No radioactive threat in AMU

ALIGARH - An expert committee has concluded that the radiation level of the radium beryllium (Ra-Be) source stored in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU was within safe limits, an official said Sunday.

The eight-member committee was appointed by Vice Chancellor P.K. Abdul Azis after Ra-Be a radioactive source lying locked in the physics department of the university caught the attention of media for over a week.

The committee concluded that the laboratories, storage and disposal areas in the department conformed to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) guidelines and the radiation level detected was within the permissible limits, the official said.

B.K. Singh, scientific officer, Radiological Safety Division of the AERB, Mumbai, visited and inspected the radioactive storage facility Saturday and found that “department of physics, AMU, is safe and secure from the radiological point of view”, the official said.

Azis, while accepting the committee’s report, urged all user departments to strictly follow all norms and guidelines provided by the AERB in the procurement, use, storage and disposal of radioactive materials.