The Delhi University has earned the dubious distinction of being the country’s only violator of radioactive waste disposal norms, according to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
The AERB, which is responsible for regulating and monitoring the safety of nuclear facilities and materials, said that more than 800 organisations had approached it in last five years for decommissioning nuclear material.
“There are no reported cases of disposal of radioactive material violating the Atomic Energy (safe disposal of radioactive waste) Rules, 1987, except the Gamma Cell which was auctioned by the Delhi University,” the AERB said in an RTI reply to applicant Abhishek Shukla who sought the details of such violators. The infamous episode of auctioning the radioactive material surfaced in April 2010, when eight scrap dealers working in Delhi’s sprawling Mayapuri scrap market suffered radiation exposure.
One person lost his life while remaining seven were in serious condition because of bone marrow damage resulting from radioactive radiation emitted by cobalt pencils of the gamma cell, auctioned by the university.
The board cited security concerns to withold the names of organisations decommissioning nuclear material from their facilities. It, however, said in most of the cases seeking disposal of radioactive waste, the AERB had taken action within seven days and issued export permission for imported sources.
“For sources to be disposed of at the authorised waste management agency in the country, AERB takes about one month’s time to issue disposal permission since the concurrence from the waste management agency is to be obtained first,” AERB secretary Om Pal Singh said.
According to rules laid down for the disposal of nuclear waste, the user has to provide details of the material to be disposed of locally (in India) or to be exported (to original supplier abroad). These are forwarded to the authorised waste management agency for its concurrence and only after that does the board permit the user to transport the material to the agency.