Nuclear Disaster

The growth in the application of nuclear science and technology in the fields of power generation, medicine, industry, agriculture, research and defence has led to an increase in the risk of occurrence of Nuclear and Radiological emergencies.

India has traditionally been vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geo climatic conditions and it has, of late, like all other countries in the world, become equally vulnerable to various man-made disasters.

Any radiation incident resulting in or having a potential to result in exposure and/or contamination of the workers or the public in excess of the respective permissible limits can lead to a nuclear/radiological emergency.

Sad memories of the use of nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the wide publicity given to the reactor accidents at Three Mile Island (TMI) in USA and Chernobyl in erstwhile USSR, have strongly influenced the public perception of any nuclear emergency or disaster to be most often linked, erroneously though, to only these events. Even though such situations may not easily be repeated, one must be prepared to face nuclear/radiological emergencies of lower magnitudes and ensure that the impact of such an emergency (which,for a given magnitude, is likely to be much greater today because of higher population densities coupled with an enhanced urban infrastructure due to economic prosperity) is always kept under control.