Lok Sabha Question No. 2737 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Alternative Use of Atomic Energy
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: Rodmal Nagar, Parvesh Sahib Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2737

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.07.2019

## ALTERNATIVE USE OF ATOMIC ENERGY

2737.   SHRI RODMAL NAGAR: SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  formulated/proposes  to  formulate  any  scheme  for alternative use of atomic energy and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  India  has  been  utilizing  atomic  energy  in  development  of  agricultural, biology, industry and medicine and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) if  not,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  encourage  fundamental  research  for utilization of atomic energy in the above mentioned field; and
- (d) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  furtherance  of  studies  in  nuclear sciences and developing manpower for development of atomic energy programmes?

## ANSWER

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

- (a),(b)&(c) Yes,  Sir.  Atomic  Energy  is  being  used  for  various  applications  which  are beneficial  to  mankind.    Nuclear  energy  is  also  used  for  the  production  of radioisotopes  in  the  country.  Radioisotopes  are  used  in  medicine,  industry, hydrology, agriculture and research and constitute one of the important peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Some of the technologies developed by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)are:-
1. Agriculture: Using radiation induced mutagenesis along with cross breeding, DAE has  developed  44  varieties  in  oilseeds  (groundnut,  mustard,  soybean and sunflower),  pulses  (urdbean, mungbean,  pigeonpea, cowpea), rice and jute, which have been released and notified for commercial cultivation across the country. Some of the desirable traits in these crops include higher yield, seed size, improved agronomic and quality traits, early maturity and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Several of these varieties have high patronage  from  the  farming  community  and  are  extensively  grown  in  the country.

2.  Food  preservation :  Preservation  of  food  forms  another  important  area  for National  Food  Security.  Feasibility  of  food  irradiation  for  preservation  has been studied for a number of agricultural and food commodities for several years. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) notified 'Food Safety  and  Standards  (Food  Product  Standards  and  Food  Additives)  Sixth Amendment,  2016  and  the  Food  Safety  and  Standards  (Packaging  and Labeling)  Fourth  Amendment,  2016'  related  to  standards  and  labeling requirements for irradiated foods.
3. Municipal Waste Sludge Hygienisation :DAE has set up the first dry sludge Hygienisation Plant at Ahmedabad, Gujarat for treatment of 110 ton/day dry sludge.  This would enable use of safe sludge for agricultural applications.

## 4. Health Care

- (i) Radioisotopes: The Radiation Medicine Centre (RMC), Parel, Mumbai, started in 1963 is in the forefront of practicing Nuclear Medicine for health care.

Nuclear  Medicine  uses  radioactive  isotopes  (radio-isotopes)  for  the  noninvasive diagnosis of several human diseases, including cardiology, oncology (cancer), neurology, psychiatry and infectious diseases and for the treatment of thyrotoxicosis, thyroid cancer,  neuroendocrine  tumours, neural crest tumours, bone-pain palliation etc.  The benefit to the patient from an early and improved  diagnosis  and  treatment  far  outweighs  the  risk  from  the  radiation exposure due to the administered radiopharmaceutical.

- (ii) Imaging: PET-imaging has revolutionized cancer diagnosis by making possible early detection. Several thousand patients are referred to RMC each year and the average for the last three years is close to 25,000 per year. This includes  PET-imaging  for  cancer  diagnosis,  staging,  therapy  planning  and management. The cost to the patient  is  the  lowest,  compared  to  any  other nuclear  medicine  centre  in  India.  RMC  has  the  largest  registry  in  India  for radio-isotope therapy for thyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.
- (iii) Bhabhatron : Bhabhatron is an indigenous tele-cobalt machine developed  by  DAE  for  cancer  treatment  with  High  Source  Capacity  of  250

RMM  (Roentgen/min.  at  1  meter).  The  design  of  machine  is  as  per  the compliance  to  requirements  of  International  Electrotechnical  Commission (IEC)  and  the  extensive  clinical  trials  at  Tata  Memorial  Centre  have  been carried out successfully.

Further,  an  automated  multi-leaf  collimator  with  treatment  planning  system has been developed and implemented in Bhabhatron-II.

- (d) Trained  manpower  requirement  is  a  key  factor  for  the  Department.  In  order  to meet  the  manpower  requirements  for  the  atomic  energy  programme,  AEET Training School (now called BARC Training School) was set up in 1957 to train and  recruit  the  engineering  and  science  graduates  in  to  the  DAE.  The  BARC Training  Schools  and  its  affiliates  conduct  one  year  orientation  course  for engineering  graduates  and  science  post-graduates  (OCES).  These  in-house human resource development programmes proved successful for the department in empowering scientific & research personnel.

DAE has taken further steps to promote and create more awareness among the various users by establishing a training centre called Global Centre for Nuclear Energy  Partnership  (GCNEP)  at  Bahadurgarh,  Haryana.  The  mandate  of  the centre includes conducting research, design and development of nuclear systems that  are  intrinsically  safe,  secure,  proliferation  resistant  and  sustainable.  In addition to this, the centre organizes training, seminars, lectures and workshops on topical issues by Indian and International experts, in order to develop a pool of trained  human  resource.  The  centre  also  promotes  global  nuclear  energy partnership through collaborative research and training programs.

The  Board  of  Radiation  and  Nuclear  Sciences  (BRNS),  an  advisory  body  of Department of Atomic Energy,  sponsors R&D projects to universities, academic institutions and national laboratories to promote scientific research in the areas of alternative  uses  of  atomic  energy  (Applications  of  radioisotopes  and  radiation technology). The BRNS was recently reorganized to meet the various sustainable goals set by Government of India and provide further thrust to alternative uses of atomic energy.

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