3HR-DRAMA OVER IGI RADIOACTIVE LEAK SCARE

3hr-drama over IGI radioactive leak scare

There was frenzied activity at the IGI Airport on Sunday over a false alarm about a radioactive leak. The alarm spread after a consignment of Sodium Molybdate, a radioactive material used in nuclear medicine and fertiliser, arrived by an Air France Flight for a Delhi hospital. An employee of a private company handling the cargo saw the radioactive tags, took a radiation reading but misinterpreted it, creating panic, said sources.

The 'Radiological Emergency' was withdrawn after nearly three hours as the emission was found within permissible limits, but not before the CISF evacuated the terminal area and cordoned off the spot.Personnel of Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Services, National Disaster Management Authority , Department of Atomic Energy and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board were roped in.

One of the loaders present during the high drama told TOI: “ A consignment of 16 packets of chemical used in cancer treatment arrived by Air France AF 226 around 10.30pm on Saturday . Around 11am on Sunday , while unloading, six packets somehow rea ched a non-designated area and created panic.“

Immediately , a team of the National Disaster Response Force was rushed to the spot, the area sanitised and the cargo complex vacated. After a thorough detection and identification of the material, the area was declared safe at 1.55pm. The airport operator, DIAL, tweeted after the incident that flight operations remained normal throughout.

Releasing a statement, district magistrate Abhishek Singh said a radiological emergency message was conveyed inadvertently . “The quantity of radiation emitted from the nuclear medicine was below 1 mill rongen (measurement of radiation). There is no beta radiation in the surrounding areas and there is no leakage.Hence, it cannot be termed as an emergency ,“ said Singh.

Air France, which had transported the parcel to the IGI from Paris, issued a state ment later in the evening: “The transport of this type of material is subject to strict rules and carried out in accordance with the international regulations. Air France reminds that the security of its customers and crews is its top priority.“

This is not the first time that IGI has faced such a scare.On May 29 last year, the cargo terminal reported a similar incident. Even though it was a false alarm, sources said the first team of respondents arrived more than two-and-a-halfhours after the incident was reported. This triggered a series of meetings and the level of preparedness was heightened to tackle similar situations.

Senior NDMA and AERB officials said that they had their teams on a standby at more than two dozen locations in Delhi for handling such situations. They also said that regular training programmes were conducted to train the police, CISF , cargo officers and even residents in handling such incidents before experts arrive.

SK Mishra, senior consultant, Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Management, said: “Strict regulatory controls are needed to minimise radiological emergencies, more so because of large-scale use of radioactive elements in industries and hospitals.“

(TOI)