Nuke power plants: no adverse effects on people

There were no adverse effects of the operations of nuclear power plants on the people living in and around these installations, studies by local medical colleges and the country's premier cancer research centre have found, the government said today.
"An independent Environmental Survey Laboratory (ESL) set up at each of the nuclear power plant site several years before setting up of plant, regularly analyses environmental matrices like air, water, soil, vegetation, crops, milk, fish etc around each of the nuclear power plant site," Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said in written reply in Rajya Sabha.

The data collected has established that there was no measurable change in radioactivity and radiation levels in the environment or environmental matrices compared to the base line data collected before the operation of the nuclear power plants, he said.
"Epidemiological survey for health assessment in respect of employees working in close proximity of radiation and staying in the nearby residential complex and villages of each of the nuclear power plants in operation have been carried out by reputed local medical colleges and analysis has been carried out by Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai, a premier cancer research centre in the country," he said.

Annual medical check ups were also carried on all occupational workers regularly, Singh said.
"All these studies and reports clearly establish that there were no adverse effects of the operation of the nuclear power plants on the people living in and around the plants," the minister said in his reply.
Replying to another question as to whether the provisions of Civil Nuclear Liability Act 2010 would be applicable to the construction and commissioning of units 3,4,5 and 6 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the minister replied in affirmative.
In his reply to another question, Singh said government was aware of media reports questioning independence of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and added that "these reports were not based on facts.