Radioactive isotope put in water-cooler by nuclear power worker Rhys Blakely in Mumbai
(Ryan McVay /Getty Images)
55 workers were treated after drinking tritium which can increase the risk of cancer
India's atomic power agency is investigating after a disgruntled nuclear power plant worker added a radioactive isotope to a workplace water-cooler.
Fifty-five employees at the high security Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant were given emergency medical treatment after they drank contaminated water spiked with the radioactive isotope tritium. Their exposure was revealed during post-shift urine tests. Exposure to tritium can increase the risk of cancer.
The Government has said that the contamination was deliberate. Science Minister Prithviraj Chavan said: "On the face of it, the incident appears to be the handiwork of a disgruntled employee."
The suspects had been narrowed down to 15 people, officials said.
That the water-cooler was in a high security area close to a reactor that was supposed to be monitored around the clock, is likely to stoke concerns about the vulnerability of India’s nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks.
India is set to embark on a large building programme of atomic reactors after signing a deal last year that gave it access to international civilian nuclear technology for the first time in three decades, despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India was previously a nuclear pariah, blacklisted by the international community in the 1970s after it tested nuclear weapons.
Anil Kakodkar, the Indian Atomic Energy Commission chairman, said that the contamination was an "inside job". "Someone has deliberately done this. Those who are involved would be punished under the Atomic Energy [Act] and other acts after investigation."
Mr Kakodkar said that a team from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was at the Kaiga site, which is in the southern state of Karnataka about 280 miles from Bangalore, to conduct an investigation.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said in a statement: "The initial probe does not indicate any violation or deviation of operating procedures or radioactivity releases or security breach. We are more or less zeroed-in on the act of mischief."
Narrowed down to 15 people eh?? I bet its the one who never drank the Water?
(Ryan McVay /Getty Images)
55 workers were treated after drinking tritium which can increase the risk of cancer
India's atomic power agency is investigating after a disgruntled nuclear power plant worker added a radioactive isotope to a workplace water-cooler.
Fifty-five employees at the high security Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant were given emergency medical treatment after they drank contaminated water spiked with the radioactive isotope tritium. Their exposure was revealed during post-shift urine tests. Exposure to tritium can increase the risk of cancer.
The Government has said that the contamination was deliberate. Science Minister Prithviraj Chavan said: "On the face of it, the incident appears to be the handiwork of a disgruntled employee."
The suspects had been narrowed down to 15 people, officials said.
That the water-cooler was in a high security area close to a reactor that was supposed to be monitored around the clock, is likely to stoke concerns about the vulnerability of India’s nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks.
India is set to embark on a large building programme of atomic reactors after signing a deal last year that gave it access to international civilian nuclear technology for the first time in three decades, despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India was previously a nuclear pariah, blacklisted by the international community in the 1970s after it tested nuclear weapons.
Anil Kakodkar, the Indian Atomic Energy Commission chairman, said that the contamination was an "inside job". "Someone has deliberately done this. Those who are involved would be punished under the Atomic Energy [Act] and other acts after investigation."
Mr Kakodkar said that a team from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was at the Kaiga site, which is in the southern state of Karnataka about 280 miles from Bangalore, to conduct an investigation.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said in a statement: "The initial probe does not indicate any violation or deviation of operating procedures or radioactivity releases or security breach. We are more or less zeroed-in on the act of mischief."
Narrowed down to 15 people eh?? I bet its the one who never drank the Water?
