Delhi University may face action and be penalised by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for allegedly failing to follow safety rules after the radiation leak in a Delhi scrap market was traced to its Chemistry department.
"We are tracing the registration of the Canadian irradiator and also contemplating severe punishment under the Indian Atomic Energy Act for the Chemistry Department as it is responsible for severe exposure of gamma rays to the public in Mayapuri which even left one person dead," chairman, AERB SS Bajaj told PTI today.
The Delhi Police yesterday said it had traced the origin of the radioactive Cobalt-60 found in Delhi's Mayapuri scrap market to a laboratory in Delhi University's Chemistry Department, where it was lying unused for the last 25 years.
Panic gripped Mayapuri in the first week of April when 11 people were admitted to hospitals after they were exposed to radiation.
A worker in the scrap shop from where the Cobalt 60 was discovered has died due to radiation exposure.
AERB is also trying to find whether the Canadian irradiator in the Chemistry department was registered with Department of Atomic Energy.
"We will come to know today about the registration of the instrument as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is also looking into its records," Bajaj said.
According to Delhi's deputy commissioner of police (West) Sharad Aggarwal, the university bought the irradiator in question from the Atomic Energy Canada Limited in 1970 for use in experiments by students. It was not used since 1985.
The Atomic energy Act, 1962 has a special provision to impose punishment and enforce penalty if there is any violation of safety rules.
According to a former Radiation Safety professional of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, there has been no conviction so far over radiation safety violation. The Delhi incident is purely a case amounting to culpable homicide to be charged under criminal proceedings, he said.
AERB has so far been sending notices to those who are violating the Atomic Energy Act and at the most withdrawing their licences or suspending the licences till the agencies complied with safety norms.
