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The Radio Signal Gets Louder

Was the Mayapuri radiation incident deliberate? Even if not, monitoring systems are vague now.

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The Radio Signal Gets Louder
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Was the radioactive material found in a junk market in Delhi accidental or a deliberate plant? With a second round of combing operations yielding more Cobalt-60, a low radioactive source, experts are worried not just because of any further possible contamination but because India is on the radar of terrorists. “Now that something like this has happened, there is heightened alertness. The priority now is to trace the source to avoid a repeat incident,” admits J.P. Yadav, commandant of the Eighth Battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which will handle security during the Commonwealth Games.

After the Mumbai terrorist attack, the NDRF has stationed battalions in eight cities including Greater Noida near Delhi. Four NDRF battalions including the Eighth have been trained to tackle a possible biological, chemical, nuclear or radioactive emergency.  This is not the first time that radioactive contamination during recycling of imported metal scrap or used hospital machinery procured locally has been detected. It is however the first incident where people have been seriously injured. But for the alertness of the medical personnel in informing the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), more people could have been affected in the Mayapuri industrial area. So far, 11 sources of radiation in the form of Cobalt-60 pins have been detected in the scrap market. “We don’t know if this is a deliberate attempt. Only an investigation can prove that,” says S.P. Agarwal, former head of the radiology safety division of AERB.

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Unfortunately, scrap dealers are ignorant about basic safety norms. Experts point out that most radioactive sources have markings. Despite this, importers and port authorities continue to disregard safeguards. Though a multi-layered system for safeguards is required, as the Mayapuri incident proves, there is lack of monitoring right from imports of metal scrap to tracking its journey within the country.

Stresses director of the Nagpur-based National Civil Defence College (NCDC) G.S. Saini, “Terrorists can make use of Cobalt-60. Primarily, they can plant it at a place where a lot of people are exposed.” For the last five years, NCDC has been conducting 10-day training programmes for the medical fraternity on how to identify and deal with nuclear/radioactive, biological and chemical hazards.

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