For more than 20 days, when the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Delhi Police and various agencies were hunting high and low for the ''missing'' Cobalt-60 pencils, the radioactive sources were lying inside a safe vault at the Narora atomic power complex in Bulandshahr.
The 12 pencils were part of the scrap that had been recovered from Mayapuri after a scrap dealer and his workers came down with radiation sickness. The heavy lead casing that had been cut open and its components were collected by a team of specialists and carted off to the Narora power plant. Perhaps because the exposed scrap was intensely radioactive, it was not closely examined even as investigators scoured the Mayapuri scrap bazaar for the missing parts and sounded alerts to check whether the potentially lethal waste had surfaced outside Delhi. By then the authorities had figured out the gamma ray machine contained 16 pencils, each comprising four slugs.
The panic levels in the government mounted as the pencils remained untraced. ''It was like 10 gunmen entering the country and four remaining unaccounted for,'' said a source. With no trace of the Cobalt 60 devices, investigators retraced their steps, checking evidence all the way, till they reached the radioactive scrap lying at Narora.
With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself concerned over the accident, it was only at around 6pm on Thursday — a day before the government was to make a statement in Lok Sabha — that AERB sounded the all clear. Investigators told the government that all 16 pencils had been accounted for and they were out of harm's way at the atomic power plant.
The investigations have proved to be an eye-opener for the government and though the official statement in the House was not too critical of Delhi University, it is apparent that the varsity was shockingly negligent. It made no effort to check its radioactive devices or records and it was the questioning of the scrap dealer that revealed the source to be DU.
This led the police to knock urgently at the doors of DU and revealed the missing gamma irradiator in the chemistry department. Armed with its type and make, the government approached the Canadian firm that manufactured the device and soon came to know that five such machines had been supplied. It was only after the police came calling did DU authorities own up that the machine had been lying in disuse and was disposed of as scrap.
The 12 pencils were part of the scrap that had been recovered from Mayapuri after a scrap dealer and his workers came down with radiation sickness. The heavy lead casing that had been cut open and its components were collected by a team of specialists and carted off to the Narora power plant. Perhaps because the exposed scrap was intensely radioactive, it was not closely examined even as investigators scoured the Mayapuri scrap bazaar for the missing parts and sounded alerts to check whether the potentially lethal waste had surfaced outside Delhi. By then the authorities had figured out the gamma ray machine contained 16 pencils, each comprising four slugs.
The panic levels in the government mounted as the pencils remained untraced. ''It was like 10 gunmen entering the country and four remaining unaccounted for,'' said a source. With no trace of the Cobalt 60 devices, investigators retraced their steps, checking evidence all the way, till they reached the radioactive scrap lying at Narora.
With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself concerned over the accident, it was only at around 6pm on Thursday — a day before the government was to make a statement in Lok Sabha — that AERB sounded the all clear. Investigators told the government that all 16 pencils had been accounted for and they were out of harm's way at the atomic power plant.
The investigations have proved to be an eye-opener for the government and though the official statement in the House was not too critical of Delhi University, it is apparent that the varsity was shockingly negligent. It made no effort to check its radioactive devices or records and it was the questioning of the scrap dealer that revealed the source to be DU.
This led the police to knock urgently at the doors of DU and revealed the missing gamma irradiator in the chemistry department. Armed with its type and make, the government approached the Canadian firm that manufactured the device and soon came to know that five such machines had been supplied. It was only after the police came calling did DU authorities own up that the machine had been lying in disuse and was disposed of as scrap.
Courtesy: Times of India
AERB sounded the all clear, but from where they traced the Cobalt sources is not revealed, so there would be a possibility of many innocents was irradiated to this lethal Cobalt radiation. Still now, AERB not opened their mouth about the source strength of the each Co-60 pencil they recovered.
The Vice Chancellor of Delhi University explained as follows
“It was calculated that it had outlived its radioactive time... because it comes to half in every five years,” Mr. Pental explained.
What my question how a professor can miscalculate the source strength, as per radioactive Disposal norms by AERB, it should be properly disposed irrespective of its Radio Activity strength. The isotopes strength of these kinds of irradiators is in order of kilo Curies. The half life period for Cobalt 60 is 5.23 years. Now source strength will be atleast few curies.
These professors who approved to scrap the irradiator should be sacked immediately; still there is no action on them. Because of these 2 people died, 5 peoples hospitalized and God only knows how many public got exposed to this lethal radiation.
Gammacell 220 Research Irradiator
Sample chamber size: 5.5 in. diameter x 8 in. high with access during irradiation.
The safe design and operation of the Gammacell 220 Excel has made it the unit of choice for high dose rate radiation studies. It has a broad range of applications from plant mutation to space stimulation. Samples can be accessed during the irradiation process, making this a unique feature of this irradiator.
Dose rate at 0.3 kGy/h
Sample size: 5 1/2 in. diameter x 8 in.
