Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of Co-60 in Delhi Scrap Iron shop

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 28 Apr 2010 21:06

Now anyone who plans to make a radiation bomb will not need to import through the beefed-up security/customs.

Only identify all universities and research institutes which have this equipment lying around unused, and bribe a lab technician or student to extract the cobalt-60 capsules.

More than the casualties, a cobalt bomb has the potential to shut down large areas of Delhi for extended periods of time - CWG security please take note!

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 28 Apr 2010 21:12

Sanatanan wrote:
Fidel Guevara wrote:Origin of Cobalt-60 traced to Delhi University

. . .
The Cobalt-60 was in a "Gamma Irradiator", which was bought in 1968 from Canada and was not in use since 1985, police said on Wednesday adding it was bought by scrap dealers in Mayapuri through an auction in February this year.

. . .
Do all the 11 sources have the same origin?

I would tend to assume that between 1968 and 1985, the source in the Gamma Irradiator at DU was not refurbished and that most probably it was put to disuse because the source strength had fallen below useful levels for the Gamma Irradiation experiments.

Noting that the half life of Co-60 is about 5.27 years (as per Wiki), about 8 half lives or more have elapsed since the source was manufactured (1968) and now. It would be nice to know whether the present source strength of the "culprit-sources" have been found to be commensurate with the 1968 levels and whether with these types of sources, the radiation levels after elapse of 8 half lives can be life-threatening.

My comments above are not to justify the way DU might have disposed off the Gamma Irradiator as per the report.

Not knowing much about Gamma Irradiators, is it common practice to scrap the machines when the gamma sources are depleted, instead of "refilling"? It could potentially have been refilled as late as 1985, and then broke down for other reasons. If this is the case (granted, the worst case scenario) then only 5 half-lives have passed, and the activity is about 3% of original activity.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 Apr 2010 21:19

We need AmberG to weigh in on the plausibility of the Delhi Uty device being the source of the radiation intensity of 1000 units even after it was scrapped.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 Apr 2010 23:19

Interesting report from Pioneer.

FRONT PAGE | Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | Email | Print |

AIIMS admits it can’t treat radiation victims

Abhishek Anshu | New Delhi

Death triggers fear among kin of other patients

The death of a radiation victim on Monday, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS, has created panic among families of other victims. Kin of four critically ill victims, undergoing treatment in AIIMS, Apollo and Army hospitals, are doubtful about their recovery. Most of the victims are the sole bread-winners for their families.

Sources said AIIMS was not equipped to handle radiation cases. This has resulted in the death of one of the five patients admitted to the hospital. “AIIMS does not have the first-hand experience in treating such patients who are exposed to radiation,” said sources. The condition of the two patients admitted to AIIMS is reported to be critical.

Dismissing the claims, doctors at AIIMS said the victims were being provided with medical care on a par with international standards. “We are treating these patients according to the international protocol to be followed in such cases as there is no specific treatment for such cases and only supportive treatment could be given,” said Dr AB Dey, Professor, Department of Medicine at AIIMS. He said the next four weeks would be crucial for the patients. “Next four weeks are very critical for these patients and we are taking every possible measure to save their lives. Only after four weeks we will be able say something about the future course of treatment,” added Dey.

“After the death of one of the patients, we are very disturbed. We do not know what will happen to my brother whose condition continues to be serious. We are praying to god for his speedy recovery,” said Rajesh Jain, the brother of Deepak Jain whose condition continues to be critical in Apollo. Rajesh said Deepak’s condition has not shown any improvement in the last three weeks. Deepak’s TLC count is around 3,000 while his platelet count is at around 4,500.

Meanwhile, Deepak is likely to undergo a bone marrow transplant at the Army Hospital. “Jain is likely to be shifted soon to our hospital. A donor for bone marrow transplant has been identified in his family and as soon as he is shifted to the hospital, we will conduct further investigation and carry out the transplant as and when required,” Commandant, Army Hospital Research and Referral, Lieutenant-General Naresh Kumar said.

Regarding Ajay Jain, another patient who was recently transferred from Max Hospital to the Army hospital, Kumar said, “Ajay has not shown much improvement. His condition continues to fluctuate.”

“We are monitoring their reports on daily basis. Their platelet count is still low but it is above our benchmark and platelet transfusion would be done only if it drops below 15,000-mark. We are also conducting tests to identify potential donors in case bone marrow transplant is required in the coming days,” said Dey. He, however, said that it is not possible for them to predict anything about the condition of the patients in coming days.

Speaking on the death of one of the victims, Rajender (35), on Monday night, Dey said that he died due to very low TLC, platelet counts and multiple organ failure. “Rajender was the one who was worst exposed to radiation. His TLC and platelet counts were very low and he developed hypotension, a manifestation of multiple organ failure, and did not respond to interventions,” added Dey.

It is pertinent to mention that ten sources of radioactive substance Cobalt-60 were found in the Mayapuri scrap market earlier this month and eight persons were hospitalised following radiation exposure. Only one of them has been discharged from the hospital till date. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of Cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal. It is used in cancer therapy machines and other medical equipment.

Very worrisome.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 Apr 2010 23:28

For sake of completeness am posting this

Origin of Cobalt-60 traced to DU

PTI | New Delhi

The origin of radioactive Cobalt-60 found in west Delhi's Mayapuri, which led to the death of one person, has been traced to Delhi University's Chemistry Department where it was lying unused since the last 25 years.

The Cobalt-60 was in a "Gamma Irradiator", which was bought in 1968 from Canada and was not in use since 1985, police said today adding it was bought by scrap dealers in Mayapuri through an auction in February this year.

"We have traced the radioactive material to Delhi University's Chemistry Department. One of the equipment the scrap dealers bought was Gamma Irradiator," Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajay Kashyap told PTI.

The scrap dealers dismantled the equipment and in the process, the lead covering on it was pealed off leading to radiation exposure, Kashyap said.

"The equipment was in use till 1985 and after that it was lying in a room unused. In February, University committee decided to sell it and the Mayapuri scrap dealers bought it through auction," he said.

He said the four workers who are admitted to city hospitals were shown photographs of the equipment and one of them identified it.

Panic gripped Mayapuri in the first week of April when 11 people were admitted to hospitals after they were exposed to radiation.

A worker in the scrap shop from where the Cobalt 60 was discovered has died due to exposure to radiation.

Gamma irradiators are used for radiation processing application.

At one stage of investigations, it was suspected that the scrap material came from abroad. Some reports even suggested that the scrap originated from medical waste from a city hospital.

Eleven sources of radiation were detected in the Mayapuri scrap market where Cobalt-60 was recovered this month. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal. It is used in cancer therapy machines and other medical equipment.

The radiation exposure came to light when Deepak Jain, a scrap dealer, and four of his workers were admitted to city hospitals.

Experts from Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have scanned all the 800 shops in the scrap market and said that the locality was radiation-free. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal said the equipment was used for conducting experiment in analysing effect of Gamma Rays on chemicals. The equipment was auctioned by the University on February 26.

"It was bought by one Harcharan Singh Bhola having a scrap shop at D2/80, Mayapuri. He removed the iron part from the equipment and sold the lead part to one Giriraj Gupta having a scrap shop at D-127.

"Gupta got it dismantled and sold the lead to some other scrap dealers. However, the iron part found embedded in lead was kept by him. Apparently, part of iron scrap of Gamma Cell removed by Haracharan Singh Bhola reached Deepak Jain through Rajinder who has suffered maximum radioactive exposure and subsequently expired," Aggarwal said.

He said a report received from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board two days ago gave vital clues to police in the form of photographs of recovered source cage from the shop of Gupta.

Gupta, from whose shop two sources were recovered, told police about purchasing bulk quantity of lead from Bhola after which he was questioned.

Bhola told investigators that he had purchased a big machine having bulk quantity of lead in auction from Delhi University.

A verification with Delhi University authorities confirmed the machine referred by Bhola was actually Gamma Irradiator which was sold in auction, Aggarwal said.

The equipment was purchased from Atomic Energy Canada Limited for use in experiments by students of Department of Chemistry.

Very good investigative work. So from April 8th when it was discovered to April 28th when the source was identified and along the way many gaps were uncovered. Good job to the incident investigation team.

Now for the corrective action phase. Looks like disposal of rad waste is not regualted or not followed.

How many such devices are in the country and being scrapped as we post?

In end Delhi Uty personnel have to pay the price for the major lapse of disposing rad sources as scrap.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 29 Apr 2010 00:00

Ramana-ji

Treating radiation poisoning victims is quite hard. Please see the case of Louis Slotin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Slotin

There is a phase called "Walking Ghost" phase. Where the cells of the GI tract & bone marrow are killed off by radiation, but the patient shows no symptoms - indeed he shows signs of recovery. Except that he will be unable to absorb nutrients through his stomach, his stomach lining will get ulcerated by acid and Red blood count will plunge. This is followed by death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological ... t_phase.22

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 29 Apr 2010 00:08

It is a shame that a University sold off the Irradiator and didn't understand the harmful effects it could cause to the unknown public. What were the chemistry department professionals doing? Shows how scant attention is paid by the so called professionals!!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 29 Apr 2010 00:18

putnanja wrote:It is a shame that a University sold off the Irradiator and didn't understand the harmful effects it could cause to the unknown public. What were the chemistry department professionals doing? Shows how scant attention is paid by the so called professionals!!

Thats exactly the wrong response. Shame is not a correctable cause. The Uty sold off the device as they were too familiar with it and developed complacency and did not envison the harm it could cause.

Please read Perrow's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_accident

if we have one person on BR who understands this, we are one step ahead.

amritk · Post by **amritk** » 29 Apr 2010 02:02

The Goiânia Accident, a very similar accident in Brazil.

Hmm .. the accented 'a' in the URL does not work with the board's software.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 29 Apr 2010 02:47

ramana wrote:
putnanja wrote:It is a shame that a University sold off the Irradiator and didn't understand the harmful effects it could cause to the unknown public. What were the chemistry department professionals doing? Shows how scant attention is paid by the so called professionals!!

Thats exactly the wrong response. Shame is not a correctable cause. The Uty sold off the device as they were too familiar with it and developed complacency and did not envison the harm it could cause.

Please read Perrow's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_accident

if we have one person on BR who understands this, we are one step ahead.

Ramana, I didn't say the University officials should be ashamed. I said it was a shame that a university which knows better did this.

It is indifference on part of the officials which led to the fiasco. I guess they will have big warning on the sides of the device on not being in front of it without shield etc when operating it. Wonder why they didn't realize they couldn't sell it off to scrap dealer without telling them about the way to handle the machine.

niran · Post by **niran** » 29 Apr 2010 06:05

ramana wrote:

Thats exactly the wrong response. Shame is not a correctable cause. The Uty sold off the device as they were too familiar with it and developed complacency and did not envison the harm it could cause.

Please read Perrow's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_accident

if we have one person on BR who understands this, we are one step ahead.

Sir, the university should have known that the scrape is a Radioactive source and the disposal should have been
in accordance, but in reality nothing is ideal.
my take-
the device lying around for 25+ years must have been beneath other scrap heap,
old chaparasi who knew about it must have retired, the new lot never knew
about it, the heap was getting huge, so it was decided to be auctioned off.
the rest as they say is history.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 29 Apr 2010 09:52

Boss I deal with system accidents all the time. Its the most familiar who mess up.No wonder folk wisdom has two apt sayings:

1) Keep it simple stupid
2) Familiarity breeds contempt.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 29 Apr 2010 13:29

niran wrote:
Sir, the university should have known that the scrape is a Radioactive source and the disposal should have been
in accordance, but in reality nothing is ideal.
my take-
the device lying around for 25+ years must have been beneath other scrap heap,
old chaparasi who knew about it must have retired, the new lot never knew
about it, the heap was getting huge, so it was decided to be auctioned off.
the rest as they say is history.

This sounds like the likely explanation but unless the chain of events is brought out it and any guilty are identified this sort of thing is a disaster waiting to happen. One man has already died. That is too bad. We are talking of murder/manslaughter here. If it is negligence then the circumstances must come out.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 29 Apr 2010 17:52

PTI reportss

A day after the origin of Cobalt-60 was traced to Delhi University’s Chemistry Department, the University authorities on Thursday said it was a ‘miscalculation’ that the material had outlived its radioactive time, following which it was auctioned.

Vice-Chancellor Prof. Deepak Pental also said the University takes “moral responsibility and was very “apologetic” for what happened and the damages caused.

Exposure to the radioactive material has led to the death of a scrap shop worker in west Delhi. A few others, including the shop owner, are undergoing treatment after they were exposed to the same material earlier this month.

“If there is a mistake, the mistake is that it was not realised that the source (the radioactive material) may be much stronger than what people (of the department) were thinking. Because they are not the people who bought the source,” he told reporters.

The Cobalt-60 was imported by Prof. V. K. Sharma in 1968 from Canada with the permission of BARC. The material was last used in 1985. The material was lying in a room for 25 years and the Chemistry Department wanted to sell it off.

“It was calculated that it had outlived its radioactive time... because it comes to half in every five years,” Mr. Pental explained.

He said he spoke to the Department of Atomic Energy this morning on the issue. The body has already set up a committee for further investigation.

Mr. Pental said the University has set up a separate three-member committee under S. C. Pancholi, a retired professor and a nuclear scientist, to investigate the issue. The other members are Dr. N. C. Goomer and Dr. Dwarkanath.

“Our University has a very strong desire that it should be investigated. We must learn from this incident so that these things do not occur,” he said.

Mr. Pental said he has written to all departments in the University to take all precautions, adding the University will ask its employees to contribute towards compensation for the victims of the mishap.

To a question, he said, hopefully, the students have not been exposed to the radioactive material.

Eleven sources of radiation were detected in the Mayapuri scrap market where Cobalt-60 was recovered this month. It is a radioactive isotope of cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal and is used in cancer therapy machines and other medical equipment.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Apr 2010 01:20

Pioneer reports:

V-C sorry for misjudging gamma irradiator lifespan

Staff Reporter | New Delhi

AERB suspends permission to use radioactive sources at DU

Delhi University Vice Chancellor Prof Deepak Pental has apologised to the city for the radiation mishap which took place at Mayapuri due to lapse on part of the university’s chemistry department. “We are apologetic for what has happened and the university takes moral responsibility for the damages caused due to this,” said the V-C on Thursday. The university has also constituted a three-member committee comprising SC Pancholi, a retired professor and a nuclear physics expert, Dr NC Goomer, expert from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Dr Dwarkanath from the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) to investigate the issue. Meanwhile, Delhi Police has requested the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DoAE) to help in the investigation.

“The mistake is that it was not realised that the source would be much stronger than what officials of the department were thinking. There is a possibility of miscalculation by the people of the department as they are not the people who bought the machine which came out to be the source of radiation,” said Pental.

He added that AERB has also sent its expert panel to the university to investigate the matter thoroughly. Pental added that any such mistake or miscalculation should be rectified.

Meanwhile, the AERB has suspended permission to use radioactive sources which the university currently holds. The AERB also issued a show-cause notice to DU for unauthorised disposal of radioactive Cobalt-60 as scrap, said AERB Chairman SS Bajaj. Earlier in the day, Pental added that gamma irradiator was imported from Canada by the university in 1968 with the permission of the BARC. He said that it was imported by Professor BK Sharma and was not used after 1985 as Sharma had retired. The irradiator was lying in one of the rooms of the chemistry department for the last 25 years. “For the last 2-3 years, we had increased number of seats as well as the number of faculty members. The Chemistry department wanted to get rid of the unused materials lying there. It was felt the irradiator had over-lived its radio active time as it was nearly 42 years old,” said Pental.

Speaking about the precautionary measures that ought to have been taken by the university, Pental said, “I have written a letter to all the departments in university that they should be extremely cautious about any such thing and all necessary precautions should be taken. We should learn from such incidents so that these things do not occur in future,” added Pental. He also said he would appeal to the university community to contribute towards compensation for the victims of the mishap. Pental said the university community should do something for those people who had been affected due to radiation exposure.

{This shows some contrition/realization for the harm that has happened.}

On the other hand, chemistry department sources said that Cobalt-60 has lifecycle of nearly 52 years and as the gamma irradiator was imported in 1968, it is possible that its effect might last up to another 10 years. “Radioactive materials have lifecycles measured in half life and Cobalt-60 has a half life of nearly 5.27 years. It has 10 cycles, meaning that total life of Cobalt-60 is nearly 52.7 years. According to this, the radioactive substance in this case might be effective up to another 10 years,” added sources.

Gamma irradiator was used by research students studying in Radiation Chemistry branch of the department. Sources also added that the university does not follow the proper method to dispose of such materials. Meanwhile, to use the 3,000-kg irradiator in lab, one has to wear lead coat to protect himself from any possibility of radioactive exposure. Sources also added that an Okhla-based local agent of the company, from where the irradiator was imported, had informed the university that the machine should be given back to the company. “The local agent had clearly told the authorities that the irradiator should be returned to the company but the university auctioned it for nearly Rs 1.5 lakh on February 26, 2010,” added sources.

{So bean counters were at the root of auction as a way to dispose of the unit?}

Sources added that a seven-member committee was constituted for the auction. “The committee for auction comprised the HoD, four faculty members and one member each from the finance and audit departments of the university. Faculty members Sunil Sharma, Ashok Prasad, RC Rastogi, Rita Kakkar, internal audit officer RK Sinha and an assistant registrar of finance department of the university were the members of the committee,” added sources. Many departments in the university, like that of physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, bio-medical sciences and others, use radioactive isotopes.

Would be useful to know what delibrations led to the decison to auction the scrap. I think most likely a unclear understanding of half-life led to the mistake. They might not have understood what half life means or the radiation physics faculty want present or had no voice.

So HoD is of Chemistry when the problem was Physics.Wrong doctors in charge!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Apr 2010 02:57

Just a week ago, on previous page, the sources were sure the rad source was not from India! And now everything is Delhi Uty.

Sanatanan · Post by **Sanatanan** » 30 Apr 2010 07:55

Heaven help DU students (or is this a fit case for derecognition of DU?)

From TOI, Apr 30, 2010:
DU buried 20kg of radioactive material on campus, says prof

. . .

. . . He {professor Ramesh Chandra of the chemistry department} said that the isotope found in Mayapuri could have been active for 12 years more. "It has 10 half-lives of 5.27 years each. That gives it a life of 52 years. It had been here for just around 40 years," Chandra said. He added, "The gamma irradiator weighed 3,000kg and was bought for $20,000 back in 1968. The professor using it for research in radiation chemistry, V K Sharma, retired and then nobody could use it. Thankfully, they had kept the instrument safely. Anyone entering that room had to wear a lead coat."

. . .

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 30 Apr 2010 12:17

The blame game begins at Delhi University

A DU professor has claimed that the physics department dumped as much as 20kg of radioactive material in a 10 feet deep pit on the campus itself, near the chemistry department, some 20 years ago.

"Instead of handing over the hazardous material to BARC for proper disposal, they just buried it in the ground.

Though it's been 20 years, the buried isotopes of substances like uranium could still be active. There are all kinds of pipelines running underneath and so much construction is going on for the Commonwealth Games. It's really dangerous," said Professor Ramesh Chandra of the chemistry department.

"The buck does not stop here"...tomorrow it will be reported that the Chemistry Department's budget was used to pay for the actual purchase of the Gamma Irradiator in 1968, but budgetary and operational control passed on to the Physics Department by the time of the machine's retirement (decommissioning is too good a word to use in this circumstance). Therefore there is nobody really at fault...

Sanatanan · Post by **Sanatanan** » 30 Apr 2010 22:56

At last, images and some description of of the "culprit" radiation source(s) [cylindrical "pencils"] here -- NDTV, Friday April 30, 2010:

The Cobalt-60 that may still be out there in Delhi

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Apr 2010 23:11

Sanatanan, yes its nobodies fault because its a system accident. What is needed is awareness and training and repeated audits by regualtory agencies to ensure hazardous material is handled properly. If we dont understand that the net result is Indian utys will fall back in cutting edge research.
I dont blame the uty. Its lack of procedures and human complacency at the root of this disaster.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Apr 2010 23:13

We can do a lot of godd by completing this root cause analysis and makingit available to all.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 May 2010 21:16

Pioneer Op-Ed by S. Mishra, May 3, 2010

Radioactive DU Time to book culprits

Sidharth Mishra

Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deepak Pental is an eminent scientist. Though many of his initiatives and actions have not invited appreciation, he certainly cannot be faulted for giving a big push to the teaching of pure sciences in the university. With the opening up of the economy and greater demand of trained professionals, pure sciences were sure turning into extinct courses.

It’s to the credit of Prof Pental that he put a check on the mushrooming of professional science courses and reoriented the teaching of pure sciences on the campus. The science laboratories on the campus have not been better stocked in at least last 25 years that your reporter has known the university. He also tried to give a full play to his pro-science bias in the key appointments made during his tenure.

He always has an answer ready for his pro-science bias. “They (science teachers) are used to work in laboratories and their minds constantly keep analysing the results of the various experiments,” Prof Pental would claim. It’s unfortunate that one of the prominent science departments of the Delhi University has brought both personal and professional crisis on the Vice-Chancellor.

In a startling revelation last week, the Delhi Police claimed to have traced the origin of the radioactive Cobalt-60 that has left one dead and seven critically ill so far to Delhi University’s Chemistry department. The police said that Cobalt-60, contained in a gamma irradiator, was lying unused in the laboratory for the last 25 years. The police informed that the radioactive isotope was brought to the scrap market by the scrap dealers after the university sold the gamma irradiator through auction in February this year. The gamma irradiator was purchased by the Chemistry department in 1968 from Canada and was lying unused since 1985. The scrap dealers in order to resell it dismantled the equipment and in the process, the lead covering on the radioactive substance peeled off leading to radiation exposure.

The next day Prof Pental apologised to the city for the radiation mishap on part of the university’s Chemistry department. The university also constituted a three-member committee comprising SC Pancholi, a retired professor and nuclear physicist, Dr NC Goomer, expert from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Dr Dwarkanath from the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) to investigate the issue. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DoAE) are carrying out their own independent investigations.

The AERB on its part acted swiftly and suspended permission to use radioactive sources which the university currently holds. The AERB also issued a show-cause notice to the DU for unauthorised disposal of radioactive Cobalt-60 as scrap. While the AERB has acted swiftly in the matter, the Vice-Chancellor has been dilly-dallying in acting against his colleagues from the scientific community.

Prof Pental on Saturday last gave the benefit of doubt to the Chemistry department regarding its culpability in disposing of radioactive waste to scrap dealers. “There is a failure on the part of the Chemistry department,” Pental said, but qualified it by saying that they had not made the mistake deliberately. What is stopping Prof Pental from acting against his colleagues?

This has led to a situation where fingers are being pointed on the lackadaisical functioning of the university by a ‘dismissed’ professor of the Chemistry department. The Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) has also demanded immediate removal of the V-C and announced that they will launch a protest demonstration on Wednesday in front of the V-C’s office.

{Thisis agenda satements. There was cognitive dissonance in the perception of the hazard}

Prof Pental has himself written a letter to all the departments in the university that they should be extremely cautious about any such thing and all necessary precautions should be taken. He has said that a lesson is needed to be learnt from such incidents so that these things do not occur in future. This raises the question that did the university community not feel the need to issue such a caution earlier.

{Because it had never gone thru such an issue before this. Its here that human behavior kicks in. When there is a long period without an incident the human mind goes complacent and cause the cognitive dissonance. Punishing the scientists will give mental satisfaction, it sends two things: Kill the messenger and lead to no future messages and lose an eminent scientist. A better course is to put in place training and regulations for dealing wiht dangerous materials.}

Today top three positions in the university administration — Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Director — are held by eminent scientists. Did they never feel the need to educate their colleagues to practice caution? Or else they had absolute confidence in the functioning of the science departments, which now stands betrayed. If the university brass has been let down by the scientific community, shouldn’t they be acted upon?

The Vice-Chancellor is inviting unnecessary criticism by not taking pro-active steps in the matter. As Shakespeare had said, Caesar's wife should be above suspicion, so should be the Vice-Chancellor. Nobody ever grudged his pro-science bias while appointing people but he would certainly be accused of it if he fails to act against the guilty.

I think the punish the guilty brigade is out in full force and will demand some token sacrifices but will not fix future occurences.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 04 May 2010 05:49

In DU, storekeeper smarter

A former member of the chemistry faculty and non-teaching staff have said a storekeeper had expressed concern at the first suggestion from the faculty to dispose of the gamma irradiator about two years ago.

The storekeeper, who has been in the department for more than 20 years, informed the faculty in 2007 or 2008 that this was a “dangerous” instrument, the faculty member and non-teaching staff said.

The disposal of the gamma irradiator appeared to have been kept in abeyance after these words of caution until January this year when the chemistry faculty initiated a fresh exercise to get rid of old and unused instruments. The gamma irradiator procured from Canada in 1968 has been unused since 1985.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 04 May 2010 07:24

Most escape of dangerous materials happens due to a desire to get rid of innocuous waste.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 May 2010 03:00

Tribune says

Cobalt-60 Fiasco
All radioactive material recovered
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 5
Delhi can breathe easy as the Department of Atomic Energy today said its experts have accounted for all radioactive Cobalt-60 pencils originally present in the gamma cell sold by Delhi University to scrap dealers. In brazen violation of laid down rules, DU had auctioned off the gamma cell and one person later died and seven were injured due to radiation from the radioactive material. It is said to be India’s worst ever radiation leak and the world’s biggest such crisis in the past four years.

There were reports that a few Cobalt-60 pencils, the source of radiation, had gone missing and the department said in a statement that it has recovered and transported all the pencils to its Narora Atomic Power Station.

It is believed that the cell had a total of 16 pencils and experts recovered from them from outside Mayapuri, India’s biggest scrap market where the gamma cell was recovered. All victims were working in two scrap shops there and were exposed to radiation over a period of time as they broke open the cell and brought out the pencils.

The department said they had recovered and transported the radioactive material to the Narora station by mid-April. “Detailed inspections of the materials recovered were carried out at NAPS site on May 3 and 4. During inspection the team has identified and accounted for all radioactive sources originally present in the gamma cell of DU. These sources will continue to remain in the safe custody of Department of Atomic Energy,” the statement said. The DU is facing an inquiry and likely to be punished for its fatal blunder.

Closure to the investigation phase of the Co-60 fiasco.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 07 May 2010 02:41

Few comments:

Not knowing much about Gamma Irradiators, is it common practice to scrap the machines when the gamma sources
are depleted, instead of "refilling"?

I have seen similar Irradiators (Manufactured arond the same time etc) and unfortunatley in practice, from what I know/seen ,
at least in some places, guide lines/laws are not there in clear form, not understood/ followed as it should be. Many just 'keep' the radioactive sources stored in the lab, as they do not know how/where to dispose it off. (In US the laws varies, AFAIK , from state to state , and in some states they are not as clear as they ought to be) ..

They hope that some body else - later - will take care of disposing ...

With change of staff , or mere carelessness these things get disposed off in a dangerous manner.

Unfortunaltely Co-60 has a rather long half life .. This is not the first time, and I fear may not be the last time ...

(Radiation signs outside, and Metal/lead shielding etc may provide danger sign to scrap dealers but they may not know the danger)

(Cesium in powder form has been known by unsuspecting people (people related to scrap dealers) to put it on the skin as a cosmetic powder - causing serious results/deaths from Cs based gamma sources)

It is a shame that a University sold off the Irradiator and didn't understand the harmful effects it could cause to the unknown public.

To me this is troubling. What's more, some body in UD should have known and realized that it could have been their source,
almost right away as soon as the news broke out.

As to how many such sources are there in US/India , some one may have a better number, but my guess for US would be in hundreds (if not thousands) if you count all (including the ones having smaller amount of radioactivity) in Labs, hospitals etc.

Yes we need better laws, practices and education to scrap dealers.

Just a week ago, on previous page, the sources were sure the rad source was not from India! And now everything is Delhi Uty.

Actually, I don't think any one seriously concluded that, DDM were making all sorts of claims and the best one could have said it at that time is they did not have a clue. (Actually I never gave it any serious credibility as no one gave any basis for that claim)
(BTW I just checked my posts of Apr 19th.. there is some info about irradiators)

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 07 May 2010 22:42

DU violated rules by selling radioactive scrap: Govt

There were 10,000 sources with about 3,000 institutions and licenses were given to users which were “very responsible,” Chavan said.

Observing that at present there was no law on compensation to the victims of such accidents, he said, “We need to have a law for compensation in such cases which should deal with insurance, compensation and related issues.” Police was investigating all aspects of the “very unfortunate” incident, including criminal negligence. “Action will be taken against all those found guilty,” he said.

The Minister said the incident was caused by “unauthorised disposal” of the Gamma Cell by Delhi University as scrap in violation of the Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Waste) Rules and the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules.

In his response, Chavan said four battalions of National Disaster Response Force had been trained to respond to radiological emergencies and four more battalions were being trained.

To further strengthen the response capability, about 1,000 police stations in 35 major cities were being equipped with radiation monitors and protective gears by the National Disaster Management Authority. DAE has also set up 18 well-equipped response centres across the country, he added.

pitching for Nooklear Liability bill

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 08 May 2010 02:09

'Missing' pencils were in Narora
FWIW, from my previous posts (and related items some might find of interest)
Co-60 irradiotors manufactured in brit..
http://www.britatom.gov.in/htmldocs/products05a.html
Categorization of sources
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publicatio ... 44_web.pdf
REeport on an accident in Al Salvador (page 18 has few pictures worth of interest)
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publicatio ... 47_web.pdf

As regard to "10,000 sources with about 3,000 institution" numbers seem a little high..but I guess must be right ... must include all sorts of small sources.

Best short term solution, if I was a scrap dealer, - to be educated so that one does not break sealed metal sources ( those marked with standard radiation signs) and get radiation detectors for their safety (they are the ones who are going to suffer even if others are on fault)

Sanatanan · Post by **Sanatanan** » 14 May 2010 19:57

From Sifynews, 14th May 2010:

Greenpeace probe reveals radiation risk in Mayapuri

. . .
"The investigation has identified hotspots more than 5,000 times natural background radiation," an expert said after a Greenpeace team visited Mayapuri on Friday morning.
. . .

With apologies to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark:
To be(lieve) or not to be(lieve)– that is the question:

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 May 2010 20:49

Radiation victim to be released from AIIMS

A person, who was admitted to the AIIMS here after falling ill due to exposure to radiation, was today discharged after his condition improved while two other victims at the Army Research and Referral Hospital would be released soon as they have shown signs of recovery.

Mr. Gaurav, who was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, was discharged this morning.

Dr. D. K. Sharma, medical superintendent, said “One of the four patients of radiation exposure admitted with us – Mr. Gaurav - was discharged in the morning after doctors saw improvement in his condition.”

Three more persons - Ram Kalap, Himanshu Jain and Ramji Yadav - who were also exposed to radiation continue to receive treatment at the institute.

The Army Research and Referral Hospital said two radiation victims - Deepak Jain (32) and Ajay Jain (40) - who were showing signs of recovery with their condition being near normal, will be discharged soon.

“Their condition is clinically stable and free of any infection or bleeding,” Army R&R Hospital Commandant Lieutenant General Naresh Kumar said in a release.

“Ajay Jain’s wound is healing well,” he added.

After being released from the hospital in a day or two, doctors would continue to closely monitor the condition of the two patients.

“Volunteer donors having 100 per cent matching Human Lymphocyte Antigen (HLA) have been kept on standby for bone marrow transplant if their condition worsens,” he said.

A total of eight persons were admitted to different hospitals in the city following exposure to Cobalt-60, a radioactive substance, in an object disposed of as scrap in Mayapuri area.

One of them, Mr. Rajender (35), a worker at a shop in Mayapuri scrap market, had died due to multiple organ failure at AIIMS after being exposed to radiation.

Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal. It is used in radiation therapy machines and other medical equipment.

So due to negligience/non awareness in DU faculty so many people were harmed and atleast one death has occured.
And the whole rad waste disposal business has come up for scrutiny and exposed some gaps which are being filled.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 21 May 2010 01:02

X-posted...

More from Greenpeace (Please see the Mayapuri RCA thread for my earlier post regarding radiation survey conducted by Greenpeace):

Radiation levels down but not normal in Mayapuri: Greenpeace (Deccan Herald, May 20, 2010)

. . .

A team of Greenpeace activists surveyed Mayapuri scrapyard on Wednesday and said radiation levels were much lower than last week.

"As of now radiation levels are low but not normal. Bringing them to normal background levels involves detailed handling, checks and re-checks and we need to discuss the way forward," a Greenpeace spokesperson said.

. . .

Greenpeace identified six hotspots with considerably elevated radiation levels. Of these, two spots had radiation 5,000 times more than the normal background level, it said. Following this, a team from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Narora Atomic Power Station was decontaminating the area.
. . .
If true, the above might imply that AERB, NDMA, BARC, personnel from Narora Atomic Power Station et al did not do their work properly in the first place (after their earlier decontamination effort at Mayapuri when they claimed that all sources of radiation had been located and that decontamination has been completed implying that the place was now safe for occupancy.)

When there is hurry to complete sweeps usually things get overlooked in unknown places. Most likely the BARC team was looking for high sources of radiation from the DU escape. What is being found now is other sources but not of the egergious nature as earlier case.
I dont fault the BARC team. Its a case of not knowing where the potential lurks are. When they said "all radiation sources" they ment "all radiation sources of the pencil type".

Greenpeace is fear mongering as usual. if they were so good they would have swept all scrap yards before the incident.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 May 2010 04:41

A medical doctor in US looks at factors that cause system accidents in medical field:

http://www.ctlab.org/documents/BriefLoo ... AA.doc.pdf

He builds on theories of Charles Perrow and Reason

Sanatanan · Post by **Sanatanan** » 06 Jun 2010 14:14

Editorial in The Week, June 6, 2010
Radiating error

[quote]
Mayapuri incident exposes chinks in the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s armour

. . .

The first set of radioactive materials was removed after four days {that is, by about 9th April 2010}, following which the AERB declared the area safe and removed the safety cordon. However, they retrieved more cobalt 60 pencils on April 15. By the time, one worker, Rajendra Prasad, had succumbed to radiation.

. . .

Despite AERB’s assurances of no further radiation leak in the Mayapuri market, Greenpeace conducted a survey and identified six hot spots with elevated radiation levels. Incidentally, two of them had radiation 5,000 times more than the background level.

The Mayapuri incident has exposed chinks in the radiation regulator’s armour. While DU was at fault for auctioning cobalt 60 material to scrap dealers, the AERB’s ignorance cannot be condoned. . . .

Said M.K. Samuel, radiological safety officer, DRDO: “Ideally, cobalt should not have reached the scrap market, and even if it did, the AERB should have known. At the DRDO, we have to maintain a record of every possible deal involving radioactive material and send it to the AERB every month. How come the AERB had no clue about the sale from DU?”

. . .

It is not clear if DU’s gamma irradiator was listed in the AERB’s records. According to H.S. Kushwaha, head of the health and safety group at BARC, although the AERB was not established at the time of the university’s purchase of gamma irradiator in 1968, it would have received all papers from the directorate of radio protection which was the nodal agency then.

. . .

[/quote]

Perhaps the author has advisedly refrained from putting a 't' before the 'e' in the title of the article

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 Jun 2010 22:39

It was massive failure on part of the Delhi uty authorities for the escape. AERB sweep was not comprehensive in rounding up the Co-60 pencils in the first go around. Once the origin was established to be the DU irradiator they went back for the missing pencils. Most sweeps of dangerous materials wont catch in first go around. Anyone who expects complete success first time around has not dealt with such substances. Also DU had loss of document traceability once the chief investigator retired. There was no proper hand-off.

Sanatanan · Post by **Sanatanan** » 07 Jun 2010 07:20

ramana wrote:It was massive failure on part of the Delhi uty authorities for the escape. AERB sweep was not comprehensive in rounding up the Co-60 pencils in the first go around. Once the origin was established to be the DU irradiator they went back for the missing pencils. Most sweeps of dangerous materials wont catch in first go around. Anyone who expects complete success first time around has not dealt with such substances. Also DU had loss of document traceability once the chief investigator retired. There was no proper hand-off.

ramana ji, my submission is that knowing that a sweep may not pin point all radioactive hot spots in the first go itself, AERB and others who were involved in the clean up operations could have, withheld their "all clear" announcement and kept the access cordon around the affected area on for some more time until repeat sweeps are successfully completed or more information about the source of radioactivity had been gathered. I do realise that there might have been pressure on AERB/NDMA/DAE, from the occupants of the affected areas in the Mayapuri market, to get back to business and their daily lives; however I feel that a part of successful disaster management would be in withstanding such pressures by providing adequate information and explanations about the dangers involved in prematurely reoccupying the area.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 07 Jun 2010 10:39

I understand your statement but such things do happen. When they swept first time an found those pencils they were not of any expected standard configuration. It was only after having traced back the origins to DU that it was realized more of the pencils were missing and need to be located. This is the nature of discovery process and happens all the time. In hindsight bias things look crystal clear where as they are very nebulous at best. The best outcome is for lessons to be learned for future incidents.

Try to read this article for starters:

LINK

Shooting the messenger ensures no messages will get delivered.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 10 Jun 2010 00:20

The Week article on the Mayapuri incident:

Radiating Error

Mayapuri incident exposes chinks in the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s armour

By Payal Saxena

India plans to have 20,000MW of nuclear energy by 2020 and triple that by 2032—an ambition that would translate into 31 nuclear reactors in all. Most plants are planned in areas with high population density, which could result in more headaches for the authorities already rattled by the radiation leak from cobalt 60 material at India’s largest scrap market of Mayapuri in Delhi in April. The incident proved beyond doubt that India lacked emergency preparedness and knowledge of the management of radiation-related incidents.

{Timeline}

The radiation exposure came to light on April 5 when a scrap dealer with suspected radiation symptoms was admitted to a hospital in the capital. After scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) confirmed the worst, officials of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) reached Delhi to assess the situation. On April 7, seven more scrap dealers and workers were down with radiation symptoms even as the authorities commenced inspection in the Mayapuri area.

The first set of radioactive materials was removed after four days, following which the AERB declared the area safe and removed the safety cordon. However, they retrieved more cobalt 60 pencils on April 15. By the time, one worker, Rajendra Prasad, had succumbed to radiation.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, traced the deadly pencils to the chemistry department of Delhi University. It had originated from an old gamma cell model 220—containing decayed cobalt 60 sources—made by the Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. Following this, the AERB served a show cause notice to DU, asking it to tender an explanation for the violations. DU was also directed to suspend all activities involving the use of radiation sources. {Corrective Action} Said AERB secretary Ompal Singh: “DU was certainly at fault. We did our best to control the situation. Even the IAEA had not raised alarm. We follow very strict regulatory mechanism to check radioactive waste.”

Despite AERB’s assurances of no further radiation leak in the Mayapuri market, Greenpeace conducted a survey and identified six hot spots with elevated radiation levels. Incidentally, two of them had radiation 5,000 times more than the background level.

{Sweep was not comprehensive. They were looking for Co pencils and there was other radiation.}

The Mayapuri incident has exposed chinks in the radiation regulator’s armour. While DU was at fault for auctioning cobalt 60 material to scrap dealers, the AERB’s ignorance cannot be condoned. The Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004, say that the license to utilise radiological devices shall only be granted by a radiation safety officer (RSO) with the approval of the AERB. But DU had gained the license without an RSO.

{When did DU get the license? Most likely before the rules were isssued. So one of the corrective actions is to review the old licences to ensure compliance with the new rules.}

Said M.K. Samuel, radiological safety officer, DRDO: “Ideally, cobalt should not have reached the scrap market, and even if it did, the AERB should have known. At the DRDO, we have to maintain a record of every possible deal involving radioactive material and send it to the AERB every month. How come the AERB had no clue about the sale from DU?”

{Sherlock, even DU didnt know it has radiation material! The guy in charge retired and the panel to dispose of it was told it had expired material. Half life etc.}

Mayapuri receives scrap imported from all over the world but has no mechanism for a security check. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in its guidelines on the management of nuclear and radiological emergencies, has suggested that in case of loss or theft of a radiological device, the possible missing source could be metal scrap dealers. “The DAE is perhaps not familiar with the 16 cases of loss, theft or misplacement of sources from Indian radiological facilities in the last 10 years,” said Greenpeace representatives. Moreover, regulations on the import and movement of scrap are weak.

All airports and ports in the country may not have proper monitors to check gamma ray emissions. “The AERB lacks the manpower to mechanically check the installation of monitors at ports,” said Samuel.

{Again Sherlock isnt that an AERB issue?}

As a rule, any trader registered with the state pollution control boards can import scrap metal and around 3,000-4,000 tonnes of junk metal enter the country every day. Furthermore, the port staffers do not bother to examine them mechanically.

According to a customs official, all that a trader requires is a certification that the scrap imported is not radioactive in nature. And obtaining this certificate is an easy job.

{So another corrective action is to install radiation checks of imported scrap to ensure compliance. Howeve note the problem was not due to imported scrap but local negligence or oversight.}

According to Greenpeace, there has been a mammoth increase in the use of radioactive isotopes, especially cobalt 60, in the health care sector and other industries. Though the DAE monitors the use and disposal of radioactive materials, its role is minimal when they enter India.

{It was pointed above that its AERB has no role only Customs. From above statement there is no role for DAE when materials enter India. This is to be redressed.}

According to experts, the 11 radioactive sources isolated in the capital recently had come, most likely, along with the scrap. In India, the majority of radioactive material used is manufactured by the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), which comes under the DAE.

Said S.K. Malhotra, head of the DAE’s public awareness division: “A new isotope is issued to a company or a hospital only after it has transferred the old isotope to BARC for disposal. Therefore, misuse of isotopes is unlikely. However, these isotopes can slip into the public domain if they come in the form of scrap.”

{Again awareness is the issue here when scrap gets comingled with radiation sources.}

It is not clear if DU’s gamma irradiator was listed in the AERB’s records. According to H.S. Kushwaha, head of the health and safety group at BARC, although the AERB was not established at the time of the university’s purchase of gamma irradiator in 1968, it would have received all papers from the Directorate of Radio Protection which was the nodal agency then.

{So there was not adequate hand-off after new dept was created.}

India is not well-equipped even on the emergency preparedness front. The NDMA guidelines say that the 18 emergency response centres in the country are “far too inadequate”, and that it is the responsibility of state governments to establish more such centres. The guidelines recommend that a database of RSOs be prepared and made available at the national and state levels by the AERB, and that specialised response teams be raised. They also propose at least one mobile, radiological laboratory unit in each district to support detection, protection and decontamination procedures to be set up by the ministry of health and family affairs. However, only a few such mobile radiological laboratories are available with the DAE and the DRDO.

{So there is inadequate infrastructure and trained personnel to handle the work load and needs to be augmented as a priority.}

Meanwhile, the Delhi government woke up and issued guidelines and advisories to all heads of hospitals, medical centres, diagnostic centres and medical laboratories using radioactive equipment and consumables for their safe disposal. Delhi’s Health Minister Kiran Walia said the government had issued stringent directives to all medical establishments in accordance with the Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Wastes) Rules, 1987 and the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004.

{So the local/state govt has issued the necessary directives which are local to Delhi Administration. There is a need for countrywide directives to be issued where ever scrapyards are there and radiation sources are present.}

The AERB also conducted an awareness programme on May 6 to educate the scrap workers at the Mayapuri market. A list of precautions is now being compiled for distribution among scrap market workers.

{Again this has to be disseminated among all scrapyards in the country.}

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Jul 2010 03:15

Dr. K. Parthasarathy rebuts Praful Bidwai's rants

Delhi's Radio Active Leak: The Other Side

Delhi's Radioactive Leak: The Other Side

The inputs collected from the victims by an Atomic Energy Regulatory Board scientist gave vital clues which helped to identify the source of Delhi's radioactive leak, points out Dr K S Parthasarathy, former secretary with the Board.

The most unfortunate radiation accident at Mayapuri, New Delhi, recently woke up all stakeholders including regulators. Everyone realised that it cannot be business as usual. The mistaken notion of a few academics at Delhi University about the concept of 'half life' caused the first radiation death in India and radiation injuries to six other persons.

I am angry that Delhi University, of all the institutions, sold a highly radioactive source as scrap (Nature, May 8, 2010). That 'such an outstanding university was so callous is mind-blowing'. I felt that 'the tragedy should be a wake-up call' (Science, May 7, 2010).

Media reactions were constructive and mostly devoid of rhetoric. But Praful Bidwai's recent article on Rediff.com was unduly short on facts and predictably long on opinion. He does not enjoy any privileged ambiguity in nuclear matters. This will be so as anumukthi is an article of faith for him.

Unwittingly, Bidwai did not spare even doctors who treated the radiation victims. Unfairly and callously, he declared that doctors could do little to help the victims of the radiation incident except to give them repeated transfusions.

While transfusion is an important step, doctors carry out many other lifesaving procedures. They maintain the patients in a sterile environment as their immune system is compromised.

These patients cannot eat well. The cells lining their intestines wither away. They may get infected easily as the guts carry pathogens. Prompt and effective antibiotics therapy is the way forward.

Physicians carry out hyper-alimentation -- a process of administering nutrients by intravenous feeding. Bone marrow transplantation is one of the options in selected patients. Our physicians are competent; they are conversant with appropriate treatment methods to help radiation scarred patients.

Bidwai claims that the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board took its own time to track the sources. What are the facts?

{Timeline}
At 12.45 hours on April 7, 2010, the AERB received a message from the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi that a patient has been admitted there with radiation burns. The Board directed two officers who were already in New Delhi on other work to go to the hospital for follow-up.

{Sweep actions}

After gathering vital information, they visited Mayapuri within a few hours and identified the shops where the radiation levels were high. They prepared improvised shields using steel plates etc, reduced the dose levels and cordoned off the area. They alerted AERB headquarters which in turn informed the Deparment of Atomic Energy's crisis management group as per standard operating procedure.

On April 8, 2010, a team of scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, AERB, Narora Atomic Power Station and the local response team from the Atomic Mineral Directorate for Exploration and Research arrived with a variety of radiation monitoring instruments, lead flask and other equipment.

They located, identified and recovered many sources from the shops. Systematic searches followed. They recovered more sources on April 13 and another on April 15. After verifying the records and closely observing the sources remotely, they declared that all sources were collected.

The scrap shops contained metal sheets, heaps of condemned equipment, endless coils of wire, tonnes of other objects of all sizes and shapes spread randomly. Many radioactive sources were inaccessible.

The dose levels were high; the operation needed meticulous planning. It was a difficult job. They recovered the sources by judicious use of time, distance, shielding and deployment of well-trained volunteers each wearing personal dosimeters. Their doses were well within limits.

{AERB resources}

The inestimable expertise of scientists became very useful in the hour of need. BARC has been training various dedicated groups (for example, 1,200 men from the National Disaster Response Force) in handling radiation emergencies.

{Sweep Team expertise}

According to my sources, at least 22 scientists (Scientific officers of H(1), G(2), F(3), E(7),D(9) grades ) participated in the operation. Ten of them were from AERB. (In AERB and the Department of Atomic Energy, scientists at the entry level have grade C. They are Group A officers and are promoted to higher grades D, E, F, G, H etc based on merit and seniority.)

The leader of the team, Dr K S Pradeepkumar, SO (H), has 29 years of experience. He and some others with vast experience assist the International Atomic Energy Agency as radiation safety specialists. As Bidwai alleged, they are not 'technicians'

The team from Narora developed tools at short notice. Local police rose to the occasion. AERB must invite Bidwai to meet the DAE/AERB 'technicians'; maybe he may then change his mind.

Bidwai's bias against the 'technicians', trained to handle simple instruments like like 'electricity meter readers', is evident. During the 1965 war with Pakistan, BARC camouflaged the dome of the CIRUS reactor by spraying cow dung over it; the idea came from a BARC 'tradesman' and not from a scientist or a journalist!

Bidwai says it was not the AERB's 'technicians' but the police who tracked the source to Delhi University. The inputs collected from the victims by an AERB scientist gave vital clues which helped to identify the origin of the source. Bidwai knows this truth will not make good copy!

Bidwai believes that 'good, responsible science' involves estimation of the different durations for which groups of workers were exposed; he assumed that nobody did it in the present case.

Such estimates are unreliable, because of recall bias. Wrong recollection of distance from the source introduces humongous errors. For instance, radiation dose from a point source at 10 centimetres is one hundred times than at one metre.

Bidwai declares that 'the authorities are going about the whole business amateurishly, groping and jumping'. He feels the AERB scientists have not used a 'scientific modelling approach'. Never mind the fact that the scientists used the internationally accepted biodosimetry method which gave estimates of doses to the victims. AERB staff vividly know the details.

Bidwai calls the AERB a lapdog of the Department of Atomic Energy. From the annual reports of AERB, I counted over 50 regulatory actions AERB took against DAE installations. These included shutting down nuclear power plants, reducing the power level of some of them and directing plant modifications.

Though the losses ran to several million rupees, DAE implemented AERB directives without preferring appeals.

When needed, the 'lapdog' seems to use its sharp teeth! Bidwai may be satisfied only if AERB shuts down all nuclear power plants permanently!

I participated in or was a witness to the developments in AERB over the first 20 years. I am not aware of a single instance in which any pressure was put on the Board by the DAE.

The AERB has its own budget, two independent buildings; right from its inception, AERB has many independent specialists from premier research and academic institutions in its decision-making committees.

It does not mean that AERB does not need any strengthening. The Board has more members from outside the DAE family and it reports directly to the Atomic Energy Commission (which has the status of the central government) and not to an individual. These arguments may sound convincing.

However, a robust regulatory system cannot rely on good intentions alone for its independent and effective functioning. It certainly requires a stronger legal base which may be provided by amending the Atomic Energy Act to make AERB a statutory organisation.

AERB is an agency of the central government. Unlike Bidwai's mistaken notion, AERB is answerable to Parliament and to the public. The Right to Information Act applies to AERB. Please read the contents of www.aerb.gov.in

As any other anti-nuclear activist, Bidwai also claims that radiation is a poison 'that is especially insidious because it's invisible, intangible and poorly understood'.

Dedicated instruments can detect and measure the 'invisible' radiation accurately and reliably at minute levels. Invisibility of radiation does not come in the way of harnessing it for the benefit of mankind.

Scientists have studied ionising radiation most extensively and intensively. For instance, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation alone has published 16 reports providing authentic information on radiation related topics.

The UNSCEAR will publish two more reports this year. Other national and international agencies carry out dedicated research in the field. Current knowledge about it is adequate to use it safely without any unacceptable damage.

The Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules 2004 established a graded approach to regulatory control of radiation sources: licence, authorisation, registration and approval in decreasing order of hazard potential.

To show the AERB as non-functional, Bidwai added all radiation installations and devices to get a large number, 62,110 and bemoans the fact that AERB carried out a paltry 110 inspections.

Mercifully he did not add colour televisions, smoke detectors and thorium containing gas mantles. Apart from inspection, safety can be assessed from periodic safety reports, radiation dose records of workers etc.

'AERB does not keep track of when the X-ray units reach their use-by dates'. Bidwai believes that X-ray units, like packed food and medicines, have an expiry date! X-ray units, 'type approved' by AERB, fulfills safety requirements. If installed properly, they are safe to use for many years. They need periodic quality assurance check to verify their performance.

The Mayapuri accident shows that AERB's message on multi-layer checking for orphan sources did not reach everyone.

Every scrap dealer must use appropriate radiation monitors. The process of erecting portal monitors at ports is getting delayed apparently because many agencies are involved. The effectiveness of the measures to prevent import or export of contaminated steel must be verified.

AERB must seek legal opinion on banning import of scrap, if portal monitors are not operational by a date assigned by it.

Bidwai did not do his homework well. He wrongly says that 11 were exposed seriously. Only seven suffered seriously. He says the DAE was set up in 1983; it was AERB that was set up in 1983. He says that the gamma cell including cobalt pencils and lead containers weighed 300 kg; the actual weight of the device was about 3742 kg. His conceptual fallacies and colossal ignorance of AERB and its activities eclipse these minor mistakes.

Readers may find it hard to sift facts from fiction from his articles on nuclear and radiation related subjects.

Dr K S Parthasarathy is a former secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. He has a PhD in medical physics from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

All in all Bidwai's article is polemic against atomic power and tries to sow doubt in lay people. IOW a rabble rouser article.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Jul 2010 03:24

For completeness Parful Bidwai's article

What the Radiation leak in Delhi means

What the Radiation leak in Delhi means

The Department of Atomic Energy is easily the worst-functioning department of the Indian government, says Praful Bidwai.

Three weeks after a scrap dealer from Mayapuri in Delhi [ Images ] was hospitalised with acute radiation sickness caused by exposure to cobalt-60, the authorities finally traced the source of the radioisotope to a laboratory in the chemistry department of Delhi University. Meanwhile, one of the 11 people who were seriously exposed to the source died. And the condition of another two is reportedly grave, with platelet counts way below normal and falling. Doctors can do little to help the victims except give them repeated transfusions.

That highlights the poignancy of the suffering of poor and innocent scrap-workers on account of utterly irresponsible conduct on the part of several agencies, including Delhi University, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and the Government of India [ Images ]. The tragedy also underscores the infuriatingly poor capacity of this society and its regulatory agencies to cope with mishaps, in particular, damage caused by ionising radiation, a poison that's especially insidious because it's invisible, intangible and poorly understood.

{Root Cause}

The cobalt-60 poisoning was revealed six weeks after the apparatus containing it, a gamma irradiator imported in 1968, was prematurely auctioned to a scrap dealer in February by Delhi University. A university committee certified it would be safe to get rid of the entire 300 kg assembly, including cobalt pencils and lead containers.

It's extraordinary that a committee of science professors cavalierly assumed that the cobalt-60, a powerful source with 3,000 Curies (a unit of radioactivity measuring the rate of disintegration of unstable isotopes), had already ceased to be hazardous.

The half-life of this radioisotope -- the time during which it decays to reach half its original mass -- is 5.27 years. This means that about 10 to 20 Curies would still remain even after 8 half-lives had elapsed over four decades. And even one-billionth of a Curie is harmful to humans! For instance, the US Environmental Protection Agency sets a limit of 8 to 20 trillionth of a Curie per litre for water. All this information is available in the public domain.

The university committee's decision to auction the irradiator was deplorably unscientific and indefensible. Its members must be severely punished for endangering the lives of innocent poor scrap workers. But the other authorities haven't conducted themselves exemplarily either.

{As I said before this is a system accident. And punishing the messenger will make sure you wont get messages. There was cognitive dissonance regarding the remaining radioactivity in the radiator.}

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board took its own time to track all the 16 cobalt needles reportedly contained in the irradiator. It wasn't the AERB's 'scientists' -- in reality technicians, trained to handle simple instruments, much like electricity meter-readers -- but the police, who tracked the source to Delhi University.

The police, for their part, haven't yet uncovered the whole chain and timing of the irradiator transactions, apparently involving three other scrap traders. Nobody has estimated the different durations for which groups of workers were exposed at different intensity to the cobalt isotope. Unless this is done, it will be impossible to calculate the number exposed, and the extent of exposure, so they can be properly treated, carefully monitored, and tracked over a long period. That's what good, responsible science is about.

Another crucial issue remains unexplained. The irradiator assembly was reportedly sent in March from Delhi to Rewari in Haryana, where it was melted in a furnace. It's imperative to establish the precise timing of the melting to estimate exposure duration and intensity. It's after the lead cladding was removed that the full intensity of the radiation would come into play. Everyone who handled, cut, transported or stored the needles would have been exposed. They must all be tracked down.

However, instead of following such a methodical approach, the authorities are going about the whole business amateurishly, groping and jumping about without trying to construct a map or model of exposure related to the transactions and processes through which the irradiator went.

The AERB hasn't used a scientific modelling approach to make half-way intelligent estimates of the overall exposure, or of the radiation doses received by the seriously injured, long-hospitalised seven survivors -- despite the prompt help it got from the Canadian exporter of the irradiator.

This is of a piece with the AERB's style of functioning and the extremely sloppy, inefficient, and unsafe mode of operation of its parent, the Department of Atomic Energy. The DAE is easily the worst-functioning department of the Indian government, which has never met a target or completed a major project without a typical cost overrun of 200 percent-plus. By its own projections -- and generous subsidies from indulgent governments --, it should have installed 43,500 MW of nuclear power by 2000 and over 50,000 MW by now.

The current installed nuclear capacity is 4,100 MW -- just 3 percent of India's total electricity capacity. This too was achieved at the cost of the health and safety of thousands of employees and the public living near nuclear facilities, including uranium mines, fuel fabrication plants, heavy-water factories, nuclear reactors, and reprocessing and waste-storage plants.

A great component of the price India has paid for the DAE's existence lies in the lack of accountability and poor safety culture in an organisation that's crucial to public well-being. The AERB has inherited and fully imbibed this culture.

Instead of fighting for functional autonomy, it has become a lapdog of the DAE, the very agency whose installations it's meant to regulate for safety! The AERB has no independent personnel, equipment or budget, nor even the will, to gain autonomy within the DAE.

Outside the DAE too, in its assigned function as the regulator of all radiation-related equipment and activities, the AERB's performance has been unspeakably shoddy and irresponsible. The DAE was set up in 1983, so it has no record of radiation-emitting equipment or activities for the first 36 years of Independence. But even more appalling, its current records are sloppy and its reports incomplete.

The AERB is meant to keep track of all the 50,000 X-ray machines, 735 radiotherapy units, 1,754 industrial radiography units, and thousands of apparatuses and radiochemicals used in physical, biological, chemical and agricultural experiments in all of India's public and private laboratories, hospitals and other facilities.

Under the Atomic Energy Act 1962, it alone is authorised to finally dispose of all radioactive material. It doesn't perform all or most of these functions. It only rarely monitors whether its regulations are enforced. It doesn't order labs, as it is empowered to do, to hand over to it material for final disposal.

The AERB doesn't keep track of when the X-ray units reach their 'use-by' dates. It doesn't have the personnel, will or culture to do so. Under the Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Waste) Rules 1987, any venture using radioactive material must appoint a radiological safety officer. This doesn't happen in the overwhelming majority of cases, but the AERB doesn't bother to enforce the rules or punish their violation.

Last year, it conducted a paltry 110 inspections in the 62,110 installations it's supposed to regularly inspect, in 3,210 institutions. Of the 16 cases of theft or loss of radiation-related devices reported in India since 2000, it succeeded in recovering only three.

I have personally talked to scientists in three Delhi-based institutes, who complain that requests sent to the AERB to help with final radioactivity disposal go unanswered. Sometimes, AERB personnel themselves 'informally' encourage persistent inquirers to dump the waste. On the rare occasion when they do visit an institution/lab, they expect to be wined and dined or bribed outright. They never provide technological support or guidance.

The AERB has failed to install radiation monitors at all major ports and airports and refused to monitor a site particularly vulnerable to radioactive waste-dumping -- Alang, the world's ship-breaking capital, itself a big disaster. Now it wants to shake off its responsibility by training scrap dealers in waste handling. So when Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan [ Images ] vehemently says the AERB is a highly efficient agency which can account for 'every gramme' of radioactive material in India, and hence that the Mayapuri cobalt must have been illegally imported, he talks through his hat.

The AERB's failure has allowed metallic products recycled in India to be extensively contaminated with radioactivity. Many countries have recently refused shipments of Indian-made steel after it was found to be contaminated, including 67 shipments sent to the US since 2003. Shockingly, the nuclear liability Bill solely empowers this appallingly reckless agency to declare whether or not a nuclear mishap has happened, for which the public may be compensated.

It's time we brought the AERB to book or, better, replaced it with a truly independent, competent agency answerable to Parliament, the public, and the Right to Information Act. What we need is a body that strictly licenses all nuclear- and radiation-related activities and establishments for safety, regularly monitors each of them for their radioactive material stocks, safety practices and precautionary approaches, places its representatives in all major cities, and actively takes charge of safe radioisotope disposal.

The only way to ensure the agency does what it's meant to do is to verify and monitor its work and make it accountable to Parliamentary and public oversight -- beginning right now. Or else, we'll have more Mayapuris on a horrendous scale.

All his article is a rant on AERB. He wants to punish the only agency that did its job! IOW shoot the messenger

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 17 Sep 2010 00:01

Delhi Universitay doenst get oi yet> Due to their negligence people were killed and lots of business disrupted and fears of terrorist attack were there during the dicovery process. yet they fail to reply to the AERB on action taken!

Over 300 Students affected by AERB ban
They are treating this another reply to bureaucracy issue while it negligence bordering on criminality..