A valve failure at Kalpakkam, which left six workers with a heavy dose of radiation, raises serious safety questions over our atomic plants
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Six months ago, six workers at the Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant (KARP) were exposed to a severe dose of radiation. Over three months later, in May, BFEA, the employees association of this BARC facility, gave a strike notice. Scarcely a month after that, the president of the association was transferred. Now, the "strategic" nuclear establishment of the country is finally admitting to a major accident at KARP. B. Bhattacharjee, director of BARC (the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre), told Outlook: "This is the worst accident in radiation exposure in the history of nuclear India."
The incident on January 21, which led to the indefinite shutting down of the plant, raises serious questions over the safety of the production of potential weapons-grade plutonium at KARP, and also the safety of workers and human habitations around Kalpakkam. Concerned members of the scientific community feel that if safety issues aren't quickly addressed and made transparent, Kalpakkam may be a mini-Chernobyl in the making.
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On January 21 this year, due to a valve failure, high-level waste entered a tank designed for low-level waste. This resulted in six workers receiving extraordinarily high doses of radiation. BARC authorities confirmed the incident took place when scientific officer Sridharan, scientific assistant B.P. Singh and tradesman Srinivasa Raju entered the Waste Tank Farm area.
