Mumbai : Not a single out of 33 incidents in various nuclear power plants in India during 2013-2014 has been classified as “accident” as per the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, India’s atomic energy regulator said Tuesday.
While 32 incidents were below scale or having no safety significance, only one was pegged at scale 1, signifying “anomaly” or implying minor problems in components while sufficient defense in depth is remaining, said the the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in its annual report for 2013-2014.
The radiation exposure of occupational workers of nuclear facilities were well within the annual dose limits, it said.
Similarly, the estimated radiation exposure to the general public near the operating plants was much less than the annual limit of 1 mSv, as prescribed by AERB – the maximum being less than 2.8 percent for old plant sites and 0.1 percent for new ones.
The AERB said that the impact of this dose is indistinguishable from the natural background radiation.
The liquid and gaseous wastes discharged into the environment from the operating plants were only a small fraction of the permitted technical specifications limits for operations.
Over the years, with constant efforts from the AERB and dedicated commitment from utilities, the industrial safety performance of department of atomic energy units has improved appreciably, said the report.
The annual report focuses on the safety status at nuclear power plants, the fuel cycle facilities and radiation facilities which AERB monitors, as part of its mandate to keep the public informed on safety issues of radiological safety significance