Ticking Time Bomb, India's poor nuclear safety

Ticking Time Bomb, India's poor nuclear safety

By launching its first submarine India has become the sixth member of the nuclear powered submarine owners. According to vice admiral (retd) D S P Verma, the project director, Arihant is a 6,000 tone submarine with a length of 110 meters and a breadth of 11 meters. It has the ability to carry 12 K 15 submarine launched ballistic missiles that have a range of over 700 km.

It is a modified version of the Russian Charlie 2 class submarine. It is powered by light water reactors which use ordinary water as both coolant and moderator. After a series of exhaustive trials the submarine is handed over to Indian navy. Its a big day for Indians as they are happy with the achievement but beside all the achievements India’s nuclear program is suffering from security lapses, theft and smuggling of NBC related materials. India’s nuclear program has a long history of accidents. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal in IPRI edition of April 2002 observed “there have been reported cases of theft of fissile material from the Indian nuclear facilities. These are vulnerable to a high probability of accidents. According to an Indian parliamentary report, 147 mishaps or safety related unusual occurrences were reported between 1995 and 1998 in Indian atomic energy installations.

Now take a closer look at some of these accidents:

TARAPUR Atomic Power Plants are the oldest nuclear reactors in India. Built with US assistance, these plants are suffering from radiation problems. On March 14 1980, 26 workers were seriously affected by the leakage of cooling water at TAPPS_1. In 1995 the radioactive waste from the plant contaminated the water supply of nearly 3,000 villagers living nearby. Again in 1996 a leak was developed in the waste processing plant TARAPUR and locals used contaminated water for many days .RAJASTHAN ATOMIC POWER STATION 1 faced number of shut downs from 1980 to 1994 due to cracks in its pressure tubes or coolant channels. RAPP 1 was shut down in 1994 due to leakage of heavy water. RAPP 2 has technical problems which have led to frequent shut downs. MADRAS ATOMIC POWER PLANTS, KALPAKKAM, are also suffering from design and safety problems. MAPP has two units each of 220 MW but due to design problems they were downgraded to 170 MW each. Soon after the construction, the moderation/distribution systems collapsed inside the reactor. The reactors suffered from acute design problems and caused high scale radiations having adverse effects on workers and marine life. Rods of metal from broken manifolds have been lying at the bottom of the chambers of MAPP since early 1990’ s.Efforts to remove these rods was failed. According to analysts, the constant flow of uranium fuel inside the tubes and the pressurized heavy water around them had caused the detachment of the manifolds cutting them into several pieces, which could lead to a major accident. On June 1st 2003, a radiation leakage occurred at MAPP which caused serious injuries to technicians. In March 1999, the leakage of six tons of heavy water was reported during inspection of coolant channels. Temperature of sea water around Kalpakkam rose from 85 to 140 degree Fahrenheit when these plants started to work. NARORA ATOMIC POWER PLANTS in UTTER PRADESH are also suffering from accidents. In March 1993, a fire broke out in NAPP when a turbine generator’s two blades snapped from fatigue causing more blades to break and the whole machine became grinding halt. During annual shutdown, NAPP 2 released heavy water during inspection of reactor’s coolant channels. An inspection tool caused this leakage and radiation released affected the environment. Now come to KAKRAPAR ATOMIC POWER PLANTS in Surat, Gujrat. The radiation leakages from KAPP are usual practice and population around the plant is effected with radiation. In a report issued by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, workers at KAPP receive collective radiation dose which is three times higher than the internationally permitted level. KAPP reactors faced a disastrous fire in 1991.In 1994, extensive damage was also done to the reactor by floods. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India shut down KAPP 1 of 220 MW on 23 April 2004 following an incident of reactor power rise. The incident reflects certain weaknesses in safety systems. According to engineers and workers, the design flaws were repeatedly pointed out to the authorities during construction of KAPP but no notice or action was taken. Now population around the plant is suffering from skin, eye diseases and vomiting.

KAIGAATOMIC POWER PLANTS, KARNATKA are suffering from serious design problems. The containment dome of unit 1 collapsed in 1994, only in 24 hrs prior to the plant becoming active. All units and equipments were destroyed under the platform.
Some other major known incidents include major leaks in a waste tank at BARC of capacity 200000 liters which contaminated water and soil in mid 1990’s. Mumbai Port is also becoming radioactive because of the nuclear effluents discharged by the research Plutonium Reprocessing Plants at BARC. On Nov 17, 2002 a blast occurred in a new chemical unit of the nuclear fuel plant near the southern city of Hyderabad. A liquid containing Uranium was evaporated. On 21st June 2003 in Kalpakkam, six workers were seriously affected with radiation. Three of them were engineers. Uranium Corporation of India Limited is under constent pressure from local environmental groups due to radiation leaks and health hazards. Radioactivity has resulted in genetic mutations and other disorders due to construction of unshielded and unfenced tailing pounds, which is a gross violation of international safety norms. The workers of UCIL have complained that maximum workers are not given medical reports and even when they are handed these reports, the true facts are not highlighted. The workers are badly exposed at the time of packing Yellow Cake and while loading these at the railway station. The workers load the packets in the train wagons with bare feet and bare hands and are exposed to health hazards. Some workers who raised there voice against these hazardous practices are accused as enemy agents and are humiliated by the local authorities.

People living in mining areas are seriously suffering from radiation. Recently, the institute of Research and Social Action examined 712 people and found that 31 people are severely affected by radiation. These areas also have alarming numbers of physically and mentally handicapped child births. Jharkhandies Organization against Radiation examined 250 handicapped children living in uranium mining area and found that all of them were suffering from radiation. It has been estimated that more than 30,000 people are affected by radiation in the mining areas. An organization of local Women Against Radiation also proved that women are giving defected births because of radiation. The environment committee of the Bihar Legislative Council has raised its voice against unsafe uranium mining practices and stated that work at mines is not as per the guidelines of Atomic Energy Act. According to another report of the Bihar Legislative Council, tribes living in the uranium mining belt are at immediate expose to diseases caused by radiation like cancer, impotency, leukemia and contortion of limbs. Apart from radiation problems Indian Nuclear Program is also a threat for the entire world because of theft and smuggling of high grade radioactive materials. It was officially confirmed in 1989 that Yellow Cakes were being smuggled from Jaduguda Uranium mines in the singhbhum region of South Bihar to Nepal. In the Uranium market of Katmandu, one kg of Jaduguda Uranium costs Rs 1 crore. In 1994, four containers of Phosphorous Penta Sulphide were detained by Sri Lankan authorities at Colombo port, en-rout from Mumbai to Israel which is used in making nerve gas. Also in 1994, a shipment of Beryllium was caught in Vilnius, worth 24 million US $. The buyers were from India and North Korea. During January 1999, 750 kg Uranium was stolen during transportation from Jaduguda Uranium Mines, Bihar to Hyderabad. On 5th November 2000, CBI recovered 25 kg radioactive uranium from a person. After two days Indian police arrested two persons and 57 lbs of uranium was recovered. On 13th November 2000, IAEA reported that Indian police seized three uranium rods and arrested eight people on charges of illicit trafficking of radioactive material. On August 15, 2003, three out of nine highly radioactive isotopes from Tata Steel factory in Jamshedpur were stolen. The thieves dug a hole in the back wall of the building where isotopes were stored. These isotopes were made of radioactive Cobalt-60 which can be used in manufacturing explosives. During September 1998 and February 2001, a Delhi based trading company M/S NEC Engineers Private Limited shipped out ten consignments of sensitive and prohibited material worth 791,343$ to Iraq. United States imposed sanctions on NEC Engineers and Protech Consultant Private Limited of India for selling NBC related material to Iran and Iraq.

Aforementioned realities are only few but they clear the picture of India’s nuclear program safety. India’s nuclear program is not only a threat for neighboring countries but also a great danger for the regional environment.

On the other hand India along with United States and Israel is propagating about Pakistan’s safe and peaceful nuclear program and trying to make any effort to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear installations but this is the dream which will never come true. History of Pakistan’s nuclear program is free from mishandling the radioactive material; smuggling of NBC related materials and absolutely no radiation leakages. It is the time of great concern for India to take control over its expanding nuclear program which can result in to the great destruction not only for the region but to India itself.
Wajiha Kiran Butt
The author of this article is joint secretary at Bedari_e_Fikar Forum, a think tank based in Islamabad