PR takes stock of its radioactive material

The radioactive material in Delhi was auctioned by the Chemistry department of the Delhi University.

The committee,comprising six members from the departments of Biophysics,Physics,Chemistry and Pharmacy,has been formed to check the permissible limits of radiation and the disposal system of medical and bio-waste in the university.

The committee conducted inspections in several departments on Monday.

“The team of experts visited departments which are potential users of radio isotopes. These included life sciences like Biophysics,Biochemistry,Micro-biology,Human Genome,Physics and Chemistry departments. The team inspected these departments with gamma meters to check the radiation levels,” Prof Devinder Dhawan,co-coordinator of the committee,said. “Also,the adjoining areas and the health centre were scanned for hazardous chemicals and bio-waste.”

Prof Dhawan is from the department of Nuclear Medicine. He added that radiation levels on the campus were much below the permissible limits.

“There is no danger from the radio isotopes,as these are kept in safe lead containers at earmarked places where entry is prohibited. There was no spillage or contamination of any kind of radio isotopes. Also,PU does not use heavy radiation sources like Cobalt-60,” Prof Dhawan.

The radiation exposure in Delhi was of Cobalt-60,which was stored in DU’s Chemistry department before it was auctioned.

The committee is likely to conduct more such inspections in the university and prepare a report.

These steps at PU are directly linked to the recent incident in Delhi,where radioactive material was disposed of by the Delhi University without proper checks. The subsequent exposure has led to the death of a scrap dealer so far.

In the evening,the university issued a press release that radioactive material in the university was being managed according to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board guidelines. It added that the radiation level in the approved laboratories was much below the permissible limit.