Basic HTML Version

|  | Table of Contents |  | View Full Version

Page 10 - The Indian EYE 080726
P. 10

    OPINION                                                               AUGUST 07, 2026      |  The Indian Eye 10

                                                  Atoms for Al:

                 The Promise of SHANTI Act

                      HINA PANDEY

                  he  International  Atomic  En-
                  ergy Agency (IAEA) host-
            Ted  its  first-ever  International
            Symposium on Artificial Intelligence
            (AI) and Nuclear Energy in Decem-
            ber  2025.  The  symposium  aimed  to   olina. This is in line with President   ue to drive and dominate the growth   Determined Commitments (NDCs)
            bring together relevant stakeholders   Trump’s Executive Order on ‘Accel-  economics and strategic autonomy   under the Paris Agreement, to “…
            in  both  fields  to  discuss  the  pros-  erating Federal Permitting of Data   for India’s domestic and foreign pol-  further reduce carbon emissions by
            pects of cooperation ahead. The Di-  Center Infrastructure (2025)’.  icy imperatives. For instance, semi-  47 per cent by 2035 and to achieve
            rector General of the IAEA, Rafael    All this is not lost on India,   conductors, AI, quantum technol-  a cumulative installed electricity ca-
            Grossi, in his speech at the opening   which recently passed the Sustain-  ogies, supercomputing, blockchain,   pacity of 60 per cent from non-fossil
            ceremony, reiterated that, “…AI rev-  able  Harnessing  and  Advancement   and cloud infrastructure as long-term   sources by the same year”.
            olution…was always going to choose   of Nuclear Energy for Transforming   policy investments will not only shape   Thus, this emerging promise
            nuclear energy as a partner; it was an   India Act (SHANTI Act). The Act’s   national capacities but also contrib-  of ‘Atoms for AI’ is serious for In-
            inevitable partnership, the only ques-  preamble paragraph notes, “…ac-  ute to the nation’s future readiness.  dia, more so because in 2025, India
            tion was when…”.                  celerated growth of Artificial Intelli-  As per official sources, the cur-  achieved a “…milestone of 50 per
                The idea that nuclear energy is   gence, high-performance computing   rently operational data centres in   cent of its cumulative electric power
            well placed to support rising electric-  and large-scale data-driven research   Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Bengal-  installed capacity from non-fossil fuel
            ity demand from the growth of AI   requires stable, reliable, abundant,   uru, Gujarat, etc., are already wit-  sources…”. This is five years ahead
            data centres is not new. There is now   clean and round-the-clock power   nessing an increase in electricity de-  of the 2030 target under the NDC.
            a growing and accepted consensus   supply,…can be ensured through ex-  mand, “from about 375 MW in 2020   Therefore, while it may seem unre-
            that nuclear power, particularly the   panded deployment of nuclear ener-  to around 1500 MW in 2025…”.   lated, the future of India’s sustain-
            Small Modular Reactors (SMRs),    gy…” An important aspect that, for   Further, the same demand is expect-  able energy landscape in the back-
            are uniquely positioned to meet the   some time, has escaped the attention   ed  to  reach  13.56  GW  by  2031–32.   drop of AI-driven comprehensive
            baseload power requirements of AI   in the wide-ranging discussion sur-  The  SHANTI  Act has opened  up   national growth is not just connected
            data centres.                     rounding nuclear energy expansion   pathways  for  private  firms  to  ex-  but deeply intertwined.  From today
                In the US, tech giants such as   in India is this very promise of an-  plore, build and support the growth   to the Viksit Bharat of 2047, a time-
            Meta, Microsoft, Google and Am-   ticipated, mutual growth of nuclear   of India’s nuclear energy ecosys-  line of 21 years, needs to be utilised
            azon have signed contracts with   energy and AI towards the Viksit   tem. SMRs, in particular, are be-  optimally, as the scope for lead time
            nuclear power reactor developers/  Bharat goal of 2047.             ing viewed as an important part of   is zero. The SHANTI Act, though,
            utilities such as TerraPower-Oklo,    There is no denying that India   a reliable power solution for these   has set the tone for the promise of
            Constellation Energy, Kairos Pow-  is embracing AI at an unprecedent-  strategic sectors. SMRs, being less   nuclear power for AI.
            er, Energy Northwest and Dominion   ed pace not only to support indus-  space-intensive,  offer  flexibility  in
            Energy to support data centre opera-  trial-scale applications  but also to   site selection and land procurement   Dr. Hina Pandey is a Research Fellow
            tions by a certain timeframe. In June   transform  everyday  living.  India’s   and are deemed optimal for power-  at Manohar Parrikar Institute for De-
            2025, Amazon Web Services (AWS)   assertive embrace of AI implies in-  ing remotely located data centres.  fence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA),
            signed a contract with Talen Energy   cluding one–sixth of humanity in the   In theory, this new energy play-     New Delhi
            (TLN.O), lasting until 2042, to sup-  AI ecosystem, with the aspiration of   book encompassing two transfor-  Views expressed are of the author and
            ply up to 1,920 megawatts of elec-  transitioning from being an ‘AI user   mative forces of technologies, i.e.,   do not necessarily reflect the views of
            tricity from its Susquehanna plant in   nation’ to an ‘AI provider’. Its domes-  SMRs and AI, seems perfect. How-  the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
            Pennsylvania to AWS data centres.  tic AI market, “currently worth about   ever, SMRs are yet to become com-  Government of India
                More recently (July 2026), the   $7.6 billion, is forecasted to grow to   mercially viable to power data cen-
            US government entered into negoti-  $131.31 billion by 2032, a more than   tres.  India is expected to witness the   The full version article first appeared
            ations with Amentum to develop an   17-fold increase…”, reflecting rapid   “…peak in its population in the early   in the Comments section of the website
            AI data centre with a dedicated on-  digital transformation and infrastruc-  2060s  at about  1.7  billion…”. The   (www.idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar
            site energy generation source at the   ture build-out.              Government of India has recent-   Institute for Defense Studies and Anal-
            Savannah River Site in South Car-     Clearly, technology will contin-  ly approved a new set of Nationally   yses, New Delhi, on July 29, 2026

                                                                   www.TheIndianEYE.com

| 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 |