Radiation Safety under Emergency

In India 21 NPP units are in operation and nine more units are under construction/commissioning covering PHWR, LWR and PFBR. This power programme is governed by the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 and the rules framed there under. AERB is the national regulatory body having powers to frame safety policies, lay down safety standards and requirements and to monitor and enforce safety provisions in nuclear and radiation installations and practices.  The public exposure during the normal operations of standardized PHWR and PWR is below 5uSv/year against the regularity dose limit of 1000uSv/year. 

The experiences of radiological events at TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima has shown that there are no deterministic effect (tissue reactions) to public around NPP sites.   

Regulatory body needs to decide on the dose levels during the emergency phase and post emergency phase.  As public health, worldwide research is being done for low dose. In India, one of the key radiological protection research requirement is to improve our understanding of radiological health risk that might be caused by exposure to low radiation doses and resultant stochastic effects.  

About the Speaker:

Mr. S.A.Bhardwaj, a Mechanical Engineer from Delhi University and M.Tech from IIT Delhi, spent all his career with the Department of Atomic Energy after joining it in the year 1971. He retired as 'Distinguished Scientist' of DAE and Director (Technical) and Member of Board, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. He also held the position of Chairman, Nuclear Fuel Complex Board, Hyderabad. Before taking over as Chairman, AERB, he was serving the Department as DAE-Homi Bhabha Chair Professor.

During his long career with NPCIL, he has been associated with design and engineering of PHWRs in India. He was also associated as an important member of nuclear safety design and its review process at Regulatory Body. Mr. Bhardwaj is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering.