Interim report of AERB's N-safety commission by July

The 10-member committee, headed by former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) S K Sharma, today held its first meeting to examine the operating status of 20 nuclear reactors in the wake of calamities like earthquakes of high magnitude and other natural disasters.

"We plan to give an interim report in a couple of months and the review will be based on the reports currently available from Fukushima Daiichi plants and will be compared to the Indian plants' safety," Sharma said.

He told PTI that the entire review, to be based on the operating experience feedback, is a normal process for AERB.

However, the Fukushima accident is an exceptional one and many of the details are still unfolding, he added.

"We will be reviewing our plants and find out what if such a thing like Fukushima accident happens to our plants in case of an extraordinary seismological event and tsunami (a hypothetical situation) and whether they can improve their procedures and training to deal with (such disasters)," Sharma said.

In the normal procedure, safety review of the nuclear power plants is carried out by AERB every five years for renewal of authorisation to operate the plants, he said.
AERB also carries out a periodic safety review of the plants every ten years, he added.