Lok Sabha Question No. 4364 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-21
Subject: Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Smuggling
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: ANJU BALA, Tejpratap Singh,Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4364

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2018

## RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND NUCLEAR SMUGGLING

## 4364. SHRIMATI ANJU BALA: SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether incidents of exposure to radioactive waste causing public health hazard at large level in the country have been reported and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  guidelines  to  set  up  Chemical  Biological  Radiation  and  Nuclear  Cell  in hospitals are not followed and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether lack of container security poses threat of nuclear smuggling in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  International  Panel  on  Fissile  Materials  has  reported  that  liquid  sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) experienced sodium leaks resulting in fires and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has developed a low-cost handheld 12-channel Tele-ECG machine which records all 12 ECG channels simultaneously and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  application  of  atomic  energy  technology  in social welfare ?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) No incidents have been reported so far.
- (b) No please. The guide lines issued by National  Disaster Management Authority are being followed.  National Disaster Management Plan-2016 (NDMP-2016) issued by NDMA  provides  guidelines  for  Capacity  Development  in  the  area  of  Nuclear  and Radiological  Emergencies.  NDMP-2016  stipulates  establishment  of  tertiary  care hospitals  for  treatment  of  radiation  injuries  and  establishment  of  primary  and secondary care hospitals of adequate capacity at selected cities.
- (c)        No  please.  Major  sea  ports  in  the  country  are  equipped  with  radiation  detection equipment's  (RDEs)  for  scanning  presence  of  any  radioactive  material  containers. Further  India has set up at  the  national  level  an  institutional  mechanism  called  a

Counter  Nuclear  Smuggling  Team  (CNST)  to  devise  a  coordinated  multi-agency approach  to  deal  with  the  threat  of  individuals  or  group  of  individuals  acquiring nuclear or radioactive material for malicious purposes.

- (d) The  International  Panel  on  Fissile  Materials  in  their  research  report  titled  'Fast Breeder  Reactor  Programs:  History  and  Status'  released  in  Feb  2010  mentions various incidents of sodium leaks in international liquid sodium cooled fast breeder reactors (Russia, France, Japan, United Kingdom, India) based on data available in published literature. In  all  the  cases,  the  resulting  sodium  fire  was  extinguished  by plant  operators  using  the  sodium  fire-extinguishing  systems  provided  and  these incidents did not affect reactor safety. In fast breeder reactors, diverse leak detection systems are provided (two different methods) for all sodium pipelines and equipment. Emphasis  is  placed  on  early  detection  of  sodium  leaks  by  providing  sensitive instrumentation  to  detect  and  alert  the  operator  for  taking  necessary  safety  action. Dry-chemical powder / inerting with inert gas is used to extinguish sodium fire.
- (e) Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed Handheld 12-Channel TeleECG, which is a portable, light weight Mobile Controlled ECG machine and capable of simultaneous acquiring all 12 channels of ECG in Real time. The machine can be connected to Mobile/PC via Bluetooth and the report is generated in the form of an image that can be sent to the expert via MMS or internet. This has provided virtual instantaneous ECG diagnostic service to a villager at his home/village thus, proving the philosophy - ' Cardiac Care - Just a Click Away '. This saves crucial time, which is otherwise lost in transporting the patient to the nearest cardiac care center.
- (f) Department  of  Atomic  Energy  and  Bhabha  Atomic  Research  Centre  (BARC)  in particular  has  significantly  contributed  for  application  of  atomic  energy  for  several societal applications. Some of the areas are mentioned below,
- i) Agriculture by developing high yielding varieties of rice, pulses and oilseeds using nuclear techniques.
- ii) Promoting food preservation through irradiation.
- iii) NISARGRUNA technology for disposal of solid biodegradable waste degradation  which  has  been  commercialized  and  deployed  on  fairly  large scale.
- iv) Municipal waste Sludge Hygienisation through radiation.
- v) Water resource identification and water purification.
- vi) Health Care.

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