Rs160m project to mitigate concerns of N-accidents
By Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD, July 1: The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is planning to start soon a Rs160 million project Enhancement of Radiological Surveillance at National Level to mitigate concerns about terror of nuclear accidents.
Official sources told Dawn on Thursday that Pinstech would execute the project which would be completed over a period of 36 months. The project envisages a foreign exchange component of about Rs132 million.
The project is estimated to require about 500 new recruitments. The project has been submitted to the federal government for formal approval and implementation, a senior government official said.
The sources said the project was a commitment of the PAEC and the federal government for improvement and enhancement of radiation protection infrastructure in the country, creation of radiation protection culture and maintaining national database on radioactivity levels through an early warning system which is vital for all nuclear facilities and nuclear power plants.
The project will help mitigate concerns about terrors of nuclear accidents and provide guidance on early detection of nuclear emergency in the country and consumption, disposal and burial of contaminated food without large risk to life and health. Moreover, it will provide guidance in decontamination and rehabilitation efforts after any nuclear crisis.
Officials said the early warning system will be meant for continuous and round-the-clock checking and monitoring of radiation levels around the nuclear facilities for any abnormal emissions and releases and prevent and control occurrences of any accident and limit its magnitude on environment and the general public residing around the vicinity of nuclear power plants.
The officials said the project will also cover the development of basic infrastructure for higher education and provide opportunities for M.Phil and PhD studies in the environmental sciences because existing facilities available at Pinstech are outdated, obsolete and not sufficient to cope with the heavy workload of such studies.
The officials explained that environment of earth is permanently exposed to ionizing radiation of both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial origin and radioactivity is present everywhere in nature and almost all the environmental samples show its presence.
Natural and man-made sources of radiation result in internal and external doses to the public and the man is exposed to these radionuclides in varying degrees, depending upon his activities and location.
The environment has, thus, become one of the major issues these days because of its effects on human health, plants, animals and other material. Samples from important environmental media like air, soil, water and vegetation will be collected and analysed using various radio-analytical techniques. The measured activity will be used to estimate radiological impact of these radio nuclides and their associated risks to Pakistani population.
