Varsity Disposable

UN Probing Indian Nuclear Security

The news of Radioactive Leakages inDelhi spread like wildfire and alarmed the world community to take notice of the irresponsibility of the Indian Government in tackling the delicate material that can reach the wrong hands at any time.

 

In the present age where terrorism has become an ugly threat for the whole world, the international community cannot ignore the stealing and leakages of radioactive material in India that can easily reach into the hands of those forces who want to create one or two highly dangerous bombs to be used any time when they find the times as right..

 

I feel contended that I am among the very few journalists in this world who raised alarms since last few years about Indian irresponsibility to handle its nuclear installations, storage facilities and handling the waste material possessing high radioactivity.

 

To the shock of the international community, the news surfaced that Delhi University is being held responsible to burry a substantial quantity of radioactive material within their premises more than a decade before, endangering the lives of hundreds of students who are going to this Institution to seek valuable knowledge and prosperous future.. The detailed news is as under.

 

Source: Agence France-Presse

New Delhi, April 30, 2010

India‘s atomic energy regulator said on Friday that it was investigating claims thatDelhiUniversity (DU) buried radioactive material on its campus, amidst an escalating scandal over its handling of toxic waste.

Police on Thursday blamed DU for dumping an irradiation machine containing radioactive Cobalt-60, which ended up in scrapyard inNew Delhi, where it killed a 35-year-old worker and put seven others in hospital. The incident has highlighted the lax enforcement of waste disposal laws in India and raised fears of further contamination from the university, the city’s biggest institute with 300,000 students spread over two sites.The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) said Friday it had suspended the licence to handle radioactive material of the chemistry laboratory responsible for throwing out the irradiation machine.

“University authorities and students cannot use the laboratory until we give them clearance,” Ompal Singh, secretary of AERB, said.

Ramesh Chandra, a professor in the chemistry department, said on Friday that his counterparts in the physics faculty had buried 20 kilograms of low-grade radioactive waste in a pit on campus 20 years ago “Instead of handing over the hazardous material…for proper disposal, they just buried it,” he said. “Though it’s been 20 years the buried isotopes of substances like uranium could still be active.” Singh said the regulator was looking into waste management by the university and will scrutinise the new allegations by Chandra.”We will verify the professor’s claims. If toxic waste is found, then we will take strict action against the university,” Singh said.

DelhiUniversity declined to comment on the issue.

The gamma irradiation machine found in theDelhi scrapyard earlier this month was imported by the university in 1980, but had not been used since 1985. It was sold to scrap dealers at auction in February. Vice-chancellor Deepak Pental said on Thursday that the university “takes moral responsibility and was apologetic for the damages caused.”He said the “mistake” was underestimating the radioactivity of the machine. A three-member committee has been set up to investigate. Search teams from the police and an atomic research centre found Cobalt-60 in 15 different shops in the scrap market

.

Last week, India‘s Shipping Ministry ordered 12 ports to install detectors for radioactive material, fearing other hazardous materials could slip into the country.

Such kind of irresponsibility cannot be forgiven but it is ironic that India is taking this matter as less important. The Indian media is also trying to bury this news as much as they can probably upon Government’s insistence.  Recently when repeated incidents were reported about the theft of depleted Uranium and also the much important “Yellowcake (Urania)”, the threat of potential raw material, required for preparation of a nuclear bomb, reaching to the hands of terrorists, multiplied enormously. The leakages at Kaiga Nuclear plant contaminating the drinking water and the blasts and radioactive leakages at BARC laboratories further aggravated the problems and caught the world’s attention.

 

It is extremely laudable that UN is now initiating a serious probe into the security situation inside India to handle the potential radioactive material and later about the security of Indian Nuclear Arsenal too. At present times, the world cannot afford any sort of irresponsibility from a country which holds massive Nuclear Arsenal and huge inventory of radioactive material. Such irresponsibility can cause major blow to the world peace if the terrorists could build a raw nuclear bomb that can blow many cities in a blink of an eye. There are fair chances that many terrorists may have already found India as an easy source to obtain basic raw material for their dirty bombs. Ironically India does not maintain any auditable record of radioactive material that can give a sigh of relief to the international community that radioactive material inside India is under safe custody. India unfortunately does practice necessary security guidelines to protect the storage and inventory sites spread around the huge country.  It is time when International Atomic Energy Commission to ensure close observation over Indian Nuclear Assets and ensure that the world would not suffer anything worse due to gross negligence from India.

 

Recently Maharashtra Police sources inIndia revealed some shocking facts after the much discussed case of Uranium theft. The watchman of a Navi Mumbai company pilfered the uranium and sold it to Bhanushali who probably passed it on to Savitri and Dalapathi. The arrested men are suspected to be “mediators” in a deal with a third party. The police are yet to find the watchman and establish the identity of the possible buyer, the sources conceded. It was also revealed that the company did not have any CCTV facility with them to ensure a close watch at the most important and sensitive storage facility.

 

Detail report about United Nation’s atomic watchdog’s actions on the issue of dangerous dumping of radioactive material inside the Delhi University is as follows

 

Source: Rediff IndiaMay 02, 201000:22 IST

 

The UN atomic watchdog sought more information from India about mishandling of radioactive material by DelhiUniversity, as the country’s nuclear regulator conducted inspections at the varsity campus.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, country’s apex radiation safety regulator, inspected the University’s radioactive material storage room after it reported seepage of rainwater in it.

The DelhiUniversity is in the eye of a storm after it came to light that Cobalt-60, which led to radiation exposure claiming one life in Mayapuri, originated from the varsity which auctioned a Gamma Irradiator to a scrap dealer.

International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman Marc Vridricaire said in Vienna that the watchdog had become aware “of the possibility of a serious radiation emergency at Mayapuri in New Delhi” via media reports on April 9.

As a result, the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre “has contacted India‘s Department of Atomic Energy to request information” and offer help, Vridricaire said.

The IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre was “continuing to seek further information on this event,” Vridicaire said.

“And the IAEA stands ready to assist Indian authorities upon request,” the official added.

In New Delhi, DelhiUniversity and the AERB rejected claims that 20 kg of uranium was “dumped” inside the campus a few years ago and ruled out fears about safety of radioactive materials in its laboratories.

Varsity Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental termed it as wrong that 20 kg of uranium was buried in the campus as claimed by a terminated professor. “This is wrong. If 20 kg of uranium was dumped somewhere in the campus, it would not have been possible for us to sit here,” he said.

Pental alleged that Prof Ramesh Chandra, who made these allegations, “could have done this to settle personal score as he has been terminated from the service for financial irregularities.”

AERB scientist Dr Raju Kumar said that there was no evidence about radioactive material being dumped inside the campus. He, however, said “there were certain radioactive materials which did not have proper labelling and they have been taken care of.”

The experts of the AERB inspected the physics department premises after water was found inside a pit where radioactive materials were stored.

“There were minor discrepancies in the pit. But there is nothing to fear from the security point of view. We have fixed the problem,” Raju Kumar of the AERB told the media after the four-hour-long examination.

“The officials inspected the source room where the radioactive materials are being kept. The pit where the sources are kept is filled with rain water for the past few days,” a senior official said.

A four-member team of the AERB launched a probe into lapses by DU in auctioning of radioactive material. The team is also looking for radioactive pencils, which reportedly went missing.

Pental said a team of the AERB is currently investigating the laboratories and has not found any unsafe source of radioactive material.

The National Disaster Management Authority has suggested screening of people residing or visiting Mayapuri scrap yard, which was affected by radiation contamination, and continuation of the process of finding more sources of radioactivity in the area.

“Screening of the people around the area where radioactive Cobalt 60 was found is necessary to rule out the possibility of anyone else being exposed,” a senior member of the NDMA said.

The NDMA also recommended scanning of all the shops in the scrapyard of Mayapuri to find out any remaining sources of cobalt 60, he said.

The scrap dealers, who were very closely exposed to the radiation source, suffered Acute Radiation Syndrome and one of them died and two more are very critical.

According to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board officials, the screening of scrap shops in Mayapuri is being carried out by India’s Radiation Emergency Response system under the leadership of Dr Pradeep Kumar with the help of the Delhi police using portable detectors, including survey meters and also teledetectors.

 

 

Conclusion

It can be clearly stated now that the vulnerability of Indian nuclear assets and storage facilities is crossing the dangerous level. If this issue is ignored and not taken seriously, then the world should be ready to hear any bad news like 9/11 in near future. There is no doubt that terrorists of Al Qaeda and other organizations have enormous presence inside India and their prime target is always the United States of America. I always fear that if the enemies of humanity have already obtained required raw material from India for their dirty bomb, then how this world could be able to defeat these mad terrorists. We can only pray and expect that UN should go deep into this matter and play its part to secure this region from the worst form of human catastrophe for which India would be responsible beyond any confusion.

 

Main source of this article http:’//pakistan_hope.bravejournal.com

 

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