Return to sender
Date:2012-10-16 02:07:00
By Gagani Weerakoon
Sri Lanka intends sending two Cobalt 60 radiation sources to India within a fortnight at a cost of Rs. 10 million. The sources are currently installed at the Gannoruwa Horticulture Agrarian Centre.
According to the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA), these two sources had been used for purposes of agrarian research for nearly 30 years and are now considered outdated.
‘Even though these sources are outdated, their nuclear impact has not reduced. Sri Lanka does not have the technology or facilities to dispose nuclear equipment. It needs lots of expertise and care for these sources to be removed and to be transported. Thus, a team of Indian nuclear experts are currently here and are working on it. It requires careful handling as even the slightest mistake may cause a major environmental impact and also affect the people”, Senior Deputy Director of AEA, Anil Ranjith, said.
He also noted that these sources cannot be transported in a normal shipment, thus needing the facilitation of a special shipment.
“The US government has extended its assistance in financing the removal and transportation of the two sources while India extends technical assistance. Since India is heavily engaged in civil nuclear projects they have all the facilities and technologies needed for nuclear disposal,” he added.
According to Ranjith, one of these sources had been installed some 30 years ago and the other 25 years ago.
“We were able to discover many agrarian products using these sources. Apart from different kinds of paddy seeds, one of the popular products we discover is the Sri Lankan cherry tomato. This is very popular among hotels and airlines,” he added.
Date:2012-10-16 02:07:00
By Gagani Weerakoon
Sri Lanka intends sending two Cobalt 60 radiation sources to India within a fortnight at a cost of Rs. 10 million. The sources are currently installed at the Gannoruwa Horticulture Agrarian Centre.
According to the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA), these two sources had been used for purposes of agrarian research for nearly 30 years and are now considered outdated.
‘Even though these sources are outdated, their nuclear impact has not reduced. Sri Lanka does not have the technology or facilities to dispose nuclear equipment. It needs lots of expertise and care for these sources to be removed and to be transported. Thus, a team of Indian nuclear experts are currently here and are working on it. It requires careful handling as even the slightest mistake may cause a major environmental impact and also affect the people”, Senior Deputy Director of AEA, Anil Ranjith, said.
He also noted that these sources cannot be transported in a normal shipment, thus needing the facilitation of a special shipment.
“The US government has extended its assistance in financing the removal and transportation of the two sources while India extends technical assistance. Since India is heavily engaged in civil nuclear projects they have all the facilities and technologies needed for nuclear disposal,” he added.
According to Ranjith, one of these sources had been installed some 30 years ago and the other 25 years ago.
“We were able to discover many agrarian products using these sources. Apart from different kinds of paddy seeds, one of the popular products we discover is the Sri Lankan cherry tomato. This is very popular among hotels and airlines,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment