SHILLONG, June 5 – Amidst protests from certain social bodies against uranium mining in Meghalaya, the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar today allayed apprehensions about ill-effects of radiation. Speaking at a national symposium on environment to mark the World Environment Day here, Kakodkar said radiation is part of nature occurring since the ‘big bang’ resulting in the evolution of matter, element and life, and it existed in nature irrespective of ‘where you are’ in the solar system. Even energy from the sun, which was the source of human life on earth, was also a process of nuclear radiation, he said. Maintaining that radiation “within limits” is “absolutely benign,” Kakodkar said it was the human mind which channelised it for some destructive cause.
In an apparent attempt to allay the apprehensions about uranium mining, Kakodkar, also the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy, said the government was quite concerned about the safety and degradation of the environment in any of its mining exercise and accorded ‘top priority’ to it.All operations remained within the control domain and were regulated, he said. Pointing out that incidences of health problems like cancer or organ deformities were common in any part of the country, he termed it “not scientific” to establish a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between such hazards and a nearby nuclear establishment.
At the seminar hosted by the health, safety and awareness group of the Bhava Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, Kakokdar said as calorific value of uranium is much higher than that of coal, energy from a certain quantity of a radio-active mineral would cater to million times of population than that derived from the same amount of other minerals. Director of Ahmedabad-based Atomic Minerals Directorate of Exploitation and Research, R M Sinha said Meghalaya was endowed with 68 per cent of world uranium deposits and the Domiasiat area in West Khasi Hills, where the mineral ore was found, was only the ‘tip of the ice-berg’. He called for emulating the Australian pattern of setting up a world heritage site and national park at the uranium mining areas in Meghalaya to keep health hazards at bay.
Referring to protest movements by some groups against uranium mining in the state, Chief Minister D D Lapang reiterated the government would not be “influenced” by such agitations. “If it (uranium mining) is good for the people, we will go for it... We are firm and call a spade a spade.” Uranium Corporation of India Ltd Chairman, R Gupta, said Meghalaya was endowed with rare resources of mineral and concious efforts should be made by scientists, planners and community leaders to get economic advantage out of it.
The 3-day symposium was part of the series hosted every year by BARC on different environmental issues. Scientists and educationists from across the country are taking part in it.