(A Critical Guide to the SHANTI Bill and Its Impact on Communities, Rights and the Environment) – please find the pdf below
On March 11, marking the anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Friends of the Earth India is releasing a new handbook titled: “SHANTI OR SHAM? Exposing India’s Corporate Nuclear Push and Defending People, Democracy & Ecology (A Critical Guide to the SHANTI Bill and Its Impact on Communities, Rights and the Environment).”
Fifteen years after the Fukushima disaster and four decades after the Chernobyl disaster, the world continues to face the devastating consequences of nuclear power — displacement of communities, contamination of land and water, loss of livelihoods, and long-lasting impacts on health and ecosystems. Yet governments and corporations are aggressively promoting a renewed nuclear expansion, falsely presenting nuclear energy as a “clean” and “climate-friendly” solution.
In India too, the government has announced a new Nuclear Energy Mission with major public investment and proposals for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in multiple locations, while opening the sector to private operators and corporate interests. This direction raises serious concerns about safety, democratic accountability, ecological protection, and the rights of affected communities.
In this context, the newly released handbook critically examines the proposed SHANTI Bill and its implications for India’s nuclear policy, democratic governance, public safety, and ecological justice. It also provides analysis, evidence, and perspectives that can support people’s movements and civil society groups resisting nuclear expansion across the country.
The handbook includes chapters on:
- Why the SHANTI Bill matters and what it represents for India’s nuclear future
- Changes in nuclear law, governance, and public oversight
- Health, livelihood, land, water, and ecological risks of nuclear power and SMRs
- Weak liability frameworks and denial of justice to affected communities
- Rights of communities and democratic options for resistance
- Rebutting government claims about nuclear energy
- Collective demands for safe, democratic, and sustainable energy alternatives
- Ways to strengthen the anti-nuclear campaign
This release is part of the Fukushima–Chernobyl Remembrance Campaign (March 11 – April 26) being coordinated by Friends of the Earth India. During this period, we will share articles by activists and experts, campaign materials, and discussions highlighting the lessons from past nuclear disasters and the dangers of the current nuclear push.
*We warmly request you to:*
Read and circulate the handbook widely. Share it with people’s movements, civil society organisations, networks, researchers, and students. Use it in discussions, study circles, and campaign activities
Help spread the campaign across regions
Stand in solidarity with anti-nuclear struggles and affected communities across India
Remembering Fukushima means not only remembering the past but also remaining vigilant and resisting dangerous nuclear expansion today. A just and sustainable energy future must be based on safe, decentralised, renewable, and people- centred alternatives.