Nuclear safety main focus at conference

Mumbai: As nuclear experts from across the world and India come together for a conference here on safety and security in nuclear installations, a leading scientist affirms that avoiding accidents is the primary goal of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

With more countries looking at nuclear energy as a source of a long-term and large-scale power production, "we must ensure advanced safety principles are applied to build up a strong, safety infrastructure," Jukka Laaksonen, Director General of Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland, told an international meet on Safety for Sustainable Nuclear Development.

The five-day IAEA conference, attended by 200 Indian and 86 international experts, is hosted by the Government of India through the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board at the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, in Anushakti Nagar, an office and residential complex outside the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

"It is evident we cannot tolerate another Chernobyl accident which occurred at a plant that did not meet the widely used general design criteria," said Laaksonen in his keynote address.

"Young people don't know about Chernobyl which can happen if operators do not recognise the risks involved and do not comply with the rules."

At the same time, he remarked how "we can be proud of a safety record that has been achieved through 50 years of nuclear power plant operation."