Raj Bhavan, Chennai - H E the Governor's Address

PRESS RELEASE GOVERNOR WRITES TO VCs TO ADOPT RADIATION HANDLING SAFETY MEASURES His Excellency Thiru Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of Tamil Nadu and Chancellor of State Universities has written to the Vice Chancellors of all the Universities in Tamil Nadu to take immediate steps to ensure that all safety regulations are adopted without fail by all users of radiation sources, in usage as well as in disposal of such sources. In his letter to the Vice Chancellors, Thiru Barnala has said that the incidents of radiation exposure that have happened infrequently are grim reminders that the stakeholder institutions have to be much more responsible in this regard. He has further stated that the radiations from radioactive sources and other high energy electromagnetic radiations are well known to be harmful to human unless handled with proper safeguards. Several research departments in universities and colleges conduct experiments using one or more of such radiation sources. Though the scientists and students involved in such research are broadly aware of safety requirements, any human error in handling and disposing such radiation sources is potentially of great public risk and the recent Mayapuri scrap market incident has just brought this into focus. The Governor has said that it is the sole responsibility of the academicians/scientists as well as the institutions to fully ensure and guarantee that no one is ever exposed to such kinds of radiation hazard. He has further stated that while the Government of India through its regulatory agencies such as Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is taking all steps to safeguard the public against any radiation exposure, it is of vital importance that the user institutions strictly comply with the AERB directives. As the Chancellor of Universities, the Governor has instructed each university to prepare an inventory of radiation sources within its fold, their physical locations, list of users and handlers, training received by them in handling sources and safety features adopted by them. Thiru Barnala has further observed that the University should have a scientist / personnel certified by AERB to function as Radiation Safety Officer to monitor, advise, and sensitize various users of radiation sources on matters of radiation protection, waste disposal and safety regulations. The university should verify if proper approval or license from AERB was obtained for every installation of radiation sources and if the regulatory requirements of AERB are fully complied with. Thiru Barnala has urged the heads of universities in Tamil Nadu to take immediate measures on these lines and has also asked them to put in place a foolproof mechanism to bring about hundred percent safety in handling any radiation sources. Thiru Barnala has asked the Vice-Chancellors to send their Action Plan in this regard by 1^st July 2010. Principal Secretary to Governor

Raj Bhavan, Chennai.	(Sd/-)
Date: 07.06.2010	for Principal Secretary to Governor


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