KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Environmentalists and civil society activists have raised questions over safety measures and operational protocols after a recent leakage of heavy water at the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp).
The government shut down the plant on Thursday for an indefinite period.
“The plant had already been closed on Oct 5 for three weeks for maintenance but after the leakage it will remain shut for an indefinite period,” Ejaz Ahmed, spokesman for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, said.
He said the leakage had developed during maintenance work at midnight on Tuesday and the fault was removed at 7am on Wednesday.
He said the leakage was not a serious matter because it often happened in nuclear power plants all over the world.
The plant and its neighbourhood were safe and there was no exposure to radiation.
“No-one inside or outside the plant was injured or affected due to radiation,” he said.
He did not say anything bout the cause of leakage from a pipe and said that it could only be ascertained after a proper inquiry.
However, no inquiry had yet been ordered, added Mr Ahmed.
He said the leakage was contained and the leaked heavy water had been recollected for reuse and that there was no radiation leak during the incident.
A senior environmentalist, who had worked with the IUCN – the World Conservation Union – and at various other international environment-related organisations, said on condition of anonymity that the incident should be taken as a wake-up call; a thorough assessment of the plant should be made and old and obsolete components should be replaced.
Since the plant had outlived its designed life many years ago and was upgraded to expand its operations for a few more years, he said, its boilers should be replaced and heat exchange system thoroughly examined and passed through a rigorous tolerance test.
He suggested that radiation levels should be monitored regularly in and around the plant, besides the nearby marine environment where the plant’s cooling water is discharged.
He said that another worrying thing, particularly after the tsunami-hit nuclear disaster in Japan, was that the nuclear plant was not only situated near the biggest city of the country but three seismic lines were also passing through the vicinity and these matters should not be taken lightly.
Another point of concern, he said, was that housing colonies were fast coming up near the plant, which was earlier away from the city.
Senior environmentalist F.H. Mughal said that after the incident a stricter vigil needed to be maintained because the plant was old. He said the leakage from a pipe suggested that it was an old pipe and probably was not maintained properly.
He said strict safety measures should be taken because the plant was near Karachi. Referring to the recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima-Daiichi and Fukushima-Daini in Japan he said that even the United Kingdom had instituted a study to evaluate the effects of the Japanese accident on the UK, which is thousands of miles away.
B.M. Kutty, an official at the Pakistan Peace Coalition – a civil society organisation – asked the government to get rid of the nuclear facility which was ‘non-productive’ and posing threat to millions of people living in Karachi and to the fragile marine environment.
He deplored that the authorities were not providing any details of the accident. He said that information about safety measures adopted to protect the people from any potential risk was not being provided to the masses.
Mr Kutty said that earlier also civil society organisations had asked the PAEC to provide a copy of the Karachi Emergency Relief Plan in case of a nuclear disaster, but it had not been done. He said a similar accident had occurred at the same facility some 20 years ago but the government had not yet provided its details to public.
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