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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Safety officials investigating the Sunday blast in a chemical plant in a nuclear fuel complex in outskirts of Hyderabad city in Andhra Pradesh said there was no cause for alarm.
"It is the kind of an accident that is common in any chemical plant. There is nothing serious about it. Apprehensions expressed in some quarters are misplaced," NFC Deputy Chief Executive (Safety) S M Rao told rediff.com
Rao said a five-member team of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, comprising senior officials from different wings, particularly radiological monitoring, have arrived to being a probe into the incident. The team, which includes senior scientist Dr Sundararajan, will also monitor and assess the situation.
"Within a couple of days, we will know about the cause of the blast. The AERB team visited the chemical plant where the blast occurred. Based on their findings and recommendations, we will repair the damaged plant and incorporate the systemic changes suggested by AERB," Rao said.
Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad, is responsible for manufacturing Zirconium alloy clad, natural and enriched oxide fuel assemblies for all the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors and the Boiling Water Reactors in India, including Zirconium alloy structural components for these reactors, Calandria and pressure tubes for PHWRs, and square channels for the BWRs.
"The blast, which occurred between 0415 IST and 0430 IST on Sunday in the chemical plant used for uranium purification, took place when the operator vessel got disconnected. The top lid of the process plant hit the asbestos sheet roof, which fell off. Seven persons were working in the plant at the time, but no one was injured even though broken glass pieces flew around," the deputy chief executive said.
The plant contained uranium-bearing liquid. It spilled onto the ground and collected in a pit. It was later taken back into the process plant.
After the blast, the Health Physics Unit of the NFC monitored the area and declared there was no airborne activity and people were allowed to resume their work in the other plants at the NFC.
"Work in the NFC remains unaffected, even as the damaged chemical plant has been shut down," Rao said. "We have two plants for uranium purification. With one unit affected by the blast, we are increasing the production activity in the other plant so that our targeted output is not affected."
Asked about the NFC authorities not informing the district, police or fire service after the blast, Rao said, "We observe stringent safety measures. We have onsite and offsite emergency plans in place. If the impact does not cross the boundary of NFC, it is called as onsite emergency. If it crosses the NFC boundary, it is called as offsite emergency.
"After yesterday's blast, we have taken the steps as per the onsite emergency plan, since the effect did not cross the boundary of the plant itself. So, informing the district or local authorities would have been superfluous. It would have created unnecessary panic where it is not warranted at all."
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