Atomic Energy Regulatory Board said that nuclear experts have scanned hundreds of shops
in a west Delhi scrap market but have not found any new radioactive source after
11 sources of radiation were detected in the Mayapuri scrap market recently
where Cobalt-60 was recovered, injuring 11 persons including three scrap
dealers.
However, scientists were yet to pinpoint whether the origin of
radioactive material was from domestic or imported scrap.
The radioactive
sources recovered from Mayapuri were in the form of Cobalt 60 pins which experts
have been saying are not produced domestically.
A senior AERB official
said the radioactive material recovered from Mayapuri is being examined in a
remotely handled facility at the Narora Atomic Power Station in western Uttar
Pradesh.
The official said they are also planning to conduct a thorough
scanning of the market before declaring it a safe zone.
Another official
said that “We have already scanned all the shops in the market. It is somewhere
between 600 and 800.”