On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the National Alliance of People’s Movements calls the government move a ‘dangerous and regressive step’
NEW DELHI — On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), a joint platform of voluntary organisations, has condemned the Indian government’s push to expand and privatise the nuclear sector. It called the government move a “dangerous and regressive step” that threatens lives, ecosystems, and democratic rights.
The group criticised proposed amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLNDA), which would open the sector to private players and foreign investors, while removing suppliers’ liability under Section 17(b) of the CLNDA. “This is being packaged as a ‘clean energy transition,’ but nuclear energy is neither safe, nor green, nor cost-effective,” NAPM said.
The alliance warned that nuclear projects have a history of destroying ecosystems, displacing communities, and violating constitutional protections like the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, the Forest Rights Act, and the Right to Life. It cited ongoing resistance by fisherfolk in Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra), and Mithivirdi (Gujarat), mango growers in Konkan, and Adivasi communities in Chutka and Seoni, who fear displacement, radiation exposure, and lack of transparency in nuclear operations.
NAPM also dismissed the government’s promotion of small modular reactors (SMRs) as a “false promise,” describing them as “untested, unsafe, exorbitantly expensive,” and a diversion from decentralised renewable energy options. The alliance argued that nuclear power not only carries radiation and waste risks for thousands of years but also has a significant carbon footprint from mining, transportation, and construction.
The statement connected India’s domestic nuclear push to the rising global nuclear arms race amid US-China tensions, West Asian conflicts, and India-Pakistan hostilities, calling nuclear weapons “a ticking time bomb in a fractured geopolitical order.”
It demanded that immediate withdrawal of the proposed amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and CLNDA and a halt to all new nuclear projects.
It also urged the government to shift towards decentralised, renewable energy like solar and wind, avoiding displacement and ecological harm.
“Eighty years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the message is clear,” NAPM declared. “Nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are two sides of the same destructive coin. Our fight is for life, dignity, and climate justice — not for a future built on radioactive ruins.”
