Madras Atomic Atomic Power Station - Unit One Accident The story of how a scientific issue is being converted into an issue of governance? Dr V Pugazhenthi MBBS TuNo Media - 30 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF-Fw5M2Mrw The dome structure that you see behind me is the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). This generates electricity which is then supplied to an organisation called Southern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (SRLDC) along with the information about the daily generated amount. If some problem occurs to this generation, that information is also shared by MAPS to SRLDC. This information is available at the web site www.srldc.in/dailyreport. It is in this Madras Atomic Power Station - Unit 1, a problem occurred and its electricity generation was stopped on 8.1.2018. SRLDC’s website tells us that this was due to an unexpected event called ‘forced outage’. That’s how the event was categorically registered in that website. Secondly, one of the the reason given for this was ‘emergency maintenance’. Actually, that doesn’t tell the whole truth.Usually, the website registers the reasons for the stoppage of generation as a problem in the boiler, turbine or in the core fuel rods etc. We don’t find such a mention in this particular event. Meanwhile, I received an information (from the workers in the plant) that this time an anomalous event had occurred; an increase in the level of radiation was found this time; but the source of leak could not be identified. I tried to register this information I had personally received with the media and I encountered many difficulties; however, www.vikatan.com published it. This I think, would have worried the officials. This would have pressed them to find the reasons for the increase in the radiation level as early as possible. On 22.1.2018 they claimed that they had rectified the fault; that is they had found a leak in the Delayed Neutron Monitoring Sensor Tube and had rectified it; and subsequently electricity generation at the reactor had started once again.
Through vikatan.com I then raised a question: “they (MAPS) claim that they have found the source of the leak, but we do not know whether this is the whole reason; only when we restart the reactor, we would know whether this was the complete or the partial reason for the leak”. “Actually, when they were increasing the pressure in the reactor, the leak reappeared. So, the electricity generation at MAPS was stopped once again on 30.1.2018”. Even now, SRLDC website declares that the shutdown was for “urgent maintenance”. So we need to understand that they have revealed only the partial reasons for the plant shutdown and not the complete ones. A similar event had occurred previously. On 9.5.2017, there was a radiation leak - a leak of heavy water - at the same MAPS reactor unit. Then, the reason for the leak was detected and clearly spelt out. But this time, the reason for the radiation leak was not spelt out so clearly. When the reactor was shutdown again on 30.1.2018, it was noted to have happened unexpectedly, unexpectedly, and was registered under the forced outage category. From that day on up till today, that is upto 22 March, 2018, the officials have not detected the reason or the source from where the radiation leak has occurred. As the SRLDC website had registered this as an “emergency, urgent maintenance”, Advocate Venkatesan wanted to know the reason for it and had requested the answer from the nuclear administrators using the Right To Information Act. The answers given to these questions by the Department of Atomic Energy showed clearly that the reason for the radiation leak was in fact not found out. “Did you identify the source of leak? What is the source of leak?” were the third set of questions filed by him. The answer given to these questions by the management was, “The investigation to identify the source of leak is in progress”. MAPS has faced such crisis before; but then, the reason for the crisis could be detected and registered. So, what is the difference between the problems that have occurred before from the one that has occurred on 8.1.2018 and 30.1.2018? This is the first time the reason for the radiation leak could not be established for more than 2 months despite best efforts by scientists. One can say, that in the entire history of Indian Nuclear Establishment, this is the first instance where the reason for the radiation leak could not be found for 2 months. So this is the difference between the previous events and the one that had occurred on 30.1.2018.
If a radiation leak occurs at MAPS, we need to know how the radioactive waste is evacuated from the nuclear reactor. Generally, it would be evacuated into the atmosphere through the smoke stacks or outflow pipes into the sea. Such evacuated radioactive waste have the potential to create environmental and health hazards. However, MAPS administration claims that no hazard has occurred so far to the people living around its reactor site. Now the question is, whether this claim is actually true? A few years earlier, the same nuclear establishment had conducted a research study to know whether the people living around the reactor site were affected by radiation from the reactors. The study was conducted by one Dr.Manjula Datta. This study concluded that no one living around the reactor site was affected by Leukaemia. Leuk aemia. But that conclusion was faulty. faulty. Actually, during the period when that study was being conducted, a woman named Mahalakshmi of Kalvaikarai near Sadurangapattinam had died due to leukaemia. And recently, two more have succumbed to Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and both have died. One was a 11 year old girl called Shifa Parveen of Sadurangapattinam who died on 23.2.2015. A 43 year old woman named Anjalai Anjalai of Manamai village had died on 16.8.2017. Even though the nuclear establishment has denied the health hazard caused by radiation to the local people, there are clear evidences that prove the close relationship between nuclear radiation and leukaemia. The evidences of death due to malignancy prove to us that when such accidents happen at the reactor site, the evacuated radioactive waste has the real potential to cause health hazards. At least from now on, the nuclear energy establishment should conduct a formal research study on these deaths and accept the responsibility for these deaths and provide the necessary compensation to the kin of the deceased ones. Elsewhere in other countries, there are separate laws to compensate the radiation affected ones. We do not have such a law. I would like to state here that we require such laws in India. Does this Unit One of the Madras Atomic Power Station follow safety procedures or not is the key question. An example can be cited to show how this Unit had not followed the safety protocols. The workers of this Unit in particular, are not provided with the necessary safeguards.
On 9.5.2017, MAPS Unit One was under maintenance. At the end of the first shift at about 1.45 PM, there was a leak of 3 tons of heavy water. When the radioactivity level was measured during the second shift, it was found to be 4003 DAC-hour1. DAC-hour means Derived Air Concentration Hour. According to the Technical Specifications of the plant, if the radioactivity level reaches 1000 DAC-hour, declaring Plant Emergency is mandatory; but during this event, Plant Emergency was not declared. Also, during such an event, it is mandatory to display openly (to all the plant workers) the currently existing radiation levels; but during the event of 9.5.2017, the radiation levels were not displayed openly. During that event, a senior engineer named Mr.Parthiban was involved in clearing the leaked heavy water. When one is involved in an activity to reduce the radioactivity levels, he would be provided with a protective dress. That dress is known as Ventilated Plastic Suite or VP Suite in short. On 19.5.2017, the Trade Union for the employees of MAPS had written a letter to the head of the MAPS Unit One, in which they had mentioned the lapses that were present when handling this situation; “while handling such an event, ample ventilation needs to be maintained, but the administration had not taken steps.” Similarly, they had written that “the air flow pathway of the Ventilated Plastic Suite is mired with problems”. To be frank, what they have written in that letter was” Is it a Ventilated Plastic Suite? or a killer suite?” They had used such extreme words. “Even though the protective suite had a fault, the management has not taken any steps to rectify it” was their accusation. So, the safety procedures had been flouted by the establishment. Let’s talk about another important issue. There is a group of professionals known as Health Physicists whose job is to monitor the amount of radiation received by each worker in the reactor site. Earlier, they were under the control of the Department of Atomic Energy. Later they were brought under Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), and it is NPCIL that is operating MAPS. These health physicists have to report to the authorities of MAPS. In such a structure, how can you expect the truth to come out? The Trade Unions themselves have stated this in their letter sent to the management. On 9.5.2017, there was a leakage of 3 tons of heavy water at MAPS Unit 1. A senior engineer named Mr.Parthiban was involved in its cleanup. As he was returning from this cleanup work, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died. If you compare the health status before and after his work of clearing the leaked heavy water, either the radiation or the problem in the ventilated suite might be suggested as the possible cause for his death. The protective suite is capable of providing protection only by a factor of 50. A rigorous investigation
about the cause of his death could have brought out the real cause of his death, but it is sad to know that such an investigation was not carried out. Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has declared that out of the total radiation received by the workers 90% should be external and the remaining 10% should be internal; but at MAPS, the 50% permanent workers themselves state with great grief that they have received an internal radiation of 30%. They consider this to be the cause of death for many of their fellow workers. For example one Mr.Ravi had died at the age of 54 because of Brain Tumour. We should also remember that Mr.Parthiban had met his death at the age of 51. So, we need to state here that the safety procedures have been flouted at MAPS. AERB has specified that the maximum level of radiation that could be released through the smoke stacks during the day time as 271 Curies. But on 9.5.2017 and 10.5.2017, they have released more than this value. On 9.5.2017 it was 485.97 Curies and on 10.5.2017 it was 391.96 Curies. So the possibility of causing a heath hazard to the people living around exists and the safety procedures are being flouted by MAPS. This is the history of the safety track record of MAPS. I had mentioned earlier about 4003 DAC-hour of radiation that was due to a leak on 9.5.2017. This is not a reading taken directly; but a reading taken from a distance; that is, it was taken from a remote sample. If you look at this in general from the past track record of MAPS, the real value would be 5 times more than this. And, even when the radiation level had gone 20 times than the stipulated norm, no internal plant emergency was declared. When an atomic reactor remains shutdown, its administrators would be looking for the problem that the reactor had faced and the ways by which this could be overcome. In the case of MAPS Unit One, there was an increase in the level of radiation, and despite the efforts taken, they could not find out the source of leak till today. It is assumed that the leak could be near the fuel bundle. Three places near here namely channels P10, Q9, Q10 are presumed to be the places from where the leak would have occurred. Despite efforts, these continue to remain as assumptions and no real cause has been found till today. Now we have a question: Let’s assume that a leak had occurred somewhere; which means, some maintenance work would have been carried out in that place; during such a maintenance work, has someone generated a report that stated that a leak could occur there again? Despite the presence of such a report, did the establishment fail to take the necessary preventive measures? The nuclear establishment should come forward and give the answers for all these questions. Because, had they taken these preventive measures, the radiation leak could have been avoided.
The loss accrued by the Government for one day of shutdown of MAPS reactor is Rs.1 Crore. This is people’s tax money. Hence for two months, the loss is about Rs.60 Crores. First of all, you will have find out the source from where the leak had occurred and once that had been found out, a tender needs to be floated for fixing that leak. However, a tender worth Rs.27 Lakhs has been floated here, even when the place from where the leak has occurred has not been established. How can this be correct? We can not conclude that such things happen only at MAPS. At a reactor at Kakrapar in Gujarat, such an event had occurred previously. On the anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2016, such an event occurred at Kakrapar and soon became a major issue. However, unlike the present MAPS event, ’nodal corrosion’ was found to be the reason in that case. Because of the gravity of that issue, it was declared that it would take another 5 years for that reactor to resume its generation of electricity. Similar events have occurred in Rajasthan and Tarapur. So, it is not unique to MAPS. But in all these places, unlike the events of 8.1.207 and 30.1.2017 at MAPS, the cause for radiation leak could be detected. It is only in the case of MAPS, the cause of leak remains elusive. Some of the answers given by the establishment for the questions raised under the Right To Information Act are wrong. In an answer given to a question, they have stated that there was no radiation leak at all. However, to another query they had stated that on 8.1.2018 the cause for the shutdown was because of an increase in the radiation level from 40-50 DAC-hour to 160 DAC-hour and the cause for the shutdown on 30.1.2018 was due to an increase in radioactivity to 1600 DAC-hour. How could this increase in radioactivity happen without the presence of a radiation leak? Secondly, to a question that asked the reason for the increase in the quantity of radioactivity, no answer was given. In the same way, to another question that asked for the quantity of radioactivity released into the environment, the answer given was ‘normal’, without stating the actual quantity of radiation released. The nuclear establishment should come forward and answer all these questions. Another fault of theirs is they call this as a planned shutdown; that is, they had consciously predetermined the shut down of this reactor react or.. However, the reason registered at the SRLDC website tells us that this was actually a ‘forced outage’ meaning an unexpected one. So, what is the truth? To know this, advocate Venkatesan has made a further appeal under the RTI Act. If we get an answer under this appeal, we may get a clear picture of this event.
Instead of solving the problem that has cropped up at the reactor, the establishment concentrates on finding out the insiders providing information to this doctor and tries to curb their activity; because of this, those who were providing the information earlier, earlier, have decreased their sharing of information. Also, the establishment does not want the newspapers and magazines to publish a news or a story about this event; because of the pressures given to them, they are reluctant to publish anything related to this event. vikatan.com is an internet magazine. This news has been published only in that. All the other newspapers and magazines have failed to publish anything about this. Another thing they do not want to face is a resistance from the people living around the reactor site. They are seriously working to make this come true. There is also an information, that they are trying to manipulate the views of political parties. So, instead of rectifying the problem, they are involved in these clandestine activities. They are disturbed to see the letter that the trade union had written to them landing in my hands; they remain irritated. Such are the steps taken by them. How can this be scientifically correct? They are interested only to find out how the letter written to them by the Trade Unions that accuses them that the basic rules of safety were being flouted had come to me. Who is the one who shared this letter to me, they want want to find out and punish them; that remains their attitude. How can this be correct? You are now seeing the Unit One of MAPS reactor behind me. While this remains shut down for more than two months, and the reason for the radiation leak that had caused this shut down is still not known, we need to know how the people who live here and the political parties, the religious organisations that are responding to this event. In this region, there are people belonging to Vanniar Caste, Scheduled castes, Islam and Fishing Community. These are the dominant population groups living here. All the political parties related to these people are also active in this region. The one question that needs to be asked is why in in the first place some of the workers of MAPS decided to share the information related to the radiation leak in MAPS to me rather than the political parties or the religious organisations that are operating in this region? The reason is, the workers who had shared this information do not have confidence in these organisations. They fear that these organisations and groups would not stand by truth and righteousness and might start making money out of this information shared to them. So, when they do not have confidence in the political parties, they decide to share this information to people who they consider as righteous and then share it to the larger world through them. The political parties and religious groups have not spoken up about this grave
issue even today. So, the doubt that whether these political parties would stand for the welfare of the affected lot crops up. What I like to state here is that the political parties should change this attitude at least now. If you see the people religion wise, you have Hindus, Muslims and Christians living here. No religion asks its followers not to tell the truth. No No religion ask its people to lie.They all ask its followers to stand by truth and profess it openly. Religious organisations of this region continue to profess religious ideas but are reluctant to talk about the region’s problems. Do religions ask people not to speak out truth? Even when the religions ask its followers to profess truth, and when the followers do not speak it out, we tend to think whether it is because of personal self interest they are not speaking up. Even praying to God, is it for fulfilling ones own self interest? Such questions are there in the minds of common common people and also in my own mind. My friend used to say: “Every struggle is getting converted into a bargaining ground”. I also have that doubt now. Why the politics parties and the religious organisations have not come forward to address this issue? is an important question. What is the lesson that we learn from this? This event is capable of affecting every one living around. So, the religious organisations and the political parties should stand together for the affected ones and demand justice. This alone would be the first step toward attaining a solution. Instead of this, if we are going to stand divided in the name of Caste, Religion or Political Party, it would be in favour of the State and this nuclear establishment. Many ask me, what do you get out of this? For me, as Chomsky says, it is my “intellectual responsibility”. There is a problem here and I need to make everyone aware about this. This is my small contribution to the society. So, what is the first step toward solving this event that has caused MAPS remaining shut down for more than two months without a known cause? All the affected ones have the responsibility responsibility to unite and raise their voice in unison. We need to overcome the divisions among us present in the name of caste, religion, political party and unite to take the next step. If the current event pushes the people in that direction, it will make me happy.
1
DAC-hour (Derived Air Concentration Hour) - The product of the concentration of radioactive material in air (expressed as a fraction or multiple of the derived air concentration for each radionuclide) and the time of exposure to that radionuclide, in hours. A licensee may take 2,000 DAC-hours to represent one annual limit on intake (ALI), equivalent to a committed effective dose equivalent of 5 rems (0.05 Sv).
