New Delhi, May 5
Delhi can breathe easy as the Department of Atomic Energy today said its experts have accounted for all radioactive Cobalt-60 pencils originally present in the gamma cell sold by Delhi University to scrap dealers. In brazen violation of laid down rules, DU had auctioned off the gamma cell and one person later died and seven were injured due to radiation from the radioactive material. It is said to be India’s worst ever radiation leak and the world’s biggest such crisis in the past four years.

There were reports that a few Cobalt-60 pencils, the source of radiation, had gone missing and the department said in a statement that it has recovered and transported all the pencils to its Narora Atomic Power Station.

It is believed that the cell had a total of 16 pencils and experts recovered from them from outside Mayapuri, India’s biggest scrap market where the gamma cell was recovered. All victims were working in two scrap shops there and were exposed to radiation over a period of time as they broke open the cell and brought out the pencils.

The department said they had recovered and transported the radioactive material to the Narora station by mid-April. “Detailed inspections of the materials recovered were carried out at NAPS site on May 3 and 4. During inspection the team has identified and accounted for all radioactive sources originally present in the gamma cell of DU. These sources will continue to remain in the safe custody of Department of Atomic Energy,” the statement said. The DU is facing an inquiry and likely to be punished for its fatal blunder.