They blazed a trail

The Prime Minister gave away lifetime achievement awards for science and technology for the year 2007 to four scientists while inaugurating the Bhabha centenary celebrations. I wrote the following article about these pioneers in the PTI Feature

Dr K.S.Parthasarathy




19 November 2008


They blazed a trail
By Dr K S Parthasarathy

On 30th October 2008, the Prime Minster, Dr Manmohan Singh, through a video conference from New Delhi, addressed a gathering at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and launched the birth Centenary Celebration of Dr Homi Bhabha. He honoured Govind Swarup, Suresh L. Kati, S. R. Paranjpe and H.S.Kamath, four distinguished scientists with Lifetime Achievement Awards for the year 2007. The awards, instituted for the first time, consisted of Rs. 10 lakhs each and citations.
Prof. Govind Swarup is conferred the award for "his international recognition and outstanding contributions in the field of radio astronomy and for building ingenious radio telescopes for front line research".
Swarup constructed a 530 m long and 30 m wide parabolic, cylindrical radio telescope of an innovative design at Ooty in South India. Using the method of lunar occultation, it provided for the first time, high-resolution angular data for more than one thousand weak radio sources and independent evidence for the Big Bang model.
In his book Bhabha and his magnificent obsessions, G.Venkataraman described in his inimitable style, the story of the Ooty radio telescope, as told by Swarup.
The idea for the radio telescope came to Swarup in a flash in June 1963 while reading two papers in Nature within two months of his joining the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. In August 1963, Bhabha grilled him for a couple of hours and gave him the go ahead for the project.
In January 1965, they chose a site for the telescope at Ooty. "Although the Collector of Nilgiris wondered why we were in such a hurry when the life of a star is billions of years, Bhabha got a prompt response from R Venkataraman, then Minister of industries in Tamil Nadu [later to become the President of India]". He allotted the site and electrical connections in a few months.
During 1987-1996, Swarup was principally responsible for the design and construction of the Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Western India. It is the largest radio telescope in the world operating in the frequency range of about 100-1430 MHz. Hundreds of radio astronomers from India and 22 countries use it.
Shri Suresh Kati provided leadership to master the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor Technology program and to bring it to commercial level in the country despite innumerable constraints.
Kati and his team designed the reactors at the Narora Atomic Power Station which incorporates the best of the safety features to meet international standards. The design of Narora reactors is the standard for 220MWe reactors in the country. He was the Executive Director of the Group which developed the 500 MWe plant which also required many novel systems to be designed and tested prior to their construction.
"The excellent performance of Indian PHWRs is the result of his original contributions in design and is an overwhelming matter of pride for the nation", the citation added.
Kati has strong views on the choice of nuclear technology for India. In the June 2008 issue of the Nuclear Engineering International, he argued that heavy water moderated organic cooled reactors (HWOCR) are the best choice for India as they cost less to construct.
"A 220 MWe PHWR when converted to function as an HWOCR will have a capacity of 270-280 MWe", he asserted.
Shri H. S. Kamath, BARC, Mumbai got recognition for "his outstanding contributions, particularly in the area of Plutonium fuels technology development programs of the Department of Atomic Energy over the last three decades".
During the early eighties, he handled the responsibility to build the Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility [AFFF] to fabricate MOX fuel for Tarapur Atomic Power Station [TAPS]. "He played a key role in the plant’s conceptual lay out, its detailed engineering, erection of equipment and machinery, safety clearances and commissioning of the plant".
The MOX plant at Tarapur presently fabricates the fuel for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor [PFBR-500] under construction at Kalpakkam. Kamath and his team at BARC, Trombay manufactured the unique mixed carbide fuel for the Fast Breeder Test Reactor [FBTR] at Kalpakkam; it received international attention due to its excellent performance.
Kamath along with his team is responsible for fabricating fuels for special purpose research reactors and strategic applications. "He is also an acknowledged expert in safety, security and safeguard issues related to special nuclear material", the citation noted.
Shri S.R.Paranjpe contributed significantly to the Fast Reactor Technology programme of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). He led the Indian team for the Design and construction of Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR).
Realizing that the steam-generator is a critical component for the success of fast reactor programme, he incorporated them in FBTR. He proposed the use of high plutonium carbide, a unique fuel which saw a burn-up of 155 GWd/t without any failure- a unique feat for any carbide fuel in the world.
He was the architect of the Project report of the first design of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). "He built up and nurtured a brilliant team of engineers who designed the PFBR, and have the capability to take on the challenges of advanced breeder reactor designs required for the energy security of India".
"Shri Paranjpe is a multifaceted personality, one who practices what he preaches, a brilliant bridge player and a committed believer in Homeopathy", his long time colleague S K Chande, Vice Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board reminded me.
Why did these exceptionally brilliant persons choose science and technology for a career, leaving greener pastures behind?
"When I graduated, I could not appear for the Indian Railway Service Commission’s examination, I was under aged; later, I appeared and got selected….I got a Class I post in Central Railway. Just before that I had joined the DAE, I chose DAE as it was a new field and that it would be more challenging. I never regretted the decision". Kati confided
The story was similar for many outstanding persons who joined the DAE. (PTI Feature)

Travails from cobalt-60 contaminated steel

THE HINDU

Date:13/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2008/11/13/stories/2008111350171700.htm Back Sci Tech

Travails from cobalt-60 contaminated steel

Contamination of steel is occurring in many countries

On October 22, AFP reported that some French factory workers were exposed to excessive levels of radiation, as they handled lift buttons made using unsafe material contaminated with cobalt-60 from India.

The French Nuclear Safety Authority estimated that 20 out of the 30 workers were exposed to doses ranging from one to three millisievert. The annual dose limit for non-radiation workers is one millisievert, the same as that for the members of the publ ic.

France’s Institute of Radioprotection rightly assured that the health risk to workers is low.
Nuclear event ratings

The French Nuclear Safety Authority rated the incident at Level 2 in the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). INES rates nuclear events on a scale of 0 (incident with no safety risk) to 7 (major accident). Events at Levels 1-3 are called “incidents”; Events from 4-7 are termed as “accidents”.

Steel items imported from India to Sweden have also been reported to show faint traces of radioactivity.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority considered the levels of cobalt-60 harmless and the components had not been recalled.

Scientists from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board are investigating the incident.

A few contamination incidents occurred earlier. In 2004, low levels of radioactivity were detected in some of the steel door handles made by another Indian firm.

In this instance, the investigation has shown that it is likely that the manufacturer made door handles out of steel produced in a foundry where imported or domestic metal scrap containing cobalt-60 has been used.

Considering this as a wake up call AERB initiated several preventive measures. AERB has prepared an inventory of all radioactive sources in the country. The inventory is updated periodically.
AERB requirements

AERB allows anyone to handle sources only after ensuring that he/she is adequately trained. AERB requires that the licensees secure the sources adequately in their locations. The probability of an indigenous radioactive source getting into scrap is very low.

AERB officials held meetings with steel manufacturers, All India Induction Furnaces Association, and Engineering Export Promotion Council.

The Board had a series of five workshops with companies carrying out industrial gamma radiography in the country.

The Board advised steel foundry and mill owners to regularly check the scrap for radioactivity by using radiation detection instruments.

Suitable radiation detection instruments are available indigenously or can be imported. Obviously, some companies did not implement AERB’s advice.

Contamination of steel is occurring in many countries. As it happened in U.S.,those Indian companies which suffered are keen to check the scrap with radiation detection instruments.
Slow progress

There were plans to set up radiation monitors at shipping ports through which bulk of the imported scrap metals enter the country. Though the discussions on this programme got started several years ago, the progress has been very slow.

The programme requires coordination from several Central ministries.

Many DAE Installations have been successfully maintaining such radiation monitors at their entry points for the past several decades.

K.S. PARTHASARATHY

Former Secretary, AERB

( ksparth@yahoo.co.uk )

Advances in stem cell research

The following article is a brief review of some of the recent developments in stem cell research.
K.S.Parthasarathy

PTI FEATURE
HEALTH
PF-175/2008
VOL NO XXIV (44) November 1, 2008

Advances in stem cell research
By Dr.K.S.Parthasarathy

Scientists have developed techniques to generate stem cells in vitro. It provides invaluable opportunities to study human embryology.
Stem cells are “blank slate” cells which can divide and renew over long periods. They can develop into a specialized cell, tissue or organ. They can serve as a sort of repair system for the body. Past few years have seen unbelievable advancements in the field of stem cell research.
Medical specialists believe that stem cells have unlimited potential which can be used to return memory to Alzheimer’s patients, to enable wheel-chair bound patients to walk or to replace damaged skin of patients. The possibility of such miracle cures lies in tweaking the cells to develop into desired types.
Recently, researchers grew prostate glands in mice by using a single stem cell transplanted from the prostates of donor mice. The findings may pave the way to new therapies for prostate cancer (Scientific American, October 22, 2008). Stem cells are capable of dividing indefinitely. Cancer cells multiply uncontrollably. So it is reasonable to assume that stem cells may have a role in the induction of cancer.

Dr K.S.Parthasarathy is former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
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The researchers Wei-Qiang Gao and his colleagues from Genetech, a Californian biotechnology firm reported their success in identifying stem cells in mouse prostates in the British Journal Nature on October 22 this year. They transplanted a stem cell below the kidney in laboratory reared mice and found 14 functioning prostates from out of the 97 single cell transplants.
Scientists have developed techniques to generate stem cells in vitro. It provides invaluable opportunities to study human embryology.

A report by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Institute of Civil Society (ICS) noted that human stem cell research holds enormous potential for contributing to our understanding of fundamental human biology. Although it may not be able to predict the outcomes from basic research, such studies will offer the real possibility to treat and cure many diseases for which adequate therapies do not exist.

“This research raises ethical and policy concerns, but these are not unique to stem cell research”, the report argued.

The report pleaded that public must be educated and informed about the ethical and policy issues raised by stem cell research and its applications. “Informed public discussion of these issues should be based on an understanding of the science associated with stem cell research, and it should involve a broad cross-section of society” the authors continued.

The report asserted that Federal funding for stem cell research is necessary in order to promote investment in this promising line of research, to encourage sound public policy, and to foster public confidence in the conduct of such research.

“Embryonic stem cells should be obtained from embryos remaining from infertility procedures after the embryo’s progenitors have made a decision that they do not wish to preserve them. This decision should be explicitly renewed prior to securing the progenitors’ consent to use the embryos in ES cell research”, the authors of the report proposed.

In 1998, scientists at the University of Wisconsin isolated and cultured human embryonic stem cells. This year scientists at the Universities of Granada and Leon confirmed that they can use stem cells from human umbilical cord blood to treat liver diseases.
In August 2008, researchers from Harward Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston, USA used a new method to re-programe ordinary cells from patients with ten incurable genetic diseases and conditions. These virtually immortal cells may be grown in the lab; researchers can closely watch the progress of the diseases; it offers an opportunity to develop treatment for them.
In view of the potential for misuse, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued stringent guidelines for stem cell research and therapy in India in November 2007. The guidelines prescribe the setting up of National Apex and Institutional Committees for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (NAC/IC-SCRT).

The ICMR guidelines address ethical and scientific concerns to encourage responsible practices in the area of stem cell research and therapy. “Since the latter is being contemplated with greater vigour in India, it was necessary to formulate guidelines for development of clinical grade stem cells” Dr. M.K. Bhan (Secretary, Department of Biotechnology) and Dr N.K.Ganguly (Director General, ICMR asserted in the foreword to the guidelines.

According to them, ICMR prepared the guidelines for stem cell research and therapy, for adult, cord blood and embryonic stem cells in response to the support provided by the Government to facilitate stem cell research in India so as to improve understanding of human health and disease, and evolve strategies to treat serious diseases.

The ICMR guidelines classify areas of stem cell research in to three categories: permissible, restricted and prohibited.

According to Department of Biotechnology (DOB), Government of India, over 30 institutions, hospitals and industry are involved in stem cell research in India. Clinicians and scientists are collaborating in a few institutions.

Stem cells are routinely used to repair corneal surface disorders at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. In the January 30, 2008 issue of the Scientific American, Larry Greenemeier described the pioneering work carried out by this institute

In an article published in 2006 in the Asian Biotechnology and Development Review, Alka Sharma of DOB summarized some of the other Indian developments in the field: Christian Medical College, Vellore has established technology to collect, isolate and purify stem cells for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. An institution set up by industry has characterized 10 stem cell lines, including two neuronal cell lines.

The National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, which received one cell line, has its research focus on embryonic stem cells; haematopoietic stem cells; treatment of leukaemia; sickle cell anaemia and skin and tissue engineering

Though currently the annual investment for stem cell research in India is only very modest, at a few million US$, the Central Government has plans to create centres of excellence, generate adequate human embryonic stem cell lines and to develop human resource through training, short and long term overseas fellowships etc. to support this nascent field.
PTI Feature
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