Safety & Environment
The safety operations from prospecting and mining of ores to management of waste, encompass all the aspects of safety viz. radiological safety, industrial safety, occupational health, fire safety and environmental protection.
In all the nucler installations, care is taken to protect operating personnel, public and the environment. Safety surveillance is regularly carried out and comprehensive Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans to handle postulated emergency scenarios are in action at the DAE facilities.
SODAR system
BARC and the laboratories accredited by it, conduct countrywide personnel monitoring in about 3000 industrial, medical, research and DAE organisations which benefit over 30,000 radiation workers annually -
Environmental radiation monitoring and environmental surveillance are the regular features of the environmental protection programme of DAE.
At different sites, the Environment Survey Labs of BARC continuously monitor environment, and collect site related meteorological data. Sophisticated weather monitoring SODAR systems are operational at Kaiga, Kalpakkam, Tarapur and Trombay.
Environment around the nuclear sites is well conserved. Many of the nuclear power stations have obtained Environmental Management System Certification under ISO 14001, and have won the “AERB Green Site Award”. To educate the public living around nuclear power plants, public awareness programmes by DAE organisations are organised on a regular basis.
An independent body, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)monitors safety. The safety standards formulated by AREB are at par with those recommended by the international bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was constituted on November 15, 1983 by the President of India to carry out certain regulatory and safety functions under the Act. The regulatory authority of AERB is derived from the rules and notifications promulgated under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
The mission of the Board is to ensure that the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to health and the environment. ERB is supported by the Safety Review Committee for Operating Plants (SARCOP), Safety Review Committee for Applications of Radiation (SARCAR) and Advisory Committees for Project Safety Review (ACPSRs) [e.g. nuclear power projects, light water reactor projects, waste management projects etc.]
AERB also receives advice from another Advisory Committee, viz., Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety (ACNS ) . ACNS provides recommendations on the safety codes, Guides and manuals
prepared for Siting, Design, Construction, Operation, Quality Assurance and Decommissioning/Life Extension of Nuclear Power Plants which have been prepared by the respective advisory committees for each of these areas. It also advises the Board on generic safety issues. ACNS examines and advice on any specific matter that are referred to it by AERB. The administrative and regulatory mechanisms which are in place ensure multi-tier review by experts available nation wide. These experts come from reputed academic institutions and governmental agencies
NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation India Ltd.) is a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). The Association is conducting peer reviews of all the atomic power stations progressively. Also, from time to time, Indian experts have participated in peer reviews in a number of countries including USA, Japan and South Korea.
The International Safety Advisory Group (INSAG), the Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (NUSAG) along with several committees of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which prepare safety codes and standards, have Indian scientists as members.
Besides, radiation safety related activities such as personal monitoring, maintenance of dose records, biological dosimetry of suspected radiation over exposure cases were also routinely carried out at BARC. Medical and industrial safety sections provide technical support to the AERB and provide advise in planning of radiation installations, develop QA and QC protocols, perform QA tests as and when necessary. These services extend to diagnostic, therapeutic, nuclear medicine installations and also for industrial radiography, irradiator facilites, nucleonic gauges and other industrial applications. A dedicated one year Radiological Physics Diploma course (Dip. R. P) on behalf of Mumbai University is conducted regularly for meeting the human resource needs in the country in the above fields. The programme initiated as a regular training programme, in Radiological Physics in 1962, in collaboration with WHO, to provide qualified Medical Physicist and Radiation Safety Officers to hospitals and industries using radiation sources. The Course is designed to cover a wide area of medical Physics, Radiation Physics, Radiation Safety and peripheral subjects.
