India can't be complacent: Ex-AEC chief

India's nuclear reactors are safe and the ongoing nuclear capacity addition programme would not be hampered in the wake of Japan's nuclear disaster, said Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Yet, he conceded, at the international level, existing safety and security measures would have to be reviewed and India cannot be an exception. India, he said, could not be complacent but had to augment safety and security at existing nuclear plants. Kakodkar said Indian nuclear plants are situated in seismic II, III and IV zones, less compared to those situated in zones V to IX in Japan and other countries. “Therefore, the probability of massive earthquakes is pretty low. The plant, however, should be designed to withstand the worst scenario to prevent any repetition of the Fukushima disaster,” he said.