Was it just an “act of mischief” by a disgruntled employee, or is there something sinister behind the mishap at the Kaiga atomic power plant?
Was it just an “act of mischief” by a disgruntled employee, or is there something sinister behind the mishap at the Kaiga atomic power plant? Fifty-five employees of the plant were detected with radiation levels beyond permissible limits during a routine medical check-up. The employees drank from a water cooler in which vials of tritiated heavy water had been kept, possibly by a colleague.
While a probe has been initiated, intelligence sources said there was no input yet to indicate that the incident was an act of terror. But a senior official in the security establishment said terror was not being ruled out.
The water cooler was at the highly secure operations island of reactor unit 1, monitored round the clock. Although the contamination took place on November 24, that the employees had been exposed to tritium radiation was revealed the following day during post-shift urine tests.
“The act is clearly the handiwork of a disgruntled employee and we are trying to find out the person who has done this,” said Union minister for science and technology Prithviraj Chavan.
Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar said the contamination was an “inside job”. “Someone has deliberately done this. Those who are involved would be punished under the Atomic Energy [Act] and other acts after investigation.”
Kakodkar said a team from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was at the site to conduct an investigation. Sources said monitoring tapes are also being examined and 15 employees are under the scanner.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited in a statement said: “The initial probe does not indicate any violation or deviation of operating procedures or radioactivity releases or security breach. We are more or less zeroed-in on the act of mischief.”
B Bhattacharjee, a nuclear scientist at the National Disaster Management Authority, told DNA: “A team of specialists is already at work in Kaiga and we are also keeping a close watch on the events as they develop. This could be only an insider’s job.
“The investigators are trying to find out if the insider did it because he was unhappy with the organisation or because of outside pressure.” Bhattacharjee said though most people are back at work, the condition of two employees is of concern; both are being given diuretics.
SK Malhotra, head, public awareness division, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE),
said no more harm has been done. “The operators are also back to work. We have a proactive and regular system of monitoring and that’s how we were able to detect this incident. There was no violation of any operative procedures. There’s definitely a concern as to how it was done. It was mischief by a person and we are investigating it.”
Meanwhile, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc), Trombay, gace an assurance that the nuclear research centre is on alert and has been taking proper security measures. “We don’t expect any such thing to happen at Barc,” said RK Sharma, head, media relations and public awareness, Barc.
With inputs from Mihika Basu in Mumbai
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}