The Department of Atomic Energy has clarified in a statement issued today that the radiation level in the affected area has come down to the normal background level and cordoning of the road which was done for preventing exposure to the people around have been removed. The entire operation was carried out by the members of the DAE-AERB team with the protection provided by the local police. The radionuclide responsible for high radiation field has been identified as Co-60 using a portable spectrometer. Such sources are used in industry for radiography, nucleonic gauges for thickness measurement and in medical applications. It may be mentioned that this incident/radiation exposure is not related to any of the DAE facilities. The situation is under control. The radioactive material in the shielded containers has already been shifted out of the affected area and the radiation level in the entire area has come down to normal background level.

Giving the details of the incident, the statement said that based on the information received by national radiation regulatory authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital that a person, who is the owner of a scrap metal shop in Mayapuri, New Delhi, is showing symptoms indicative of suspected exposure to radiation, a team of officials from DAE and AERB were sent to the scrap metal shop at Mayapuri, New Delhi. The officials used radiation detection equipment and monitored the radiation levels at various positions within the scrap shop and in the adjoining areas during the afternoon and evening on 7th April 2010. The shop belonging to the person who had symptoms indicative of suspected radiation exposure was found to have high radiation fields. Nearby four shops in the same area also indicated high radiation fields. The team located the sources of radiation and isolated one of the sources and shielded the source with locally available steel scrap materials. This was done to reduce the radiation level in the surrounding. The Crisis Management Group in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was activated and a team of officers from DAE and AERB were sent to New Delhi with a wide range of radiation monitoring and detecting equipment for prompt identification and recovery of the radioactive pieces and their safe disposal. Necessary equipment including shielding material and shielded containers for carrying the radioactive material were also brought to the site. The searching operation continued throughout the night of April 8, 2010. By the forenoon of April 9, 2010, several pieces of radioactive material could be located and they were removed and packed in shielded containers.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : April 09, 2010