P Rama Rao New Aerb Chairman

The move is seen as an attempt to spike doubts about the independence of the AERB. The AERB is supposed to police India's atomic energy installations from the safety perspective. However, the previous AERB chairman A Gopalakrishnan had raised a furore by stating that the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the umbrella body of all atomic energy related installations and institutions, does not allow AERB to function as a completely independent entity.

Rao is the first non-nuclear scientist to be appointed as the AERB chief. Traditionally AERB chiefs have all been drawn from the ranks of India's nuclear scientists. The job involves complete understanding of the nuclear cycle as the AERB is expected to monitor all nuclear installations and take urgent corrective action in case of deviation from accepted norms.

 

Rao is likely to take over from December 1996. He has served as the secretary in the department of science and technology and director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory.

During Rao's tenure DMRL made a major breakthrough in developing heat shields for the Agni missile.

The AERB annual report which details safety-related issues in nuclear installations and the steps that have been taken was not made public last year, ever since Gopalakrishnan raised questions about his organisation's independence.

A comprehensive safety report was prepared by Gopalakrishnan which too has not seen the light of day, nor has it been placed before Parliament.