NEW DELHI: The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has constituted an expert panel of 15 to interact with State officials and the people around the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project to allay their safety concerns. The expert group comprises of renowned academicians, scientists, doctors and engineers specialising in areas such as environmental science, radiation safety, nuclear reactor design, nuclear reactor safety and regulatory aspects. Also experts who specialise in nuclear waste management, oncology, oceanography, fisheries, thermal ecology, seismology, et al, are on the panel. Just about all fields of related sciences have found representation on the panel, which is expected to counter what the DAE and NCPL call “misinformation campaign” against the about-to-be-commissioned KKNPP.Now that the Centre has kept its promise by naming the expert panel, the State will have to follow it up with an appropriate platform where the Expert Group can meet senior State government officials and the leaders of the protesting local population. They are expected to deliberate on issues raised in the recent times such as seismicity, radiation in the environment, impact on fishing, thermal ecology and waste management.Prof Kumar Iyer of IIT, Bombay, and Prof DVR Murthy from IIT, Madras, are part of the panel seeking to allay the safety concerns of the fishermen. They will be assisted by two experts from the field of fisheries, Prof N Sukumaran and Dr A K Pal. Both are academicians.Dr M R Iyer, ex-Director, Division of Radiation Safety, IAEA, Vienna, will explain how the N-power plant in the vicinity does not necessarily mean that the local population would be exposed to high levels of radiation. He is expected to be the myth-breaker. To supplement his efforts, the government’s included Prof M N Madhyastha, a thermal ecologist from Mangalore University.The panel also has two cancer experts - oncologist Dr V Shantha and surgeon/oncologist Dr C S Pramesh. Dr Shantha is chairperson at the Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, and Dr Pramesh is associate professor at the Tata Memorial Hospital. Then, there’s seismologist, Prof Harsh K Gupta, even though the DAE insists that KKNPP is in a safe zone - that is, on seismic zone II.Former BARC Directors, S K Mehta and K Balu, experts in fields of nuclear reactor design and N-waste management are also chipping in. So would ex-chairman of AERB, S K Sharma. Without the nuclear regulatory body’s nod, the final commissioning - that is fuel loading-at KNPP cannot take place. Two other experts on nuclear safety, Dr S M Lee, who’s Raja Ramanna Fellow at the Safety Research Institute, Kalpakkam, and W Stephen Aruldoss Kanthiah, who specialises on chemical plant safety, have been drafted in. The PMO is keeping its fingers crossed. Some feel, too many cooks many spoil the broth.
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