Nuclear nightmare

The nuclear accident in a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura in Japan is the stuff of the world8217;s nightmares. Further investigations will establish the precise sequence of events. But it seems clear already that Japan8217;s worst nuclear accident so far was the kind of accident that should never have occurred. It was a Level Four incident, less disastrous than Chernobyl which was Level Seven or Three Mile Island which was Level Five and it is not expected to have long-term effects. Nevertheless Tokaimura will cause deep concern for a long time in Japan and way beyond. A nuclear chain reaction occurred because of human error and led to a leak of radioactivity outside the plant. This disastrous series of events was completely unforeseen and yet from what is known it is precisely what ought to have been foreseen and guarded against.

There are two factors that ought to make the Ja-panese nuclear power industry the most efficient and most reliable in the world. The Japanese public has a heightened sense ofawareness of nuclear dangers and active anti-nuclear lobbies scrutinises the industry closely. Second, the economy is crucially dependent on nuclear power plants which supply 30 per cent of the country8217;s electricity. If despite all this the nuclear power industry in Japan is so fallible Tokaimura is the latest of a series of mishaps 8212; it must raise some fundamental and worrying questions about safety in nuclear facilities everywhere. After expressing shame for the accident, a Japanese government spokesman, Hiromu Nonaka, described it as a 1950s8217; type of incident. The implication is that it was an error at a very basic level and therefore could have been prevented. And yet when the incident did occur, it took scientists and technocrats totally aback. Even though criticality was brought under control in less than 24 hours by Japanese scientists, the situation appears to have been so unpredictable at one stage that help was sought from scientists in other parts of the world. There is a great deal that willhave to be explained. The Interna-tional Atomic Energy Agency will have to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident and practices in the plant. The fullest information must be made available to all operators of civilian nuclear plants so as to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident in Japan or elsewhere. There is every likelihood that the nuclear power industry worldwide will suffer a setback thanks to events at Tokaimura which suggest fail-safe systems are safe only until the next accident.

For India which operates aging nuclear reactors and where there have been an alarming series of accidents in nuclear plants, there are very important lessons here. It is essential that the Nuclear Power Corporation and the Department of Atomic Energy take a more rigorous view of safety issues. The last review of safety in nuclear plants threw up a long list of major problems. Because of the prevailing secrecy in the DAE it is anyone8217;s guess how many safety-related issues have been satisfactorily sorted out.And who is to certify that the facilities are safe? India must have a fully independent Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.