India tightens nuclear safety regime

India announces new, independent nuclear watchdog Copyright: Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.

By: T.V. Padma

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>India tightens nuclear safety regime</h1>
<h4>By: T.V. Padma</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><span>[NEW  DELHI] India has announced that it will set up a new, independent  nuclear regulatory authority and invite international experts to conduct  safety audits of its nuclear power plants, </span></p>
<p><span>The  steps to allay public fears following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant  breakdown in March were announced this week (26 April) at a joint media  briefing by three ministers. It included a minister from the prime  minister’s office, V. Narayanaswamy; environment minister Jairam Rames;  and Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra,  where India plans to build its largest nuclear power plant at Jaitapur.</span></p>
<p><span>A  bill on the new nuclear watchdog to replace the current atomic energy  regulatory board (AERB), set up in 1983 under India’s department of  atomic energy, will be introduced in the next session of the Indian  parliament beginning July.</span></p>
<p><span>India  will also invite the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA)  operational safety review team (OSART) to help with its safety reviews,  Narayanaswamy announced.</span></p>
<p><span>Environmental  experts and even some former nuclear scientists, including former AERB  chairman A. Gopalakrishnan, have been long pointing out that India lacks  a truly independent nuclear regulatory agency.</span></p>
<p><span>In a column in the <em>Daily News and Analysis</em> paper on Tuesday, Gopalakrishnan said that India’s nuclear safety audits —  in  1979 after the US Three Mile accident and in 1986 after the Chernobyl  accident, have never been made public. In 1995, when he  ordered a fresh review as AERB  chairman, it was also never made public. He wrote: "… this subservient  organisation [AERB] had remained a silent and inactive spectator for 12  years (since 1983) on the face of these serious safety deficiencies". </span></p>
<p><span>Gopalakrishnan  supported OSART involvement in India’s future nuclear safety audits. "Such an OSART review will be fully unbiased, technically comprehensive  and instil a lot more public confidence than a review conducted solely  by a captive and relatively inexperienced AERB, or through a peer review  by the World Association of Nuclear Operators …" he observed.</span></p>
<p><span>Meanwhile,  the Indian government also announced on Tuesday that there would be no  rethink on the controversy-ridden Jaitapur plant, with six 1,600 megawatt reactors, to be built by the French firm Areva. The first two  reactors are scheduled to be ready by 2019.</span></p>
<p><span>Opponents  cite environmental concerns: the site is one of India’s richest  biodiversity hotspots; it is in a mildly seismic zone; and it will use  untested technology from Areva.</span></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/india-tightens-nuclear-safety-regime-1/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/india-tightens-nuclear-safety-regime-1/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

[NEW DELHI] India has announced that it will set up a new, independent nuclear regulatory authority and invite international experts to conduct safety audits of its nuclear power plants,

The steps to allay public fears following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown in March were announced this week (26 April) at a joint media briefing by three ministers. It included a minister from the prime minister’s office, V. Narayanaswamy; environment minister Jairam Rames; and Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, where India plans to build its largest nuclear power plant at Jaitapur.

A bill on the new nuclear watchdog to replace the current atomic energy regulatory board (AERB), set up in 1983 under India’s department of atomic energy, will be introduced in the next session of the Indian parliament beginning July.

India will also invite the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) operational safety review team (OSART) to help with its safety reviews, Narayanaswamy announced.

Environmental experts and even some former nuclear scientists, including former AERB chairman A. Gopalakrishnan, have been long pointing out that India lacks a truly independent nuclear regulatory agency.

In a column in the Daily News and Analysis paper on Tuesday, Gopalakrishnan said that India’s nuclear safety audits — in 1979 after the US Three Mile accident and in 1986 after the Chernobyl accident, have never been made public. In 1995, when he ordered a fresh review as AERB chairman, it was also never made public. He wrote: "… this subservient organisation [AERB] had remained a silent and inactive spectator for 12 years (since 1983) on the face of these serious safety deficiencies".

Gopalakrishnan supported OSART involvement in India’s future nuclear safety audits. "Such an OSART review will be fully unbiased, technically comprehensive and instil a lot more public confidence than a review conducted solely by a captive and relatively inexperienced AERB, or through a peer review by the World Association of Nuclear Operators …" he observed.

Meanwhile, the Indian government also announced on Tuesday that there would be no rethink on the controversy-ridden Jaitapur plant, with six 1,600 megawatt reactors, to be built by the French firm Areva. The first two reactors are scheduled to be ready by 2019.

Opponents cite environmental concerns: the site is one of India’s richest biodiversity hotspots; it is in a mildly seismic zone; and it will use untested technology from Areva.