CT scans can cause medical device malfunction

— Photo: K.R. Deepak











I based this article on the recent USFDA Advisory on the possibility of malfunctioning of implanted or externally worn medical devices during CT scanning.
Millions of Americans are now fitted with devices which use electrical currents to help various organs overcome functional deficits. We do not have any data on the availability of such devices in India. But it is better to be cautious about them. If patients are fitted with any device, they must bring it to the notice of the CT operator.

K.S.Parthasarathy



Date:31/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2008/07/31/stories/
2008073150201500.htm

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CT scans can cause medical device malfunction
The FDA has received a few reports of adverse events in which CT scans interfered with electronic implants or externally worn drug infusion pumps
Now more patients have implanted or externally worn electronic medical devices
Higher dose rates from the new generation of CT scanners may be a reason.

Operator’s responsibility: The CT operator must initially use CT scout views, which use only minimum dose, to see for any implanted medical devices in the patient.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted health professionals in U.S. to the possibility that x-rays used during CT examinations may cause implanted and external electronic medical devices to malfunction (FDA, July 14, 2008)
FDA assured that most patients with electronic medical devices undergo CT scans without any adverse consequences. It has received a few reports of adverse events in which CT scans may have interfered with electronic devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neurostimulators and implanted or externally worn drug infusion pumps.
More extensive usage
Institutions use CT scans more extensively now; healthcare professionals have started noticing the few incidents. Higher dose rates from the new generation of CT scanners may be another reason. Now more patients have implanted or externally worn electronic medical devices. FDA continues to investigate this issue with the cooperation of manufacturers. Reports to the FDA indicated unintended “shocks” (stimuli) from neurostimulators, malfunctions of insulin infusion pumps, transient changes in pacemaker output pulse rates caused by x-rays from CT scans.
No deaths reported
Till now, FDA has not received any reports of deaths from CT scanning of medical devices. In one study, researchers found transient malfunctioning of pacemakers due to CT examinations in six out of 11 patients as indicated by their ECGs during the CT examinations. They examined the effect of CT on a pacemaker in a human body model with and without shielding by rubber or lead. X-rays from CT equipment caused the malfunctioning as they could show that lead shielding prevented it (Circulation Journal, 2006). In another study, researchers exposed 21 devices to X rays from CT scanners.
They found malfunctioning in 20 out of 21 devices at maximum dose levels and in 17 out of 21 at typical dose levels. Two devices inhibited for more than 4 seconds in spiral mode at clinical dose levels (Radiology, 2007). Effects occurred only if the x-ray beam passed directly over the device.
In another investigation, an implanted neurostimulator unit give the patient a shock when he was scanned (CT) in that area (Health Services, 2007).
Millions of Americans are now fitted with devices which use electrical currents to help various organs overcome functional deficits (chicagotribune.com. July 14, 2008). We do not have any data on the availability of such devices in India. But it is better to be cautious about them. If patients are fitted with any device, they must bring it to the notice of the CT operator.
FDA recommended that the CT operator must initially use CT scout views to see for any implanted or externally worn medical devices, if any, in the patient. CT scout views use minimum dose.
Precautionary steps
If it is present, they must identify its location relative to the area to be scanned. They must determine the type of the device; if possible, they may remove the external device out of the scan range. They may ask patients with neurostimulators to switch them off temporarily while the scan is done.
The x-ray operator must minimize x-ray exposure to the device by using the minimum tube current consistent with image quality.
They must make sure that the x-ray beam must not dwell over the device for more than a few seconds (FD, 2008).
“For CT procedures that require scanning over the medical device continuously for more than a few seconds, as with CT perfusion studies or interventional exams, attending staff should be ready to take emergency measures to treat adverse reactions if they occur”, FDA cautioned
What is issued now is a Preliminary Public Health Notification when the available information and the agency’s understanding of the issue are still evolving. FDA will revise the Notification, as new information emerges (FDA, July14, 2008).
K.S. PARTHASARATHY
Former Secretary, AERB
( ksparth@yahoo.co.uk )
© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

Tryst with a fusion reactor

A brief essay on the International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Re-actor (ITER) in which India is participating

K.S.Parthasarathy




SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Friday, July 25, 2008, Chandigarh, India
Tryst with a fusion reactor
K.S. Parthasarathy
Electric power generation is a dirty business, thus far at least. This may change if the International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Re-actor (ITER) to be constructed at Cadarache in the South of France, at a cost of about 5 billion Euros over the next 10 years, succeeds.
ITER will produce 500 MW of fusion power for a burn length of 400 seconds. It may operate for nearly 20 years.
Fusion reactors will be safe, reliable, environmentally benign and economically viable and will offer unlimited energy. The fuel materials, deuterium and lithium from which tritium can be extracted are abundant; deuterium in sea water and lithium in earth’s crust.
Fusion produces no greenhouse gases that cause global warming and climate change. Unlike fossil fueled plants, fusion reactors do not emit noxious gases; nor do they release cadmium, mercury, arsenic and natural radioactive elements
They do not produce long lived radioactive wastes. Some metal parts may get activated; these activities are relatively short-lived.
A fusion power plant uses tritium, a beta particle emitter of very low energy. It is consumed in the process itself. Fusion can never run out of hand, as it is not a chain reaction. The process is inherently safe. A successful fusion plant can power millions of houses.
Europe will contribute roughly 2.5 billion Euros to the project; while China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA will contribute equally to the rest.
On March 6, 2008, the ITER Organisation and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) signed a Cooperation Agreement. CERN has rich experience in many ITER related technologies. CERN will also contribute its expertise in finance, purchasing and human resources and software programmes.
ITER may provide the knowhow to build the first electricity generating power station based on magnetic confinement of high temperature plasma. Scientists will use it to test high-temperature tolerant components, large scale superconducting magnets, fuel breeding blankets using high temperature coolants to produce power efficiently and safe remote handling of irradiated components.
In December 2005, India joined the ITER organisation as its seventh full partner. The US-India joint statement of March 2, 2006 welcomed the participation of India in the ITER initiative on fusion energy as an important further step towards the common goal of full nuclear energy cooperation.
India will contribute equipment worth 500 million dollars to the ITER project and will participate in its subsequent operation and experiments. India will supply nine items including a massive cryostat which forms the outer vacuum envelope for ITER, the vacuum vessel shields made of special boron steel and occupying space between the two walls, eight 2.5 mega watt in cyclotron heating sources, complete with power systems and controls and cryo-distribution and water cooling subsystems (Nuclear India, May/June 2006).
The Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), an aided institution under the Department of Atomic Energy is the Indian Domestic Agency for the project
IPR has been carrying out research in basic and applied plasma physics. It has several basic experimental devices for research in plasma physics. It is currently building the Steady State Superconducting Tokamak (SST-1).
The strong commitments of the partners of this seemingly costly project indicate that it will succeed. Fifty years from now, when fusion reactors become a reality, we will have a breed of Indian engineers and scientists to construct and operate such plants which offer unlimited power to the country.
Indian scientists and engineers will get direct hands-on experience in design, fabrication, and operation etc. on the latest fusion technologies for the first time. India may join collaborative efforts to develop low activation materials and learn robotic technologies developed to handle radioactive components weighing up to 50,000kg.
As full partners in a prestigious international experiment, India will have to come to international standards of quality, safety, time schedule maintenance etc. immediately.
“If we backup the ITER INDIA effort with an aggressive, well focused national programme, it will allow us to leapfrog by at least a couple of decades” Dr P.K. Kaw, Director, IPR wrote in an article in Nuclear India.
(K.S.Parthasarathy is former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board)

Coal-fired plants and climate change

The impact of coal-fired plants on climate is widely accepted. This factor may influence the future of such plants. For the first time activists are able to secure legal sanctions against coal-fired plants IN USA

K.S.Parthasarathy




July 22, 2008
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/08july22/index.html
PTI FEATURE
Coal-fired plants and climate change
By Dr K S Parthasarathy
This week, a Georgia court in USA, halted the \construction of a new 1,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant on the Chattahoochee River (the plant is also called Longleaf), because its supporters could not provide a plan to limit climate change–causing carbon dioxide emissions from it.
"The decision marks the first time that potential greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution has been cited as a factor in denying permission to build a new coal-fired power plant" (Scientific American, July 3, 2008).
This judgment relied on a 2007 Supreme Court ruling (in Massachusetts vs EPA) that found that the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the statutory authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions
The judgment against the setting up of the coal plant has serious ramifications as coal-fired electric generating plants currently provide for half of the electric power produced in USA and is likely to continue as the mainstay for the coming decades.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore noted that the plant would annually emit large amounts of air pollutants, including eight [million] to nine million tons of carbon dioxide.
"There was no effort to identify, evaluate or apply available technologies that would control CO2 emissions and the permit contains no CO2 emission limits…. Since CO2 is otherwise subject to regulation under the [Clean Air] Act, a PSD [prevention of significant deterioration] permit cannot issue for Longleaf without CO2 emission limitations," she clarified.
The judgment is clear. It recognized global warming due to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Human activity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas and a few other trace gases. Current levels are greater than 380 ppmv (parts per million by volume) and is increasing at a rate of 1.9 ppm yr-1 since 2000 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration May, 8, 2008).
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), by the end of the 21st century, we could expect to see carbon dioxide concentrations of anywhere from 490 to 1260 ppm. This will have serious consequences.
In 1988, James Hansen, the then head of Goddard Institute for Space Studies, National Aeronautics and Space Administration appeared before the US Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee and testified that earth’s temperature is raising to record high levels due to human activity.
Last year, an interdisciplinary group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) issued a report titled "The Future of Coal-Options for a Carbon Constrained World". asserting that carbon capture and sequestration(CCS) is the critical enabling technology to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly while also allowing coal to meet the world’s pressing energy needs.
The report argued that the US government should provide assistance only to coal projects with CO2 capture in order to demonstrate technical, economic and environmental performance.
"Congress should remove any expectation that construction of new coal plants without CO2 capture will be "grandfathered" and granted emission allowances in the event of future regulation. This is a perverse incentive to build coal plants without CO2 capture today", the report clarified.
On June 23, 2008, on the anniversary of his first landmark testimony, Hansen told the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Climate Change that the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies should be put on trial for crimes against humanity and nature!
He argued that global warming science has been corrupted in the same way that tobacco companies once attempted to blur the links between smoking and cancer, and he called for government investments in alternative energy to help end our dependence.
The unkindest cut to future coal-fired power generation came recently when the Bush administration decided to withdraw funding to FutureGen, the US government’s effort to develop a "clean coal" power plant.
Between 2000 and 2006, US utilities submitted over 150 coal plant proposals. By 2007, they constructed 10 of them; 25 additional plants were under construction. But during 2007, 59 proposed plants were cancelled, abandoned, or put on hold.
Concerns about global warming played a major role in 15 of these cases. Coal plants are being eliminated from long-range plans.
Of the 59 plants which took the hits, 44 were abandoned by the utilities themselves because of increase in construction costs, insufficient financing or failure to receive expected government grants, lowering of estimates of power demand and concerns about future carbon regulations.
Where do we go from here? Nuclear power may not offer a full solution, even though the International Energy Agency thus endorsed nuclear power for the first time in its World Energy Outlook in 2006: "Nuclear power remains a potentially attractive option for enhancing the security of electricity supply and mitigating carbon-dioxide emissions". –
PTI Feature

Lengthy dialogue on nuclear safety

I was Secretary of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board when nuclear safety dialogue started with the United States Nuclear regulatory Commission and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.What was started as an informal discussion developed into a full fledged nuclear safety dialogue between the two organisations.The article in the Deccan Herald describes the early developments.

Dr K.S.Parthasarathy




July 21, 2008

IN PERSPECTIVE

Lengthy dialogue on nuclear safety

By K S Parthasarathy



Indian and US nuclear regulatory bodies have a fruitful history of interaction.


The Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement is passing through a decisive phase. The India-US interaction began in July 1994 with the visit of an American delegation led by former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary E Gail de Planque to India. A Commissioner of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was a member of the team. The two countries agreed to start a nuclear safety dialogue between the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and NRC. The informal programme in 1994 developed into a platform for mutual exchange of information on core nuclear safety issues between the two regulatory agencies.

In October 1994, Chairman, AERB, Dr A Gopalakrishnan and a team of engineers visited NRC and various nuclear facilities. He established an excellent rapport with NRC officials. Subsequently Dr Ivan Selin, Chairman, NRC, visited New Delhi and Mumbai. Addressing the scientists at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Dr Selin touched a raw nerve when he conveyed his perception that AERB, in its current form, is not “independent”. To be truly independent, he said, a country’s regulatory agency should report to another country’s government! Dr R Chidambaram, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, reacted with disarming alacrity!






Many perceive AERB’s relationship with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) as too close for comfort. All regulatory bodies face a similar dilemma. NRC has its own image problems. Some call it the lap dog of the US Department of Energy!

Regulatory actions (I counted more than 50) of AERB against DAE installations will convince anyone that AERB is an effective agency. Such actions included reducing power levels of reactors, shutting down plants and directing important modifications. The installations complied with AERB directives; they spent considerable sums of money to do so. The AERB-NRC interaction continued under Dr P Rama Rao, Chairman, AERB, in 1998 and Dr Shirley Ann Jackson, NRC Chairperson.

The NRC-AERB interactions stopped abruptly in May 1998 when India conducted the nuclear tests. The dialogue restarted in February 2003 when Richard A Meserve, Chairman, USNRC, accompanied by a 15 member team visited AERB on an invitation from AERB chairman Dr S P Sukhtame. There was no looking back afterwards. From February 2003 to date AERB and NRC held nine discussion meetings. The latest was during February 25-28, 2008. Several teams of engineers from AERB, BARC, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) participated in the discussions. The NRC officials visited some Indian atomic power stations and research centres. Two officers from AERB are currently with USNRC to get exposure to the NRC regulatory process.

The AERB and NRC deliberate on virtually every important nuclear safety-related topic. These include re-analysis of the accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear power station, the regulatory requirements related to tsunami at nuclear plant sites, safety criteria for new reactor designs, seismic issues etc. In 2007, more advanced topics were included. The NRC regulates 104 nuclear power reactors. They established procedures for licence renewal and certification of new reactor designs and enhanced their capability to address every nuclear safety issue.

AERB faces similar challenges. Our reactors are ageing. AERB has been monitoring the implementation of safety upgradations of reactors built to earlier standards. The interaction complements India’s participation in the activities of the IAEA, the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the Candu Owners Group. During an informal get-together, Carlton Stoiber, a senior US official, drew a cartoon. The aquarium he drew on a paper towel contained an over-sized fish and a tiny fish. He wrote “NRC” on the big fish. Will the big fish swallow the smaller one? Someone queried. Certainly not, they are both regulators; same species will not harm each other! I assured every one.

(The writer is a former AERB Secretary.)

When uranium supply lowers capacity factor

Date:10/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2008/07/10/stories/
2008071050021700.htm

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When uranium supply lowers capacity factor

Supplies worldwide are adequate for energy needs for at least 100 years

Growing demand and higher prices have spurred greater investment in exploration

Twenty countries mine uranium now. Iran is the latest to enter the field

Currently, the mismatch between uranium supply and demand is lowering the capacity factors (CF) of Indian pressurized heavy water reactors. The average CF stabilized to about 60 per cent in mid 90s and steadily increased to nearly 90 per cent during 2003.

It was only 50.4 per cent in 2007-08. In June 2008, Tarapur 3 & 4, each operable at 540 MWe operated at about 247MWe. Hopefully, it is a temporary phase.

How is the supply position world-wide? ‘Uranium 2007: Resources, Production and Demand,’ the latest version of the so called ‘Red Book,’ the most authentic public publication on uranium jointly published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development /Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) assures that new discoveries and re-evaluations of known conventional uranium resources show that supplies will be adequate for nuclear energy needs for at least 100 years at present consumption level (IAEA release, June 3, 2008).

As expected, growing demand and higher prices have spurred greater investment in exploration and led to larger identified conventional uranium resources over the past two years (IAEA release, June 3, 2008).

The Red Book estimates the identified amount of conventional uranium resources which can be mined for less than US$130/kg to be about 5.5 million tonnes, up from the 4.7million tonnes reported in 2005.
Undiscovered resources

“Undiscovered resources, i.e. uranium deposits that can be expected to be found based on the geological characteristics of already discovered resources, have also risen to 10.5 million tones”, the report revealed. This indicates an increase of 0.5 million tonnes compared to the previous edition of the report (NEA release, June 3).

New nuclear power reactors in the pipe line in China, India, Korea, Japan and the Russian Federation will influence uranium demand; the phase-out programmes underway in several European countries are another factor.

According to the Redbook 2007, apart from new builds, the planned plant life extensions should increase global installed nuclear capacity in the coming decades. Uranium demand is bound to increase. (IAEA, June 3, 2008)

OECD/NEA noted that at the end of 2006, world uranium production (39,603 tonnes) provided about 60 per cent of world reactor requirements (66,500 tonnes) for the 435 commercial nuclear reactors in operation.

The secondary sources drawn from government and commercial inventories made up the gap between supply and demand.
Long lead time

“Given the long lead time typically required to bring new resources into production, uranium supply shortfalls could develop if production facilities are not implemented in a timely manner”, the Red Book cautioned. (WNA, July 2008).

The uranium ore mined in India is of low grade (less than 0.1 per cent). The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) continues uranium exploration in virtually hundreds of locations in several states and drilling and geochemical surveys extensively at many sites including those in Meghalaya, A.P., Rajasthan and Karnataka.

In 2007-08, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) updated the uranium resources to1,07,268 tonnes of U3O8 (DAE Annual Report 2007-08). The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), which DAE set up in 1967, operates four mines (Jaduguda, Bhatin, Narwapahar and Turamdih) and plans to start a few more.
Installed capacities

The quantity of uranium ore produced and processed by Narwapahar mine and Jaduguda Plant respectively exceeded their installed capacities.

Commissioning of Banduhurang, the first open pit uranium mine in June 2007 is a milestone in UCIL’s endeavour to utilize low grade uranium ore in the country (DAE Annual Report, 2007-08).

K.S.PARTHASARATHY

Former Secretary, AERB

( ksparth@yahoo.co.uk )

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

Dr. Raja Ramanna : some reminescences

I am reproducing my article on Dr Raja Ramanna, eminent nuclear scientist. I published it in the NUCLEAR INDIA (Novemebr 2004) the official publication of the Department of Atomic Energy.

Dr.K.S.Parthasarathy




DR RAJA RAMANNA

Dr. Raja Ramanna former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) died at the age of 79 at Mumabi on September 24, 2004. Dr. Ramanna took over as Chairman, AEC after serving as Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for a number of years during which period he headed the team that conducted India’s first Nuclear Experiment at Pokran in 1974. He was a member of the Atomic Energy Commission until April 2004. Dr. Ramanna also served as Minister of state for Defence, Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister. He was decorated with Padma Vibhushan besides Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in recognition of his achievements. Dr. Ramanna was also a very good musician and pianoist.

A condolence meeting was held at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on September 27, 2004 to pay homage to Dr. Raja Ramanna. The condolence meeting was attended by Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Shri Prithvi Raj Chavan, Dr R. Chidambaram Scientific Advisor to PM, Dr. Anil Kakodkar Chairman Atomic Energy Commission, former Chairmen AEC Dr. H.N. Sethna & Dr. P.K. Iyengar besides others. They offered their tributes and personal condolence messages. Dr Banerjee, Director BARC read out the condolence message on behalf of the Indian Atomic Energy family.

Condolence Message
We, the members of the Atomic Energy family, deeply mourn the sad demise of Dr. Raja Ramanna in the early hours of September 24, 2004, at Bombay Hospital, Mumbai. His outstanding leadership and contributions to the Atomic Energy programme and the Defence Research in the country for over half a century would remain a valuable legacy for the nation for a long time to come. The inspiration he provided to a whole generation of scientists as Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), as Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), as Chief of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) & Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri, as Chairman and Member, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), as Member of Rajya Sabha and as Union Minister of State for Defence had endeared him to one and all. We, in the Department of Atomic Energy, have been the recipients of his continued guidance as he was the Chairman, Science Research Council. Dr.Ramanna was not only a brilliant scientist who contributed immensely to the country’s scientific programmes but also a very humane and compassionate person, besides being an accomplished musician. On behalf of the entire Atomic Energy family, we wish to convey to Dr.Ramanna’s family our heartfelt condolences and pray to God for the peace to the departed soul and for the strength to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.

DR RAJA RAMANNA : SOME REMINISCENCES

(NUCLEAR INDIA NOVEMBER 2004)

Dr. K.S.Parthasarathy
Former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

While paying tribute to Dr.Homi Bhabha, Mr J.R.D.Tata observed: “I believe that the greatest contribution Homi made to India’s development in to the modern state it is fast becoming, lies in training and bringing out to their full capability a host of young scientists and administrators who, today, lead so many of India’s scientific and technical establishments”.

Among the young scientists handpicked by Dr Bhabha, Dr Ramanna stands out as a shining example. One of his earliest responsibilities was to organise the training programme at the Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay (AEET). Dr Ramanna proposed that the school may be called the Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay Training School (AEET TS).

Dr. K.K.Damodaran, former Head of Training Division, who assisted Dr Ramanna in nurturing the training programme, remembered that one of the mandates of the school was to take steps to attract young, bright and talented students from the universities. During training, they acquired the needed skills and knowledge in nuclear science and technology. The curriculum was need-based and dynamic so that the trainees would be well prepared when the technology gets upgraded .After the successful training; they obtained secure but challenging jobs. Their rigorous training prepared them adequately to accept effortlessly the challenges of any future technology.

Dr. Bhabha and Dr. Ramanna knew that since nuclear technology is a strategic technology, free flow of knowledge and materials will not be forthcoming. They were conscious of the long-term need for self-reliance.

According to Dr.P. K. Iyengar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and long-term associate of Dr. Ramanna, Dr. Ramanna used to say that the selection of trainees is essentially a “statistical operation”. Dr Ramanna believed that in a developing country like India, if we want to get the most talented people, we have to choose every year a few hundred from the vast pool of academically sound young people. If ten out of two hundred turn out to be outstanding, the selection process will be successful. This is actually what happened. The systematic recruitment of outstanding young people year after year is the reason for the success of BARC Training School programme. A significant number of those selected became leaders in science and technology as they enhanced their analytic skills and creativity in the multidisciplinary ambience provided at Trombay.

Dr Ramanna’s characteristic humility forbade him from waxing eloquent on this notably successful human resource development programme. In his autography “Years of Pilgrimage”, Dr.Ramanna spared eight sentences to describe some of its features.

Dr Bhabha and Dr. Ramanna realized that the universities had become rather ineffectual in imparting useful science education. They did not want to deplete the universities of the few good teachers by recruiting them directly. They started the training school in August 1957 by recruiting 143 trainees; forty nine in the engineering stream and 104 in the science stream.

Dr.P.S. Nagarajan, who belonged to the first batch vividly remembers their first encounter with Dr Ramanna. The Administrative Officer asked the trainees to assemble near the dining hall within two days of their arrival. Dr Ramannna was scheduled to address them.

Nobody noticed when a young officer came, stood near the small table nearly reclining against it and started talking. Nothing was audible as there was too much noise. One of the trainees approached the officer and told him that they were waiting for Dr. Ramanna. “I am Dr Ramanna”, the young speaker revealed. Nobody could believe that the person who looked like a college boy was indeed Dr Ramanna.

Dr Ramanna chaired the training school co-ordination committee from the very beginning. Dr K.K.Damodaran was its Member- Secretary. Drs A.S.Rao and Jagdish Shankar and other eminent scientists were members of the Committee. The Member Secretary enjoyed the powers of the Head of a Division to carry out the daily administration of the school.

Shri S.K.Mehta, former Director, Reactor group, BARC remembers that for the first training course, DAE explored various options. They decided that for mechanical engineers, there should be greater emphasis on power plant engineering.

The Institute of Science, Bangalore, was then offering an MS course (of two year duration) in power plant engineering; the Institute agreed to offer a specially organised course (though heavily loaded) for about six months in power plant engineering along with basic nuclear engineering courses.
DAE sent two batches of mechanical engineers to Bangalore, one to attend the special course and the other for the regular MS course.

In Mumbai, the DAE faculty further trained the batch which attended theshort course with emphasis on Nuclear Science and Technology.

Initially, DAE assigned the chemical and electrical engineers to various units/ sections /groups of the department; later they underwent training in Nuclear Science and Technology as for the mechanical engineering batch.

Senior Scientists and Engineers interacted with the trainees throughout the course both technically and socially. Dr Bhabha, Dr. Sethna and Dr Ramanna took very keen interest. They developed strong bonds; and this turned out to be a great incentive for the trainees to perform their duties well as they joined various units of DAE.

Dr Nagarajan remembers that the science stream remained at the headquarters. It consisted of graduates and postgraduates. The postgraduates felt that they knew every topic. They used to pompously ask questions to the lecturers. Are you an MSc or BSc? One of the lecturers used to ask before answering. (He was an eminent professor from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; he felt that the postgraduates are asking questions for the sake of asking!).

He explained the points well if the questioner was a B.Sc. Trainees used to approach Dr Ramanna whenever they faced any difficulty in the training school. He gladly offered guidance and advice He used to tell them that knowing the subject is different from understanding it. The apparently existed B.Sc-M.Sc conflict was really artificial. When the final result came, the first six ranks in the physics stream went to B.Scs!

By the time the second batch of trainees joined in August 1958, a well organized programme was in place. Thereafter all trainees received training in Mumbai itself.

I belonged to the seventh batch. Many who came from villages and small towns would like to forget the first few days in Bandra where the hostel was located. Most trainees were homesick. Travelling by suburban train to reach Express Building in Churchgate and after a few months, Harichandrai House in Marine lines was an unsettling experience.

Most of us were used to one or two examinations over the year, not weekly examinations , take home assignments, periodic viva voce, tutorials and lectures at such a rapid rate; life was too busy.
During the first week, we had one of the most memorable and comforting experiences. Dr Raja Ramanna visited us. He wore his hallmark khaki pant and white shirt. He was a very simple person. We could approach him any time. Very often, he came to the hostel. As the then Director, Physics Group, the training school was his turf; He took special interest in the welfare of students.

In our formative years, few had occasion to interact with Dr Bhabha closely. Dr.Ramanna was different. He was our mentor.

At the informal meetings, he listened to us carefully and spoke quietly. He spiced his talk with funny anecdotes. Each one of us felt that he was talking to us individually. His reassuring demeanor gave us confidence.

“Dr Ramanna was truly great, he was totally devoted to science”,”he gave me free hand”, Dr Damodaran who was intimately associated with the training school from 1957 to 1981 gratefully acknowledges. He remembers that Dr Ramanna used to visit the training school and the students hostel once in two weeks. Dr Ramanna’s abiding interest in the training programme was a source of inspiration to all.

It is interesting to speculate why Dr. Ramanna ensured that the trainees received well-organised training before they formally joined the AEET as staff. He showed a greater degree of understanding and compassion to the trainees’ problems than others. His autobiography is very revealing in this context.

He arrived at Kings College, London in September 1945 after travelling for a fortnight by Orion, a ship which carried over 5000 troops on repatriation from various war centres in South Asia. He was among the 300 or so other passengers. They had to suffer unspeakable deprivations. They had only two door-less WCs for the 300 of them and had to queue up at odd times of the day or night to relieve themselves! To top it all, the troops were unfriendly and abusive.

After reaching London, his first interview was with one Dr F.C. Champion (“a handsome young man in his youth, but looked most severe with his thick glasses and curt manners which seemed very disturbing” Dr Ramanna later recalled). Dr Ramanna felt very unhappy because Champion told him that he could register only for an M.Sc., though he had been admitted for a Ph.D. degree. I recall that this was a common problem to many who went to UK for their Ph.D.

Dr Ramanna used the fine art of flattery to good humour Champion. He claimed that it was easy for him as he was brought up in the Mysore court! Dr Champion sent him to one Dr Chapman on a possible problem of establishing correlation between the cosmic ray phenomenon and ionospheric activity. Chapman, an expert in ionospheric studies, told him that he did not see any correlation. Dr Ramanna’s persuasive skills did not work.

Shortly, he met the new head of the department of physics, Dr Alan Nunn May who had worked in Canada on the British atomic energy project. To his great relief, May told Ramanna that registering for a Ph.D degree would not be difficult.

Dr May initiated Dr Ramanna in to the field of experimental nuclear physics. Ramanna’s delight was short-lived. With in a few days, Police arrested Dr May for leaking atomic secrets to the Russians. Dr Ramanna went back to Dr Champion. By then he had developed enough confidence. He worked in the basement and subbasement rooms next to the King’s College hospital mortuary; all the time suffering from the smell of formaldehyde. “Occasionally on the days when we felt frustrated we toyed with the idea of disposing of our professor and supervisor through this route” he confessed!
No wonder that Dr Ramanna was compassionate and empathised with the trainees and always lent his ear to their problems.

Dr Ramanna initiated and nurtured a human resource development programme at such a large scale. Till 2003, the training school provided 7244 trainee officers to various Units of the Department of Atomic Energy. It was unique in India. Dr Ramanna and his colleagues took innovative steps which paid rich dividends. They used the services of the large numbers of trained scientists and engineers already available in Trombay to teach a small number of bright students recruited for the training school. Often the faculty exceeded the number of students! This interaction benefited the students and the teachers. The latter could concentrate on the few who had already proved their worth.

The training programme helped to harmonize the standards of students from different universities. Trainees in various streams had to study some subjects which might not initially be to their liking. For instance, those in the engineering stream had to study health physics. The trainees in the science stream had to study reactor theory. The truly multidisciplinary programme prepared the trainees to face the challenges in their career.

Dr Ramanna used to personally participate at various stages of the training programme. He kept a spreadsheet containing the complete details including the performance of the trainees before him in the final allotment interview. In a few cases, if he felt that the performance in some subject was not up to expectation he would ask the trainee the reason for the shortfall.

Dr Ramanna constantly reminded the trainees about their future roles in the Department. When occasion demanded the smiling teacher transformed into a steely, taciturn and stubborn disciplinarian.

As a person who spurned the charm of greener pastures and responded to the call of Dr. Bhabha to come to India, he was concerned about brain drain. He felt that the training school churned out scientists for the future and also helped greatly to stall “the emigration syndrome”. Dr Ramanna’s contribution to the training school programme is as significant as his role in placing India in the nuclear map of the world.

Agricultural and Research Application of Radiation

Agricultural and Research Applications of Radiation

By Dr K S Parthasarathy

In 1911, George de Hevesey, a Hungarian student working in Manchester University suspected that some of the meals that appeared regularly might be made from leftovers from the preceding days or even week. He put a small amount of naturally radioactive material into the leftovers of a meal. Many days later his land lady served the same food again. He confirmed his suspicion by using a simple radiation detection instrument- a gold leaf electroscope. The landlady sacked him.

Every one forgot the landlady! But George de Hevesey went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1943 and "Atoms for Peace Award" in 1959. He probably carried out the first experiment using a radioactive tracer.

Scientists and technologists use radiation and radioisotopes in a few hundred research and agricultural institutions in India.

Fertilizers are expensive; inefficient and improper use of fertilizers can damage the environment. We must release only minimum amount to the environment.

We can study how fertilizers move in the biosphere by labeling them with a radioactive tracer such as phosphorus-32. Simple experimental procedures show us where and how fertilizer should be placed in soil. We can quantitatively measure the amount of fertilizer used up by the plants.

Studies of pesticides, labelled with radioactive carbon, will help to optimize pesticide use.

Crop losses due to insect infestation are as high as 30 per cent in developing countries. Chemical insecticides are useful to eradicate insects; but are not often very effective. Some insects develop resistance. Insecticide residues are poisonous. Sterile Insect Technique effectively controls insect population.

Scientists rear male insects in the laboratory in large numbers and sterilize them with radiation before releasing them into the affected field. When these sterile males mate with females no offspring is produced. The insect population will reduce drastically. Scientists did such experiments in Mexico to eradicate Mediterranean fruit fly and the screw worm.

Ionizing radiation can be used in plant breeding. At one time, about 13 per cent of all the mutant plants released in the world came from India. Mutation breeding consists of choosing plants with desirable qualities and breeding them separately.

Mutations do occur in plants naturally. Irradiation speeds it up helping to enhance the range of variability of plants. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) developed and released 35 mutant crops of ground nut, mung-bean, black-gram, pigeon pea, mustard, jute, rice and soya-bean for commercial cultivation.

A dosa or Idli from anywhere in Maharashtra will mostly contain urid dal (black-gram) produced by mutation breeding developed in BARC. Elsewhere in India, the chance of eating dosa containing BARC- technology-supported urid dal is nearly 50 per cent. Trombay Akola Urid (TAU-1) dal occupies 95 per cent of the area under black-gram cultivation in Maharashtra.

The average yield of Trombay Groundnut (TG-26) was high as 2,500 kg per ha; under improved agronomical practices yield was as high as 10,000 kg ha.

Since January 1, 1974, gamma sterilization of medical products started with the setting up of ISOMED at Trombay. Radiation sterilization ensures that disposable syringes, catheter and other medical devices are absolutely safe. ISOMED processed over 8200 cubic metre medical products during 2007-08.

The International Institute of Population Studies, Mumbai in a study found that the infant mortality rates in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh fell by 25 to 30 per cent as a result of distribution of "Dai kits" which consist of basic radiation sterilized items required for delivery in rural homes.

Radiation sterilization is a simple process and is carried out at ambient temperature; it is highly reliable. It does not leave any residue. Sterilization is possible in packaged form.

BARC successfully demonstrated that radiation treatment of sewage removes 99.99 per cent disease causing bacteria. Drying the irradiated sludge on sand beds yields pathogen free dried sludge. BARC operates the Sludge Hygienization Research Irradiator (SHRI) at Baroda in collaboration with the Gujarat Government and Baroda Municipality. BARC supplied 600 tons of irradiated sludge as enriched manure for field applications.

Post-harvest losses of food-grains in India are as high as 20 to 50 per cent. Radiation processing of food eliminates insect infestation in food grains, reduces microbiological contamination in other foods, and inhibits sprouting of onion and potatoes and delays ripening of fruits such as mangoes. Radiation processing will never make any product radioactive.

India has exported 160 tons of radiation processed mangoes to USA for the first time in 17 years, starting from April 2007. Radiation processing is the only effective treatment against mango seed weevil and mango pulp weevil. USA approved six varieties of mangoes (Kesar, Alphonse, Banganppalli, Lagra, Dussehry and Neelam) for irradiation. The Krishi Utpadan Sanrakshan Kendra (KRISHAK) irradiation unit is the only cobalt-60 facility outside USA that was approved by the US Department of Agriculture.

Indian exporters of the king of fruits may now re-enter the large, premium markets of USA, Japan and other countries.

From April to November 2007, the radiation unit at Vashi processed more than 1000 metric tons of spices and allied products. Six out of 20 private companies with which BRIT signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to set up radiation processing plants have started functioning in different parts of India.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI) provides substantial loans and grants to any private sector organization to start radiation processing units and or to build common facilities.

Since 1958, scientists have been using radiotracer methods to study silt movement in Indian harbours.

BARC scientists carried out 70 studies for harbour development and dredging programmes by using radioisotopes such as scandium-46 or Gold 198 in Kolkata, Kochi, Karwar, Mangalore and Marmagoa. Such studies helped to identify where silt must be placed after dredging.

Scientists and engineers use radioisotopic methods to trace and measure the extent of underground water resources.

Radioisotopes are useful in every field. We have not yet started using them on a massive scale, though we began activities in the field during the late 50s.

AERB web site www.aerb.gov.in. provides information on the regulatory requirements for using radiation sources in India. (PTI)

India's programme to develop fast breeder reactors

The article reviews the construction activities at the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre at Kalpakkam, where scientists and engineers are installing India's first prototype fast breeder reactor. It heralds the beginning of the second stage of India's long term atomic energy programme.

K.S.Parthasarathy



June 7, 2008
(A PTI feature)
India’s Programme to Develop Fast Breeder Reactor
By Dr K S Parthasarathy
While nuclear policy planners and parliamentarians are debating the pros and cons of the Indo- US civil nuclear cooperation agreement, scientists and engineers at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu are leaping forward to develop fast breeder reactors in the second stage of India’s nuclear power programme.
DAE set up the Centre in 1971 for "...conducting broad based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering, directed towards the development of sodium cooled Fast Breeder Reactor [FBR] technology, in India".
For scientists at IGCAR, "Fast reactors for energy security" is the most important slogan.
The just released,140 page, Annual report of DAE for 2007-08 gives glimpses of several research and development programmes; the final impact of some of which will be felt only in the coming few decades.
A compendium titled " IGCAR, Excellence with Relevance, High Impact Breakthroughs: Significant Achievements during 2004-07 records 54 articles as benchmarks in Science, 28 in Engineering and 27 in Technology. In 2004-07, IGCAR scientists published 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals and secured 7 patents. Several of these have formed the basis of design and project decisions.
IGCAR is constructing the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) of 500 MWe capacity at Kalpakkam. Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), a public sector undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy is implementing the project.
The progress card of IGCAR for 2007-08 is impressive; The Centre completed the detailed design and technology development of PFBR.
The scientists and engineers want the Centre to be a global leader in sodium cooled fast breeder reactor and associated nuclear fuel cycle based technologies by 2020. Their mission is well defined; their stakes are high; they are also in friendly competition with the well established Pressurized Heavy Water (PHWR) technology!
The civil construction of the "Nuclear Island", which will house 17 buildings, is on course. The civil engineers have completed a few of the peripheral buildings such as service water pump house.
Specialists are carrying out safety analysis of important systems by appropriate methodologies.
IGCAR placed purchase orders worth Rs 10,500 million for several major items. The organisation is taking up the procurement of long delivery items with various industries. The industrial manufacturers have delivered safety vessel, thermal baffle, thermal insulation panels and sodium tanks to the site.
Workers are busy fabricating the main reactor vessel at site. PFBR site is now a beehive of construction activities. The laboratories and workshops at Kalpakkam are busy contributing their share to prove that fast reactors will ensure energy security.
For the success of fast reactors, IGCAR needs plutonium.
The source of plutonium will be the 14 PHWRs being operated at Kota, Kalpakkam. Narora, Kakrapara, Kaiga and Tarapur by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), a public sector undertaking under the DAE
Of these, two 540 MWe reactors at Tarapur (TAPP-3 & 4), represent the largest capacity single electricity generating units in the country.
The average capacity factor (The capacity factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its output if it had operated at full power for the entire time) of Indian PHWRs stabilized to about 60 % in mid 90s and steadily increased to nearly 90% during 2003.
India has readily achieved many international benchmarks. In 2002, the average capacity factor of Indian PHWRs was more than that for all reactors in USA. At the end of September 2002, KAPS- which recorded a capacity factor of 98.4% during the preceding 12 months became the best performing PHWR among 32 such reactors worldwide.
Unit 1 of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS-1) and unit-4 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP-4) and unit-2 of the Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-2) operated non-stop for 372, 373and 529 days respectively. KGS - 1 & 2 won the gold shield instituted by the Ministry of Power for meritorious performance for the year 2005-06.
Neither technology nor industrial infrastructure limits the way forward to construct and operate more PHWRs. It depends mainly on funds.
Presently, the gestation period for new PHWRs is five years and NPCIL has plans to reduce it to four and a half years. This is a crucial factor, as the installation cost of nuclear power stations is relatively high
Since India has only very modest uranium resources, it has accepted a three stage nuclear power programme.
India chose pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) for the first stage, as these reactors are ideal to use our limited natural uranium resources optimally.
PHWRs offer higher plutonium yield. Plutonium is needed for the second stage of the atomic power programme. PHWR fuel is easy to fabricate. Lastly, Indian industry has the capacity to make various components needed for PHWRs.
IGCAR’s role starts with the second stage of India’s nuclear power programme which depends on setting up fast breeder reactors, backed by reprocessing plants and plutonium-based fuel fabrication plants. These reactors "breed" more fuel than what they consume.
India plans to achieve energy security on a sustainable basis by thorium utilization which is the aim of the third stage of Indian nuclear power programme.
Unlike some advanced countries such as USA, India decided to reprocess spent fuel to extract plutonium, the fuel for its fast breeder reactors. USA can dispose of spent fuel as "nuclear waste", as they have cheap uranium resources.
Indian reactors are operating at low capacity factors now because of mismatch between fuel supply and demand.
This status may be temporary. Operationalisation of Indo US civil nuclear cooperation agreement should have helped.
We can then purchase nuclear fuel from anywhere in the world at competitive price and export nuclear technology and services to other countries after ensuring appropriate safeguards.
Some constraints may slow down the Indian nuclear power programme.
But they will not stop it. Surely and steadily we will go forward. - PTI

Dismal state of medical X-ray safety

This article briefly reviews the dismal status of radiation safety in medical x-ray installations in India.The writer proposes that decentralizing the regulatory activities by forming regional directorates is one of the options to improve the safety status.

K.S.Parthasarathy





Date:05/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2008/06/05/

stories/2008060550081400.htm
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Dismal state of medical X-ray safety

A study supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 12 developing countries (not including India) showed that the fraction of the medical X-ray images rated as poor was as high as 53 per cent (American Journal of Roentgenology, June 2008). This leads to unnecessary radiation doses to patients due to repeat examinations. The conditions in the 45 hospitals in 12 countries improved as the hospitals started implementing quality assurance programmes. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has complete information on the status of medical X-ray safety nation-wide. However, in the implementation of X-ray safety measures in each installation, India has miles to go.

Analysis of dark room techniques in 175 X-ray departments in India revealed that 12 per cent of these installations were exposing patients to excessive doses of more than 200 per cent because of improper techniques. The use of automatic film developing equipment may help in improving the condition.
Needlessly exposed

A more recent survey of 30 mammography clinics in Mumbai revealed that patients are needlessly exposed to high radiation doses.

Researchers in an AERB project measured skin doses in 12 different examinations. For all types of examinations except skull, the skin doses were mostly within the reference levels published in the Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and the Safety of Radiation Sources.

The ratio of maximum to minimum dose was five for chest X-ray; lumbar spine, eight, thoracic spine (lateral) 8.5 etc. If the doses are too high, it is not good practice as the patient does not receive optimized protection.

There is no justification for exposing patients to such a wide range of doses to get the same clinical benefits.

In 1994, AERB found that nearly 30 per cent of over 30,000 X-ray units it studied were over 15 years old. Older equipment may deliver higher doses. The user of the equipment must evaluate the safety features of each old unit; there are ways to remedy their deficiencies.

There are over 2,500 CT units in the country. The progress in carrying out quality assurance tests of these is very slow.

An AERB supported coordinated research programme covered 785 X-ray units in 495 hospitals. About forty per cent of the 1,15,000 examinations studied were on the reproductive sections of the population; 20 per cent of examinations were on children under 15. Physicians must be extra vigilant in X-raying children as their tissues are growing and as such more sensitive to radiation.

Surveys at 71 CT Units in India revealed that on an average 8.9 per cent of CT procedures were on children; paediatric protocols were not used in 32 of the 71 installations. These centres are exposing children to unjustifiably high radiation doses (The Hindu, March 6, 2008).

India has about 45,000 x-ray units; many of them are very old; about 1500 units are added every year. Each unit must be inspected periodically. Large scale introduction of CT scan units and interventional radiology units calls for greater caution. Enforcing the X-ray safety provisions in the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules 2004, is the only way forward to ensure safe use of this potentially powerful tool .

Proactive promotion of X-ray safety is not a substitute for effective implementation of regulations. In 1986, an AERB task group chaired by Dr Arcot Gajraj, an eminent radiologist, recommended decentralization of radiation surveillance programmes for X rays by setting up five Regional Enforcement Directorates.

The suggestion to set up regional directorates came up repeatedly at least once every ten years since 1971! AERB has been persuading the State Governments for the past several years.

State health authorities who are responsible for enforcing AERB provisions in probably the majority of hospitals in each State must get a wake up call.

K.S. PARTHASARATHY
FORMER SECRETARY, AERB

ksparth@yahoo.co.uk

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

Nuclear fuel from N-waste

Since the methods of managing high level nuclear wastes are discussed again and again, I thought that it is worthwhile to recapitulate a suggestion made by BARC scientists in the late eighties. They proposed that the transuranic elements can be removed from nuclear waste.Some of them are better than normal fissile materials.

K.S.Parthasarathy





Nuclear fuel from N-waste
K.S.Parthasarathy

Many people consider management of high-level nuclear waste as a complex issue. The fuel discharged from a nuclear power reactor contains 94 per cent uranium,1 per cent transuranic elements such as neptunium, plutonium, americium and curium and about 5 per cent fission products such as caesium-137, strontium-90 etc

Transuranic elements are long lived and remain toxic for thousands of years. There is international consensus that the nuclear industry can design, construct and operate deep geological repositories to dispose of high-level waste, including transuranic elements permanently.

There may be smarter solutions. A few years ago, scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre argued that we can eliminate the stigma attached to nuclear waste and nuclear energy, if we recover some of the transuranic elements, and use them as nuclear fuel.

The study, authored by M. Srinivasan, K. Subba Rao, S Garg and P K Iyengar and presented at the 5th International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems at Kalsruhe in July 1989 found that each and every isotope of transuranic elements is a more valuable nuclear fuel than the corresponding fissile isotopes of plutonium.

Fission products in the used fuel arise from the splitting of uranium or transuranic elements. Most of the fission products such as caesium-137 which have half-lives of a few tens of years decay relatively rapidly. In a few hundred years, the activity of fission products such as cesium-137 will be negligible.

We must keep the long-lived activity away from the biosphere for a long period because of the presence of long-lived transuranic radionuclides such as plutonium-239 (half-life 24,000 years).

If we destroy transuranic elements by some means, the long-term radiation hazard will reduce substantially; the activity will be insignificant after a few hundred years. One method is to burn them efficiently in fast reactors. Keeping the active material away for a few hundred years is feasible

If we irradiate uranium in light water reactors, at a power level of 1000 MWe for just over a month, every tonne of spent fuel, after a few years of cooling, will contain nearly 10 kg of plutonium, 0.5 kg of neptunium, 0.041 kg of curium and 0.14 kg of americium. These elements are not “wastes”. Scientists will be able to develop innovative recovery methods and fuel fabrication technologies to use these elements.

The production rate of heavy elements in the thorium-uranium-233 cycle is a million times less than those in the uranium-238-uranium-235 cycle. This is because fuels based on uranium-238-uranium-235 cycle need only two successive neutron captures to produce heavier nuclides; the urtanium-233 fuel cycle needs 7 to 8 neutron captures.

There are exotic schemes to transmute radionuclides in waste streams using novel non-fission neutron sources such as spallation targets, superconducting cyclotrons or fusion reactor blankets.

For instance, Yousry Gohar from the Argonne National Laboratory suggested that 344-MW- integrated- fusion power from deuterium-tritium plasmas for 30 years with an availability factor of 0.75, can dispose of 70,000 tons of the US inventory of spent fuel generated up to 2015. The concept eliminates the need for a deep geological repository site.

He claimed that show- casing the device which offers energy from the transmutation process to produce revenue, may help to enhance public acceptance of fusion energy.

Ultimately, the simplicity of the process and the cost- benefit criteria will prevail. BARC study is mostly theoretical. BARC scientists have developed methods to recover heavy elements on a laboratory scale

I justify referring to the 1989 Indian study now because new ways related to high level nuclear waste management are still under discussion. USA and Sweden plan to dispose of the spent fuel without reprocessing. India, France, UK and Japan will reprocess it to recover plutonium.

In 1977, Jimmy Carter halted funding for reprocessing of spent fuel. USA is now considering the revival of the programme .The proposed US policy aims to reduce the number of geologic repositories in USA to one, reuse valuable parts of the used fuel to maximize the energy from uranium ore and to recycle used fuel to minimize waste.

India’s atomic energy programme which Dr. Bhabha proposed in 1954 had all these elements!

— K.S. Parthasarathy is former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

Uranium munching fungi

Fungi are notable living things with remarkable qualities. Some of them have special biogeochemical attributes which could be used to immobilize uranium, a toxic heavy metal. Certain fungi accumulate uranium upto 0.3 to 0.4 g per g of dry weight.

K.S.Parthasarathy




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2008052950031700.htm&date=2008/05/29/&prd=seta&

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Uranium munching fungi
Recently, Dundee University researchers found evidence that fungi can “lock” depleted uranium (DU) into a mineral form that may be less likely to find its way into plants, animals or water supply (Current Biology, May 6).
Depleted uranium
In a new report, they claimed that fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment during the war in Iraq (in 1991 and 2003) and in the Balkans (in 1995 and 1999).
DU is a by-product of uranium enrichment process. It is used to make ammunition because it is dense; also it resists deformation. When a DU round hits a target, it preserves its shape and “self- sharpens”, as it moves forward. Uranium dust generated at the time of impact can create a fierce fire, as uranium is pyrophoric.
British and US forces fired about 320 tonnes of depleted uranium munitions in the 1991 gulf war and may have used up to 2000 tonnes in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (The British Medical Journal, November 11, 2006). DU is 40 per cent less radioactive than natural uranium. It is chemically toxic like cadmium or lead. The Royal Society studied the possible health impacts of DU.
Long term threat
“Our study … concluded that the soil around the impact site of depleted uranium penetrators may be heavily contaminated, and could be harmful if swallowed by children, for example. In addition, large numbers of corroding depleted uranium penetrators embedded in the ground might pose a long term threat if the uranium leaches into water supplies,” Professor Brian Spratt, who chaired the Royal Society Working Group, clarified.
Royal Society recommended that the fragments of depleted uranium penetrators should be removed and areas of contamination around depleted uranium penetrator impact site should be identified and, where necessary made safe.
The uranium munching fungi may be useful agents in remediation and re-vegetation techniques for soils polluted by uranium. These humble living things serve nature uniquely and incredibly. Some decompose organic matter.
Any material lying un-protected for some time in humid conditions will have hair like fungi growing on them. Some of these fungi have very useful biogeochemical properties.
All the species of fungi tested by UK researchers exhibited high DU tolerance. They could colonize uranium metal surfaces forming moisture-retaining bio-films. Fungi grew in the form of fine filaments.
Metal coupon
In the presence of air, the metal coupon corroded producing black and yellow decomposition products; they formed mixed oxides.
Fungal bio-films retained moisture on DU surfaces and facilitated corrosion. DU-colonizing fungi grew over the corrosion products.
After interacting with the DU metal, the fungi filaments developed a yellow hue in its growing part clearly demonstrating uranyl migration.
The metal coupons lost 5.5-8 per cent of weight over three months. Scientists studied the chemical species released in the micro-environment. DU- exposed fungi produced oxalic acid. Most such fungi showed greater accumulation of uranium with increasing amounts of excreted oxalate (Cell Biology, May 6, 2008)
DU-exposed fungi exhibited a notable ability to accumulate mobilized uranium in their biomass to the extent of 0.3 to 0.4 g per g of dry weight. The scientists clearly demonstrated extensive bio-mineralization by using sophisticated analytical tools.
Leaching out
Geoffrey Gadd, one of the researchers asserted that the fungal-produced minerals are capable of long term retention, so this may prevent uptake of uranium by plants, animals and microbes.
“It might also prevent the spent uranium from leaching out from the soil.” he claimed.
Cleaning up a vast uranium contaminated area is yet to be demonstrated.
K.S. PARTHASARATHY
Former Secretary, AERB (ksparth@yahoo.co.uk)
© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

Nuclear power: Deal, discussion and debates

The article compares some of the debates in which scientists and journalists participated. Looking at the current scene, the author concludes that they may not get any support from any politician, defending the nuclear cause.

K.S.Parthasarathy




Nuclear power: Deal, discussion & debates
By Dr. K S Parthasarathy
When the die appears to be cast, skeptics may wonder, how the protagonists and antagonists of the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement carry on discussions for hours at a stretch and that too on several sessions over many days! A blessing in disguise is the wholehearted participation of the media, opinion makers, policy planners and parliamentarians in the discussion and the debates on a topic such as nuclear power which interested only a handful of journalists over the past several decades!
Public learnt many facts. China which was far behind India is going ahead with an ambitious nuclear power programme. They do not mind breaking bread with nuclear vendors from any country so long as they get best deals from them. Their proletariat past does not inhibit them from securing nuclear technology from anyone.
India's hope for nuclear capacity addition in the near term will remain just a hope, without operationalising the civil nuclear agreement.
Indian nuclear power reactors are working at low capacity factors as there is a "mismatch between nuclear fuel supply and demand" (NPC Annual report 2006-07, confirmed recently in Parliament). India's uranium ore is of very low grade. Its uranium resources have been updated to 1,07,268 tonnes of U308 (DAE Annual Report, 2007-08).
During 2006, the production figures (in tonnes) for uranium reported by the World Nuclear Association were: World, 39429; Canada, 9862; Australia, 7593; USA, 1672; China 750; India, 177; Pakistan, 45; France, 5;
Scientists learnt a few lessons. Politicians will remain neutral in any nuclear debate when public is a party. They expect scientists to satisfy the public and the anti nuclear activists, though nuclear programme is a national programme. Scientists cannot depend on political leaders' support for nuclear activities such as uranium mining. Politicians may not correct wrong notions of the public, even when they know the facts; they believe that such efforts may erode their vote banks.
Right from 1947, Nehru's vision and Bhabha's mission on atomic energy coincided. After due discussions with the bureaucracy, they set up a sound administrative mechanism to respond swiftly, effectively and decisively to the demands from this nascent field. Scientists could not have asked for more!
It is instructive to look at the past discussions and debates. When Dr Bhabha organised the first National Symposium on Atomic Energy during November 26 and 27, 1954, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister and his entire cabinet, scientists from other institutions, industrialists and some members of Parliament attended the meeting. Nehru himself presided over the entire conference except for a short period when Mr. KD.Malaviya, a senior cabinet minister took the chair. Times have changed!
The symposium was Nehru's response to remarks in Parliament by eminent physicist Dr.Meghnad Saha and others. Nuclear scientists in India largely remained out of public gaze for long. Other than attending a few press conferences, media also paid no attention. Even mild criticism could upset scientists; they were not used to it. Occasionally, a few scientists portrayed journalists who challenged official views as trouble makers!
Very few journalists knew the intricacies of the subject. Those who knew could not get access to scientists. Scientists were reluctant to communicate. Mixing with the media was considered a risky occupation!
Many young journalists realised that they could make good copies by mixing news with "radiation and radioactivity". Newspaper headlines such as "Tarapur set to explode", "A bomb ticking somewhere in Hyderabad", were hilarious.
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) was set up in November 1983. As per its mandate, AERB remains open with the public. The Members of the Board addressed a few press conferences, mostly, after the meetings of the Board. There were some controversies, but by and large press coverage was objective.
From August 9 to 11, 1986 Sampoorna Kranti Vidyalaya Vedchhi, an NGO dedicated to a non nuclear India, held a seminar on "Atoms in India" at Sasmira Hall, Worli, Bombay. Five officials from AERB and a few officials from Nuclear Power Board attended the seminar.
The NGO did not see any difference between nuclear power reactors and nuclear weapons. V R. Krishna Iyer (Former Judge of the Supreme Court) inaugurated the seminar.
We described the safety features of nuclear reactors, explained how high level radioactive wastes are "vitrified" dispelling the wrong notion that waste is stored in glass containers! we answered several questions from the audience. Probably, we could not convince everyone but the dialogue was satisfying.
Initiating a desirable shift in policy, Dr.M.R.Srinivasan, the then Chairman Atomic Energy Commission, opened the doors of AEC to its critics. Senior officers of DAE and AERB participated in many meetings.
On December 5, 1987, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Officer's Association (BARCOA) organized a panel discussion on "Issues in Nuclear Technology". Dr M.R.Srinivasan, Prof De, Chairman, AERB, Shri S.L. Kati, Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation and Shri M.H.P. Rao, former Director, Nuclear Power Board spoke.
The panelists included Amalendu Das Gupta (The Statesman), Praful Bidwai (The Times of India). Ivan Fera (The Illustrated Weekly), G.S.Bhargava (formerly of Indian Express) and Professor Direndra Sharma. For first time, antagonists and protagonists of nuclear technology shared the platform to discuss a wide range of topics.
The Government of Karnataka held a national workshop on nuclear power projects with special reference to Kaiga at Bangalore on December 10 and 11, 1988. Shri S.R. Bommai, Chief Minister of Karnataka inaugurated the workshop. Speakers included planners, economists, professors, anti nuclear activists and journalists.
Emotional outbursts and occasional melodrama sustained the audience' interest. Speakers who are used to sober discussions found it harder to cope with some amount of heckling! It was something like the massacre of the innocents. Dr. Srinivasan rose to the occasion. He marshaled facts and figures to articulate eloquently the international consensus on nuclear power.
While Shri Bommai was speaking, power failed prompting him to say that we cannot live without power. A picture in the Indian Express vividly portrayed the situation!
PTI Feature

Dwindling helium supply

A professor at Washington University stated that helium is being depleted rapidly and the supply will be over with in the next eight years. Science & technology without helium is unthinkable. This article reviews the status of availability of helium world-wide and refers to the effort made indigenously to extract helium from Indian sources.

K.S.Parthasarathy





Science Tribune April 25, 2008


Dwindling helium supply
K.S. Parthasarathy
During the first week of this year, Prof Lee Sobotka at Washington University warned that helium is being depleted so rapidly in the world’s largest reserve, outside of Amarillo, Texas, that supplies are expected to be depleted there within the next eight years.
“Helium is nonrenewable and irreplaceable……… unlike hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas or oil) there are no biosynthetic ways to make an alternative to helium”, he clarified. It is a rare gas with many properties critical to several applications in high technology.
As helium does not become radioactive, it is a good coolant in nuclear reactors. Helium is the primary coolant in Pebble Bed Modular Reactors, innovative reactors of 165 MWe, being installed in South Africa. Helium is used as cover gas in the Indian pressurized heavy water reactors
Helium being non-flammable is a safer gas to fill balloons than hydrogen. It is an ideal inert gas shield for arc welding. In some countries, helium is cheaper than argon, another gas used for the same purpose. Helium is an excellent protective gas in growing silicon and germanium crystals.
It is the pressurizing agent of choice for liquid fuel rockets. Helium is a leak detection agent to identify extremely tiny leaks. Helium’s role in nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry is unique. A world without helium is unthinkable!
Helium may be of primordial or radiogenic origin. NASA’s Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite provided some evidence of helium gas left over from the big bang.
Uranium-238 and thorium-232 in the earth’s crust and mantle emit alpha particles which pick up two electrons and become radiogenic helium.
In the entire life span of the earth, only half of the uranium-238 atoms have decayed — yielding eight helium atoms in the process. Helium mixes with natural gas and will remain with it till it is extracted.
Helium that escapes into the atmosphere may be lost permanently. The atmospheric concentration of helium is very low at about 5.2 parts per million, too low to be harvested economically.
India currently imports virtually all its helium requirements of 10,000 normal cubic metres per month from the USA. Scientists at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), an institution under the Department of Atomic Energy, did some pioneering work in the field; they estimated that thermal spring gases at Bakereswar and Tantloi in West Bengal contain 1.4 and 1.26 vol % of helium respectively. Extracting and purifying helium from thermal springs and monazite sands are not commercially viable proposals.
The Ministry of Science and Technology had set up a special task force in early 2005 to identify India’s helium reserves.
Taking into account the strategic importance of helium, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation set up a Rs 250 crore pilot plant at Kutralam in Tamil Nadu to produce 3,000 normal cubic metres per hour of helium from natural gas.
Poland, Russia, China. Algeria and Netherlands separate helium commercially from natural gas; helium is present in their oil fields at concentrations ranging from 0.18 and 0.9 vol percentage. In some US oilfields helium is present at 8 vol%.
The US government accumulated so far a reserve of 110 million standard cubic metres of this precious resource. In 1996, The US Congress decided to liquidate it by 2005 in such a way as to cause minimum market disruption.
A report from the National Academy of Sciences prepared on a direction from Congress assured that such a disposal of helium reserves will not have substantial adverse impact on US scientific, technical, biomedical, or national security interests.
The committee’s assurance on price stability through 2010 went wrong. The price of liquid helium is about $5 a litre; it rose more than 50% during the last year. The vagaries of the market place can hurt any dependent country
India’s decision to operate an indigenous plant to extract helium is strategically sound even if indigenous helium may turn out to be costlier than imported helium.

[K.S. Parthasarathy is former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board]

Radiation epidemiological studies near nuclear facilities

This article criticizes authors who bypass the conventional peer review process and get articles published in news media.Only vigilant journalists can arrest this lamentable trend

K.S.Parthasarathy





April 17, 2008

Radiation epidemiological studies near nuclear facilities

There is evidence that the cancer rates in population groups exposed to high doses of radiation will be relatively high. But the evidence at low doses is controversial. A few specialists believe that low dose radiation is beneficial to man (the Hindu, September 29, 2005)!

The limitations

Many specialists want to know whether very low levels of radiation caused by permitted radioactive releases from nuclear power plants, uranium mines, mills etc can cause excess cancers in man or not.

They do not appreciate the limitations of epidemiology. They believe that they can get a deterministic answer to a purely probabilistic question! That too using a statistically weak study.

“…. there is often a tendency to carry out epidemiological studies concerning the induction of cancer in radiation workers and members of the public which are not supported by a statistically valid data base or whose result are misinterpreted or misused”. Drs Joan M. Davies and Hazel Inskip eminent epidemiologists wrote in the foreword to their book on the topic. (Davies and Inskip, 1986)

A paper titled “Meta- analysis of standardized incidence and mortality rates of childhood leukaemia in proximity to nuclear facilities by Baker and Hoel in the European Journal of Cancer Care (2007) illustrates the dilemma...

The authors reviewed studies from one hundred and thirty six sites in nine countries.

Although the analysis showed consistently elevated rates of leukaemia, the authors of such papers found that radiation dose due to environmental discharges from the facilities are too low to account for the excess cases.

In several studies, the leukaemia death rates remained unchanged before and after start up even in regions with elevated rates!

Low excess risk

A study at 62 sites in USA, revealed leukaemia death rates to be higher before start up of the nuclear facility when compared with those after start up. Some authors found excess leukaemia in regions where nuclear facilities were expected to come!

In these studies, no one brought out one point; excess risk, if any, is extremely low and zero risk cannot be rules out.
Recently, a section of the media published reports on a study by the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) claiming adverse health effects in villages within the radius of 2.5 km from the uranium mine in Jadugoda. Their conclusions remain unsubstantiated. (Unsubstantiated till published in a peer reviewed journal).
Bypassing peer review

The authors presented their “study” at a conference on “Nuclear Weapons: The Final Pandemic Preventing Proliferation and Achieving Abolition” during October 3-4, 2007 at London.

Peer review

They successfully circumvented the traditional scientific peer review and publication process by using the media. Only vigilant journalists can arrest this lamentable trend. The full paper which the organisers of the London Conference sent me showed how "cherry picking" can masquerade as epidemiology. At the very outset, the authors stated thus: “We assumed that specific health problems related to uranium mining was affecting the indigenous people disproportionately in the study villages compared to the reference villages”.

Questionnaire

Then they searched for evidence to support the assumption! “A structured questionnaire was developed…. and was introduced on the heads of families of each house hold by a team of investigators.

The investigators, 34 in number, were men and women from the vicinity of Jadugoda”. Their areas were carpet –bombed with weird stories on uranium hazards for the past few years!

Brazen admission

“ Responses to some of the variables in few of the interview schedules were not found to be satisfactory and such responses were not considered for data analysis” the authors brazenly admitted to “cherry picking” of the data. None of the medical committees of qualified specialists, which surveyed Jadugoda villages found any disease which could be related to radiation exposure. Based on media reports and other documents an advocate filed a Public Interest Litigation (No 188 of 1999) in the Supreme Court of India seeking judicial intervention to have the necessary steps taken to safeguard the health of the population.
“In view of the affidavit filed by respondent No 3-Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, that adequate steps have been taken to check and control the radiation arising out of uranium waste, we do not find any merit in the petition.
It is accordingly dismissed” the Supreme Court stated in its judgment on April 15, 2004.
Specialists know that it is impossible to get conclusive evidence from studies with a weak data base. However, such studies will continue often as public relations exercises! No one wants to call a spade a spade!
K.S.PARTHASARATHY
ksparth@gmail.com
[K.S.Parthasarathy is former Secretary Atomic Energy Regulatory Board]

Atomic bomb survivors, cancers

Recently,researchers found that there was statistically significant increase in the adult cancers among those exposed in utero to the atomic bomb radiation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over al, all studies conclude that ionizing radiation is a weak carcinogen
K.S.Parthasarathy



Date:03/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2008/04/03/stories/
2008040350041700.htm

Atomic bomb survivors, cancers

In utero exposure - cancer link was unknown

Study confirms that ionising radiation is a weak carcinogen

The study of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki continues to provide very useful information on the effects of radiation on man.

Recently, Dr Dale Preston and co-workers examined the incidence of solid cancers in 2,452 atomic bomb survivors who got exposed to different radiation doses while they were in their mothers’ wombs.

They also evaluated the incidence of cancer in 15,388 persons who were younger than 6 years at the time of bombing. Both groups belonged to the age range of 12-55 for the period of 1955-1999.
Dose-related increases

They reported dose-related increases in the incidence of solid cancers in both groups (The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, March 19, 2008). Scientists knew that radiation exposure to foetus increases risks of childhood cancers and exposure in childhood is associated with increased risks of adult cancers. But until now they knew little about whether in utero radiation exposure leads to increased risks of adult cancers.
Heat rays

When U.S. aircraft dropped the bombs, Hiroshima and Nagasaki had an estimated population of 310,000 and 250,000 respectively.

About 90,000-140,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki died immediately or within two to four months after bombing, resulting from collapse of houses caused by the blast and from heat rays and fires and radiation exposure.

In the 1950 Japanese national census, nearly 280,000 persons stated that they “had been exposed in the two cities” (The Hindu, September, 6, 2001)

One of the myths about the atomic bombing is that radiation released by atom bombs has been killing tens of thousands of persons in the two cities.

The deaths in areas of about a kilometre diameter are attributable to the effects of explosion and heat. Till 1990, RERF recorded 7,827 cancer deaths among the 86,572 persons who, the RERF included in its Life Span Study cohort.

Radiation exposure might have caused 421 excess cancer deaths (334 solid cancers + 87 leukaemias) among them (Radiation Research, 1996).

In 2007, researchers released the second general report on the incidence of solid cancers among the members of the Life Span Study. They based the analyses on 17,448 first primary cancers diagnosed from 1958 through 1998 among 105,427 cohort members with individual dose estimates, who were alive and not known to have cancer prior to 1958 (Radiation Research, July 2007). For all solid cancers as a group, scientists estimated that about 850 cancers were due to atomic bomb radiation exposure.

RERF, a bi-national Japan-U.S. scientific organization dedicated to studying the health effects of atomic bomb radiation took over the task of accumulating scientific results of significant versatility, quality, and quantity, through its studies of radiation effects on human health, with generous cooperation and support from A-bomb survivors and their family members (RERF release, March 5, 2008).

According to RERF, the majority of atomic bomb survivors are approaching their so-called cancer-prone years. “Cancer mortality associated with radiation exposure is expected to reach its peak during the next 10 years.

With great advances in genomic and other research, various powerful analytical techniques have become available.

Without a doubt, many important findings can only be produced at RERF by collecting, storing, and analyzing valuable clinical samples, such as cancer tissues, from the world’s largest prospective cohort for whom accurate and widely distributed dose information is available,” RERF noted.

“…These studies have important implications for risk assessment of low-dose medical and occupational exposures, since such exposures are expected to increase”, RERF argued.
Study’s confirmation

Overall, the study confirms that ionizing radiation is a carcinogen; also that it is a weak carcinogen (Scientists estimate that about 850 out of 17,448 solid cancers recorded during 1958 through 1998 may be due to radiation exposure).

The excess cancers may not have been noticed in the normal course.

K.S. PARTHASARATHY
FORMER SECRETARY, AERB

(ksparth@yahoo.co.uk)

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