On exiting KARP, I interacted with a group of workers who were milling around. As they spoke to me therewere wary of the watchful eyes of the vigilance staff. The senior officers who accompanied me also trieddissuading me from talking to the employees, but left me alone when I insisted. From among the workers, bothblue collar and lower-grade scientific assistants, one of them told me that the monitors inside had all beenpre-programmed to indicate lower levels of radiation than what existed. "You would not have got anydangerous dose, but certainly not as minimal as they made you think. You were, after all, visiting thecontaminated area." Another worker, a scientific assistant, said: "Keep visiting once a month. Atleast then, they will be careful about safety. We will get new shoes, new gloves etc." Recalling anearlier incident of 30 May 2001, the BFEA had claimed: "One of the neoprene gloves got punctured and oneof the workers Sivakumar got internal contamination".