Lok Sabha Question No. 2150 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-15
Subject: Nuclear Exposures
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: KRISHNAN NARAYANASAMY RAMACHANDRAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2150 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2017

## NUCLEAR EXPOSURES

2150.   SHRI K. N. RAMACHANDRAN:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  cases  of  nuclear  exposure  to  local  population  and  scientists/employees working  in different nuclear plants across the country have been reported;
- (b) if so, the details thereof  during the last two years and the remedial measures taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether wide use of nuclear energy is also proving to be a boon in the fields like medical treatment and agriculture; and
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  action  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  timely completion of nuclear plants in the country?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH) :

- (a) No, Sir.
- (b) Does not arise.
- (c) Yes, Sir.
- (d) In  the  last  two  decades,  there  has  been  a  continuous  increase  in  availability  of Radiation Oncology facilities for  cancer  care  in India  and the  number  of  treatment units (Linear Accelerators and Telecobalts) have increased from less than 250 in the year 1995 to approximately 552 units in 2015. The newer Radiation facilities, though lesser  than  the  actual  requirement  in  the  country,  do  have  advanced  facilities  for catering to radiotherapy cancer treatment. The Radiation Oncology community within India has utilized the available infrastructure to develop a strong scientific programme  for  radiation  treatment  delivery  in  India  across  academic  centres  of excellence.

The radioisotopes produced by use of nuclear energy are being effectively utilized  in  the  fields  of  medicine  (both  diagnostic  and  therapeutic),  agriculture  and industry.   Radioisotopes applications are on increasing trend world over in medical treatment, agriculture etc. Since radioisotopes are produced in reactors, increase in the numbers of reactors will increase the availability of indigenously made

radioisotopes  in  medical  treatment  and  agriculture.  Department  of  Atomic  Energy (DAE)  has  also  developed  technology  in  recovering  Cs137  radioisotope  from  the radioactive waste generated from the fission products of the reactor, which has got application  in  medical  field.  Bhabha  Atomic  Research  Centre (BARC)  has  a major agricultural research programme on improvement of oilseeds, pulses, wheat and rice using  radiation-based  mutation  breeding  methods  for  the  past  several  decades. Already 42 varieties of different crops have been developed by BARC that include groundnut (15  varieties),  mustard  (3  varieties),  soybean  (2  varieties),  sunflower  (1 variety),  mungbean  (8  varieties),  uridbean  (5  varieties),  pigeonpea  (5  varieties), cowpea  (1  variety)  and  1  variety  each  of  rice  and  jute.  These  crop  varieties  are endowed with one or more improved and desirable attributes such as higher yields, early  harvesting,  large  seed  sizes,  along  with  resistance  to  biotic  and  abiotic stresses.  These  crop  varieties  are  notified  and  released  to  the  Indian  farmers  for commercial cultivation in  the  country. The farmers' feedback  about  these  varieties from various states is extremely good as these are tailored to suite the agro-climatic conditions of the regions of cultivation. The seeds are available from the State Seed Corporations, National Seed Corporation, various agricultural state universities and also institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Some companies are also exporting seeds of these varieties to other countries.

The  Atomic  Energy  Act  1962  empowers  the  Government  to  produce, develop, use and dispose of atomic energy either by itself or through any authority or Corporation  established  by  it  or  a  Government  company.  In  this  regard,  an indigenous  sequential  three-stage  nuclear  power  programme  based  on  optimum utilization  of  the  country's  nuclear  resources  of  modest  uranium  and  abundant thorium is being pursued. Large capacity nuclear power reactors based on foreign cooperation  are  also  being  implemented  as  additionalities,  for  faster  capacity addition.

In  addition,  the  Government  has  taken  the  following  measures  to  facilitate nuclear power capacity addition:

- In principle approval of sites to locate nuclear power plants in future.
- Creation of  India  Nuclear  Insurance  Pool to  cover  the  Operator's  Liability  as prescribed  under  the  provisions  of  the  Civil  Liability  for  Nuclear  Damage (CLND) Act, 2010.
- Amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to facilitate establishment of Joint Venture  Companies  (JVC)  by  Nuclear  Power  Corporation  of  India  Limited (NPCIL) with other Central Public Sector Undertakings to set up nuclear power plants.

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