NEI Nuclear Notes

Like the United States, India wants to take a look at the relative safety of its nuclear plants. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has set up a 10-member committee to examine if our 20 nuclear plants can withstand earthquakes and other external events such as tsunamis, cyclones, floods, etc. That includes checking if the arrangements are adequate to ensure safety in case of such events, both within and beyond the design. The panel is chaired by AERB’s former chairman, S K Sharma. Its first meeting is on the coming Thursday. Naturally, the focus will be on earthquakes and tsunamis: He [an unidentified board member] said during the 2004 tsunami, nuclear plants in south India were able to withstand the effects. “Our plants are almost 2,000 km away from the tectonic boundary of Sumatra. The earthquake following the tsunami in Japan was quite unprecedented and, therefore, the committee will revisit the safety applications installed in our plants.” This is a wor...