Daijiworld Media Network – Karwar (SP)
Karwar, Dec 4: Inspector general of police (western range), Gopal Hosur, said here on Thursday December 3, that some miscreants had purposefully added tritium in the water cooler at the Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant and that the investigating team headed by Uttara Kannada district superintendent of police, Raman Gupta, has been continuing with its work in a detailed manner.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the Kaiga plant, he said several suspected persons have been questioned, and the team has doubts about the conduct of some of them. A few clues have also been collected, but none have been taken into custody so far, he explained.
“Several people, who were working in the first unit of Kaiga on November 23 and 24, have been interrogated. We also have been enquiring about those who carried the heavy water to the reactor from the laboratory and those who ventured near and around the water cooler,” he revealed.
The investigation has been taken up after an official complaint was registered at Mallapur police station. The department is confident of pinpointing the mischief mongers with the help of the central intelligence and state intelligence bureau, he added. He also concurred with the view that this case is very sensitive, and it needs to be probed deeply and thoroughly.
“The administration in Kaiga plant has conducted its internal investigation properly and honestly, and has submitted a detailed report to us. We have taken all the points mentioned in the said report into consideration,” he said. When questioned as to whether the delay involved in filing of the complaint has affected the investigations, he replied in the negative. However, he was not willing reveal the details of the internal probe conducted by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
“Only 50 milligrams of tritium had been mixed in the water of the water cooler. As this is a small quantity, none of the employees suffered from the side affects of radiation. None of them have been admitted into hospitals. The radiation found in them was less than the quantum found after a person is exposed to x-ray,” he added.