nuclear-news

The bipartisan Public Accounts Committee tabled a scathing 81-page report  in India’s parliament, critical of the decades-long delay in establishing an independent regulator for the nuclear-armed country.

Australia, the holder of the world’s largest uranium reserves, is India’s newest nuclear partner…….

The two countries are currently in negotiations over a nuclear safeguards agreement. Australia’s imposes strict conditions on the sale of its uranium, including that it can only be used for peaceful purposes and that the material is tracked more closely than required by the International Atomic Energy Agency.. India is estimated to have between 80 and 100 nuclear weapons, but will not sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty…..

the parliamentary committee said India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was not an independent statutory body but rather a subordinate agency of the government.

“The failure to have an autonomous and independent regulator is clearly fraught with grave risks, as brought out poignantly in the report of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission,” the report said. “Although AERB maintains liaison with international nuclear organisations, it has been slow in adopting international benchmarks and good practices in the areas of nuclear and radiation operation.”

The regulator cannot set or enforce rules for radiation and nuclear safety in India, the committee found. In many cases there are no rules.

Despite an order from the government in 1983, the AERB has still not developed an overarching nuclear and radiation safety policy for India.

“The absence of such a policy at macro level can hamper micro-level planning of radiation safety in the country,” the report said. As a result, India was not prepared for a nuclear emergency, the report found.

“Off-site emergency exercises carried out highlighted inadequate emergency preparedness even for situations where the radiological effects of an emergency origination from nuclear power plants are likely to extend beyond the site and affect the people around.”

The maximum fine the AERB can impose for violations of law is 500 rupees – about $9 – “abysmally low”, according to the committee. This is not the first time the safety of India’s nuclear industry has been questioned………http://www.smh.com.au/world/harsh-criticism-for-indias-nuclear-safety-regime-20131220-hv6lz.html