'PAEC assures disposal, storage of nuclear waste'

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) on Saturday said that the storage and disposal of waste material is being carried out strictly as per the rules and procedures, governing safety set forth by the national and international standards.
The PAEC in a clarification said that quoting proceedings of the Senates a news item appeared in a section of the press regarding dumping of nuclear waste in the open, besides causing immediate public apprehensions had also cast aspersions on Pakistan in terms of its responsibilities for maintaining safety of the public, the environment as well as its workers.
"Similar concerns regarding disposal of radioactive waste were raised in a news item appearing in the media previously," it added.
The PAEC clarification said the same have already been responded adequately. In spite of this, a respectable member of the parliament has once again brought the matter to the limelight.
"Although the matter is sub judice in the Supreme Court yet Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission considers it to be its moral duty to clarify this matter for addressing immediate public concerns," the PAEC added.
It may first of all be clarified that only uranium contaminated waste is being stored / disposed at Elaghalchur site.
Further, no dumping of this waste is being undertaken in the open but in specially prepared rooms / caverns, the PAEC clarification added.
It further said the storage of uranium waste in the abandoned mines was an established practice the world over and there was no direct contact of the stored waste with humans or their environments under these storage arrangements.
In our case, the areas in use are fenced and guarded, with no chances of unauthorised entry. A regular surveillance of the area is performed for the presence of radioactivity in water, vegetation and air and no radioactivity has ever been found in any of these sources.
"There is, therefore, no reason for appearance of deformities like blindness, hearing problems and shortening of life expectancy in humans," the PAEC said.