D. Raghunandan of the All India Peoples' Science Network argues for an independent review of nuclear safety measures and audit said to be concluded by the Atomic Energy establishment of the Indian government. Protestors in Kudankulam and elsewhere are unwilling to trust the government's claims of safety of the nuclear reactors, because there is a large credibility gap. This can only be breached if an effort is made to bestow autonomy to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and safety concerns after the Fukushima incident over nuclear energy are sufficiently allayed through independent review of the existing programme.

In the second part of his inteview with Newsclick, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India, Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan speaks about the question marks on nuclear energy post the Fukushima-1 Reactors' incidents.

Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board talks to Newsclick about safety and regulatory imperatives in the nuclear energy sector in the country apropos the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

If India is indeed serious about a nuclear energy program, it needs to create a proper safety organisation. A safety audit without an independent regulatory body is of little value. Writes Prabir Purkayastha 

11 people were hospitalised, one among whom died later on, due to radioactive exposure in a Scrap Market in Mayapuri, New Delhi. Prabir Purkayastha examines the issue of unsafe and radioactive scrap and the larger issue of monitoring and tracking radioactive sources by regulatory agencies in India.