THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH):
(a) No, Sir. Planning Commission has not constituted any study group to study the causes of people being afflicted with physical deformities and their prevention in East Singhbhum District’s Jaduguda area and some villages in Garhwa District of Jharkhand; including in other areas of the Atomic Plants.
(b) During the operation of nuclear installations, the release to the environment is restricted well within the limits prescribed by the regulatory body. In addition, the environmental monitoring carried out around nuclear installations including power plants clearly indicates that the doses received by the general public due to the operation of the plant is insignificant as compared to that received from natural sources and also are well within the limits prescribed by Atomic.
Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). Several epidemiological studies conducted world over including the High background Radiation Areas (HBRAs) of India and China have failed to detect radiation risks at even higher levels chronic exposures, due to natural radiations. Based on these results, International bodies such as the United Nations Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiations (UNSCEAR) have opined that cancer risks on populations exposed to low levels of radiations such as those due to nuclear plants will not be detectable. In the light of these, the populations including children, living near our NPPs are extremely unlikely to have any additional risk of diseases, such as congenital disabilities and cancer, beyond that prevalent in general population.
(c)&(d) Public awareness programmes have been pursued by the Government and concerned PSUs since long. Multipronged approach to address the apprehensions/concerns of the people is adopted, which includes organising programmes in local schools and colleges, visual and print media campaigns and citizens’ visit to various facilities etc.
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