-The Hindu In an atmosphere of mistrust of the government, only an independent safety regulatory mechanism can counter the scaremongering against civilian nuclear power I work at an institution funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (which, however, does no nuclear research: the DAE funds a wide variety of institutions and areas in science). About a year ago, I had an e-mail from a journalist who wondered why scientists (including colleagues at...

-PTI The row over setting up the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu reached the Supreme Court on Monday with a petition, which sought its directions to restrain the Union government and other authorities from commissioning the controversial project. The Special Leave Petition (SLP) by social activist G Sundarrajan against the Madras high court's August 31 decision refusing to impose any restraint has claimed that non-implementation of various recommendations formulated by...

-The Hindu Says Central, State Governments have taken safety measures The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board have applied their mind in all clearances and statutorily passed various orders relating to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP). There is no scope for the Madras High Court to presume that the orders are arbitrary, a Division Bench has held. Passing orders...

-Live Mint The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticized India’s atomic energy regulator for not being truly independent, not having a radiation safety policy and being lax in monitoring the proliferation of unregistered medical X-ray facilities in the country. This is the first time ever that the performance of the 29-year-old Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has been reviewed by the government’s auditor. The move follows criticism of the safety of...

-The Economic Times In case of a nuclear accident in India at present, the maximum fine that can be imposed by the regulator on an offending nuclear plant is Rs 500. A CAG report on Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, has raised concern about the weak regulatory framework in the country that could pose potential danger like Chernobyl or the recent accident in Fukushima, Japan. Worse, the AERB,...