of Small Modular Reactors, supported by an allocation of approximately US$250 million (about N$4.1 billion) under the Nuclear Energy Mission. 

“At least five indigenously designed Small Modular Reactors are targeted to be operational by 2033. These compact and flexible reactors hold particular relevance for countries exploring decentralised, low-carbon energy solutions, including those with remote mining, industrial, or coastal locations – areas of growing interest within Namibia’s long-term energy planning,” Shrivastava noted. 

Beyond power generation, the SHANTI Bill also recognises the growing role of nuclear technologies in future-ready applications such as artificial intelligence-enabled research, advanced materials, precision manufacturing, space technologies, and industrial automation.

“These areas closely align with Namibia’s Nuclear Industrial Strategy, which emphasises the use of nuclear science to support national development goals, improve public services, strengthen research institutions, and build a skilled workforce capable of supporting a modern nuclear ecosystem,” Shrivastava added. 

In Namibia, Cabinet last year approved the country’s first Nuclear Industry Strategy, which was at time announced at media briefing by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Emma Theofelus. She explained the Nuclear Industry Strategy is designed to lay the foundation for Namibia’s entry into nuclear energy development and the beneficiation of its uranium resources.

Theofelus said the plan includes amendments to the Atomic Energy and Radiation Act of 2005 to strengthen Namibia’s regulatory framework and ensure the independence of its nuclear authority. The strategy also provides for the establishment of a Nuclear Institute of Namibia and the reassignment of the Act’s administration to the National Planning Commission for cross-sectoral coordination.