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Dubious security of India’s nuclear plants

Pressing the radio buttons THE FINANCIAL  EXPRESS Huma Siddiqui Dec 07, 2009 Radioactivity is invisible, has no smell, makes no sound—in fact it cannot be detected by any of our senses. Yet, in case of a radioactive spill arising out of a nuclear accident, harmful effects to human mankind can be unimaginable.

The recent contamination of a water cooler in Kaiga nuclear power plant in Karnataka has once again raised question marks on security procedures at nuclear plants. Was it an act of mischief, any violation of operating procedures, leak or security breach?………..accidents still occur. The problem with nuclear accidents is though, less frequent due to high degree of sophistication and control measures, but, once an accident occurs, the impact is severe.

Defence experts recall some of the worst known nuclear accidents such as the Three Mile Island, near H Harrisburg Pennsylvania, US in 1979 and the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986. In addition, once in a while, smaller incidents of minor amounts of leaks get reported from around the world. For instance, there was a radioactive spill of 40 litres of liquid containing plutonium in the reprocessing plant in Rokkasho-Mura in Japan three year back. In August 2004, a pipe was ruptured in the Mihama nuclear power plant in Japan, which resulted in the death of five workers. A Greenpeace report estimates that 2,70,000 cancers and 93,000 fatal cancers were caused by that disaster.

Pressing the radio buttons

December 7, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, India, safety | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive