What are the specific problems with our nuclear installations?
What are the specific problems with our nuclear installations?
The risk of a hydrogen explosion at Tarapur is high because the containments have been inerted, the emergency core cooling systems at Madras and Rajasthan plants are totally dated, the potential for radioactive leaks from test reactors at Trombay and Tarapur is high, and the seismicity of sites of old structures like Cirus at Trombay and Tarapur has gone up.
What's the response to your report?
It's a pity higher levels of government are leaving the atomic energy establishment unmonitored. Citing the Official Secrets Act, the nuclear nabobs have become their own masters with zero output. The people of India have paid Rs 2,000-3,000 crore for a safe, open and transparent nuclear pro-gramme, not otherwise.
Why is safety such a low priority in the DAE?
The DAE's record will improve only if it gets extroverted. Now it can't look beyond its own fence. This institution has a chip on its shoulder, again in the name of secrecy. It wants to make its own robots to improve safety while there are plenty available outside.
But aren't all government scientific organisations so?
No. The Department of Space, virtually a daughter of the DAE, is managed quite superbly, as is the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Dr A.P.J. Abul Kalam works openly on the Agni and Prithvi programmes, which have a higher proprietary value than our nuclear reactors which are copies of Canadian models.
What about the Kaiga dome collapse? You promised to release the report in three months—3 years ago.
I was orally instructed by the chairman, AEC, not to make it public.
Which means even the AERB doesn't reveal all that it knows.
The AERB's hands are tied. It should not only be brought out of the purview of the AEC but also out of the Official Secrets Act.
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