ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

DAE units achieve very high safety record

The Department of Atomic Energy in India has continued to maintain its track record for highest safety standards with not a single accident related to nuclear or radiation safety being reported from any of its units across the country during the year 1997, according to the latest report.

The report, based on data compiled by the Industrial and Radiation Safety Division of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, said there were 391 industrial accidents in DAE units and none of these involved the release of radioactivity or radiation injury.

'Struck by object', 'fall of person', 'fall of object', 'caught in or between objects' were the most common form of accidents listed, accounting for 88 per cent of accidents (about 340) while 33 accidents involved chemical burn or sprain and there were 13 accidents involving contact with hot objects or electrocution, according to the ISRD report.

There were six fatal accidents involving contractor workers in the DAE units in 1997 out of which one was in heavy water plant at Manuguru, two were at the Nuclear Fuel Complex at Hyderabad, two in the Uranium Corporation of India Limited at Jaduguda and one at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station project three and four.

Out of the about 115 million man hours worked in the DAE units such as nuclear power plants, heavy water plants, at the Indian Rare Earths Limited, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Reasearch, the NFC, the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd and the Electronics Corporation India Ltd, around 42,000 man-days were lost during the year 1997. The report emphasises the need for proper training and adequate attention to occupational health of employees to achieve zero accident rate.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report