Parliamentary Panel hears the submissions for the nuclear Bill

Key depositions by national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) Chief Dr A. Gopalakrishnan were made before the Parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, headed by Congress MP T. Subbarami Reddy.  Mr. Gopalakrishnan is learnt to have pointed out more than 20 lapses in the Bill during his nearly three-hour-long deposition before the panel and suggested the panel to recommend amendments. The autonomy of the Nuclear Security Regulatory Authority (NSRA) and the degree of control by the proposed Council of Nuclear Safety (CNS), headed by the Prime Minister has been under debate.

Part II of the Bill which sought to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act by exempting NSRA from its purview has been under intense scrutiny.