Radioactive steel dulls engineering exports to Europe

Govt convenes meeting after contaminated containers land in Germany.

Fresh cases of radioactive steel in exports to Europe have been traced to India, putting exports of $23 billion of engineering goods in jeopardy.

Many containers carrying forgings, castings and other steel products to Germany were found to have a high level of Cobalt-60, large quantities of which are said to cause radiation, sickness and skin burns.

The issue has assumed serious proportions now. Suranjan Gupta, senior joint director, Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), said, many containers were being detained in Europe, to the extent that the steel ministry convened a meeting last week to discuss the matter.

Europe accounts for 70 per cent of India’s annual engineering exports of $33 billion. Gupta said the issue was of concern since there was no specific guideline on the level of contamination in Europe, unlike the US, which worked on a zero-tolerance level.

“It was being seen as a non-tariff barrier and the government was expected to take it up at the World Trade Organization level. The ministry has also said that internally companies should be equipped to adopt corrective measures,” said Gupta.

This is not the first time such a case has been detected in Europe. Last year, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority informed the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) about contamination in the elevator switches. The buttons contained traces of radioactive Cobalt-60.

A Mumbai-based forging company, which was at the receiving end of the issue, said it had already taken corrective measures and obtained a certificate from the AERB.

The company’s top official, on condition of anonymity, explained that the problem was that its company had sourced material from a steel supplier, which in turn imported some contaminated scrap and the problem spread across the country.

Rakesh Shah, former EEPC chairman, said at least two companies had approached the council and sought advice on how to deal with the problem.

AERB head (radiological safety division) S P Agarwal said, some of the material was being sent back to the exporters and would then come to AERB for safe disposal.

Shah added, in the US, even if a part of a container was contaminated, then the material in the rest of the container would also be returned.

In 2004, Bhushan Steel had unknowingly imported missile scrap from Iran, which exploded in the factory. Since then, the company imports shredded steel scrap from developed countries, which are checked at the loading ports.

After an intensive awareness campaign by AERB, most of the major producers have invested in checking apparatus for imports that go into making value-added products.